Gill-T

I wonder if the legs were functional. Those extra legs could be used to keep flies or coyotes off it's back. Two extra tarsal glands means EXTRA stinky. Interesting to see how long the hooves grow without wear and tear. Hope someone has the story behind the deer.

I have the non-line counter version for my rigger reels and really like them. Quality components you can see and feel.

Happy B-Day Jerry. I know B-day means "what should I buy myself" thoughts......how about some more downriggers? You do have all that mounting room on the hardtop!

By all means start out young hunters with an open book on what to shoot. Get 'em hooked first then start to include them in the management discussion. Applying too rigid of management rules often leads to hard feelings and camps breaking up. I took place in a camp in Arkport that was one of the first to practice QDM. My relative landowners instituted a $400 fine for hunters shooting anything less than a 120" deer. Needless to say I don't hunt there anymore.

I would never shoot a young eight. The ones to cull are the MATURE sevens, sixes etc. Sometimes weak or no brow tines need to be considered as cull deer.

Niagara County produces knarly looking non-typical racks every year. A friend of mine has a 200 inch deer to his credit from Niagara. He also guards and posts his lease closely. If you are near the indian reservation you might have issues with walk-ons carrying assault-type rifles.

Perfect, I have loading up and customizing mag spoons.

OMG Ray!!!! great deer.

I could probably write 1000 word response to this one......First, I don't use scents, however, I have hunting buddies that swear by buckbomb spray. Bottle stuff is too strong IMO. If you go to a deer farm and get estrous urine fresh it is yellow and not NEARLY as stinky. The Buckbomb concept is more intriguing because you can mist just a little scent as you walk to your stand. Word of caution as the tops of buckbomb is poorly designed and often will pop off and the whole can unloads....be prepared to run! Bucks will place twigs and leaves of seedlings ankle-high in their mouth to "taste" the scents left by tarsal gland/urinating. If you have never seen this behavior in the wild, esentially a buck or doe will put their tarsal glands together and urinate down their rear legs while rubbing the glands together. By tasting/smelling the plants deer legs touch, the herd can communicate with each other ( don't brush up against anything on way to stand). With this evidence of deer behavior in hand, one could assume that scents used properly would work.....I just prefer to remain as invisible as possible. If a doe gets a whiff of doe-n-heat and starts those nasal openings o'flarin' then she is more likely to smell you.....and drag that buck following her along and out of range. Learn the proper usage of the grunt tube.......and proper brand. I have heard some of my buddies grunt calls, and they sound nothing like a deer grunt. I will use the grunt call before and after a rattling sequence, when trying to turn a deer that is moving away from my position, when I spook a deer that hasn't smelled me or seen me as it will calm a snorting protective doe. I use a grunt call at frequent intervals when walking into stand in the dark esp. when the leaves or snow is really loud and crunchy. This sometimes backfires as often deer will approach you before shooting light. Use the snort/weez after a rattling sequence and to calm a bumped deer. In the deer vernacular the snort/wheez means F'ck you! Usually two fighting bucks make this vocalization, but it will shut up a snorting mamma doe that does not know what you are. To do the snort/wheez cover one nostril and blow hard and as long as possible. Hopefully, you have some good buggies up there to accent the wheez. Sometimes, this is done in a three burst sequence, but that is hard to pull off with the nose. I don't think the products on the market sound very realistic for the snort/wheez. The deer bawl is great for attracting does as it mimics a yearling calling for mom. The deer bawl can is pretty close to sounding realistic, but you can make the sound with your mouth by curling the sides of your tongue up to touch your upper teeth and make a sound not unlike a sheep (might attract Ray be careful). The bawl is good for stopping deer before a shot also. Then there is the doe snort. This one is used only when you want to clear deer from under your stand at dark.....and you are hungry and cold. They will all take off but won't know who blew the alarm and why. Was that too wordy????

FINALLY!!!!!! a weekend with cool temps and NO WIND!!!!!! Remember not to drink too much tonight as you may be asleep in the woods when the big one strolls by

Depends.... at first light, fish are often feeding at a certain level so flooding the hot zone to cash in would be a good tactic. If I am steelhead fishing offshore during the summer, I am often fishing a tight band of ideal water temps so I will flood the target zone. Conversely, in search mode.... spread 'em out until you can figure out what is going on that day.

To answer what has not been already covered......depends on water temp and time of year. Your long coppers might come into play in May off Niagara County, but really won't shine consistently until later in the summer when the fish are deeper. Get on a boat as an observer for any of the four Pro/Ams and you will see there are some little tricks to keep tangles down to a minimum. The July Sodus Pro/Am would be the one I would pick to see the long Coppers in action.

Watching the Outdoor Channel lately, I have been shocked at the lost deer some of the shows portrait with seemingly great looking archery shots. Later, they show up on trail-cam pictures with a scar hole in their hide and they look fine! Tough animal. Put up some trail cameras near his bedroom and see if he still walks.......it might cure what ails'-ya.

My buddy used the services in Erie County, and the dog was just a german short-hair on a long lead.

Nice Buck Ray.

My middle rigger has AFW moss green braid. Nice on the hands and reties. During flea season I just run the line thru my fingers as the line is retreived and the fleas fall off. My two outdowns, one with SS and one with coated cable catch 4xs as many fish.....maybe the hum??

My contacts tell me the Browns have run the Niagara (growing run of fish the last two years), so with the browns in spawing mode, you may want to target Kings out 200'-250' FOW. Water temp is the same top to bottom so fish the graph. Put your baits just at and below the bait pods as a starting point.

That is a hoss!!!

Hose down the reels after EVERY outing. If you get a lock-up, it can be often caused by a single grain of sand in the gears. The way I unfreeze a lock-up is to open the guts, clean out the old grease and fill the compartment full of gear oil. Put it together and reel. Usually it frees-up quickly. You will want to have an old towel handy under the reel as the gear oil will drip out. Once the reel is working, clean out the gear oil and lubricate with reel grease. Try it.

Usually happens on Erie. It has been a problem made worse by the ecosystem becoming more benthic (near the bottom) because of the zebra mussel. Usually occurs after a sustained east wind on Erie causes an upwelling bringing the bad bottom stuff up to the upper foodchain. Fish get it.....birds get it, and even huge mudpuppies wash up on shore. If you are worried about waterfowl.....if the bird flew into your spread....it probably is not sick. Make sure the meat is cooked thru and you will be fine eventhough duck tastes better undercooked If I saw waterfowl swimming around, I would not shoot it off the water as you can't determine the fitness of the bird.

Played hookie today. Deer on the move. With the lack of clear moonlit skies and cool temps......bucks have abandoned their noctornal ways for now. Rattling still is working and the amount of rubs and scrapes have exploded.

nice

Call Moor electronics and ask. They are a company located in Buffalo. They usually have a booth at the LOTSA event in Lockport in Feb.

The rut is officially on. My hunting buddy in Wales confirmed deer chasing on his hill last night at dusk .......while sitting in his hot tub