BLOCKHEAD

season is closed 20 nov by me. almost pulled the trigger by accident hunting ducks.

i didn't look at the teeth. she seemed mature , but not really old. my friend believes it was the same doe he saw with three fawns during bow season. she was still full of milk.

i'm getting old. dragging this girl and loading it on top of my friend's SUV was more work than i remember.

drove up on a monster tending a doe last saturday. buck didn't want leave her . let us get out of the truck and get 40 yds away. mendon ponds area

nice job

brine them. a decent brine can almost make mergansers worth eating.

. color has been weird. these were taken two days prior to mine in the same hole. there were some really white birds flying the day i took mine

dirty buggers. lost my first gun and a great canoe chasing cripples. double tap when in doubt. hell, they don't eat that well anyway.

i've got a pudelpointer. about as good as it gets for a versatile /upland dog. if i only hunted ducks , chessy all the way. a lab makes a lot of sense for rochester. or a springer. plenty of rabbits to chase when birds shut down. late season lake O can be ugly. hell ,the coast guard won't even put a boat in the water later in the season. buy the best dog. labs are cheap,even from the the world's best hunting lines. smart money would be on a started dog/finished dog. to many pups wash out. then your stuck feeding a pet that hunts like poo. puppies are cute for a month or two max. then you deal with biteing and bs for the next several months. ask yourself if you have the knoledge and time to train a great dog. chances are, you can find a great dog for little or no cost. most kennels are happy to let you test drive started dogs. field trial washouts can make excellent pets. you probably don't want a dog with insane drive and thick skin. find somebody local and you should get a hell of deal. most breeders can be good source of info and help with training. -good luck

not the prettiest drake. just happy to see a great mix of puddle ducks lately. first pintail i've shot in NY.

great shot. long tails look huge lund. i 've got try hunting from a boat.

very nice. who did the work ?

plenty of fish from the channel on empire to the bridge (east side )

lots of salmon in the bay on sunday . saw quite a few paddling around.

For 3-4lbs of meat. just tried this brine, very easy. best birds i've had in a long while Let sit min 24hrs as much as 36hrs pungent meats and roasts 3 days or more. 1 Qt Water 4 Tbs sugar 3 Tbs kosher salt 1 Tbs blk pepper 1 tsp Thyme 2 Tbs Vinegar 4 Cloves garlic 4 Bay leaves crumbled 2 tsp Oregano Heat the water add all ingredients, simmer 5 min. Let cool add meat. BGE Cookbook tuesday's diner

NICE PILE

i lived in CO for several years. the mtns are hard on the body and equiptment. elk are amazingly strong. either will do the job. i'd take something dependable, and consider rifle weight carefully. any rifle in elk country is at risk of dings and dents. good luck

i like black cloud. stoned this bird with 2 3/4 2's. that i had left over. 3" kents (2 shot) have been performing well this year.

got out a few more times. more birds seem to be flying. they don't appear to be resident birds. seeing lots of lg groups in the fields near home

i'm in rochester as well. i don't take early season serious. usually pass shoot ,or jump shoot out of the canoe. most years i can limit by cleaning up cripples others leave behind.

saw one thursday on ibay.

thanks for the replies. i try and target the dirty locals around roc. birds are MIA in a few of my local standbye spots.

getting my butt kicked. been out 3 times/2 birds. don't usually have a problem filling the freezer.

we did pretty well last week. this was the smallest. we fish an open bail /slideing egg set up. use a tiny split shot for a stop. we lay a quarter across the spool. when a fish hits, the quarter falls and lets the fish run .