As luck would have it, I'm headed to the glorious Boundary Waters for a fishing trip next week. Hell yes! For the past few years I've had a knockoff Boga-style fish grabber to help land toothy pike in the canoe until I dropped it in a lake like a dumbass earlier this year. Thinking about trying one of these plier style ones now: Anyone familiar with those?
Pics from the trip this weekend: It was a vendor paid-for trip, so I invited one of my mobile devs to come along. He's never fly fished before, so most of my day was spent teaching him and driving the boat. He picked it up very well and before long he was flopping flies into rollers and landing 5-8 lbs trout. It was a great day. BC Mountain lake at about 3,500' and a nice, sunny 30°C. The water was nice and clear, and this was in about 10' of water based on my fish finder. All day on the lake with a small electric motor resulted in the battery draining just as we're heading back to the dock to end the day. We drifted into the shore and were contemplating waiting for rescue. But nope, free fishing trip and being low man on the totem pole meant he got to do some work. It was "fun" work because we only had 1 oar and only 1 oar lock on the boat. Free fishing and free beer isn't so free sometimes. Just a few big fucking fish in this lake. Those are all at least 5lbs fish.
We use those to land redfish and speckled trout. They work great on sharks because they lock a bit and prevents them from shaking off. I think they are called the fish grip.
No love for me for bull elk this year, I hunted for 8 days and saw elk morning and afternoon but could not get closer than 70 yards, saw some monster bulls but have to try again next year.
Note to self, when mixing up huge amounts of game meat for sausage using instacure you must adjust the salt level from the recipe. Got 15 pounds or so that is quite a bit over salted. On the brighter side the internet came through with a bomb suggestion for physically mixing big batches. Drill + mud mixer drill bit can mix quite a lot of meat in a five gallon bucket. I am thinking of picking this Hoyt Charger if it is still available, does it look like a decent deal? I shot a few hoyts at a store today and liked the Charger. Other than stress fractures what would you look for when examining a used bow? http://cincinnati.craigslist.org/spo/5220290391.html
I was finally able to get out on the water in my kayak again. The weather was phenomenal just like the fishing today. I went out hoping for a couple redfish for the freezer and got so much more.
Bring cotton balls and run them all over the limbs and riser to check for any fractures. The fine stands will pull with even the slightest crack or blemish. Look for any excessive wear on the string and cable, especially near the cams. Make sure the cams are in good shape with no dents, serious scratches, etc. If the cams have modules for draw length, check to make sure they're snug. Feel the string/cable to see if they've been waxed. If they have, they'll feel tacky (more of a good indicator of decent maintenance than anything else). Ask how the bow was stored (in a case? Hung on a hook?). Check the sight and pins for any damage (even if you don't like the sight, you can sell it if it's in good shape). Check out the quiver as well. I personally wouldn't keep any arrows unless they're brand new. You can always save field points or broad heads if they're part of the deal. Once you've really looked everything over, put as many arrows as you can through it. Make sure you can shoot the thing before you even get in the car to go look at it. If they don't have a target and you still really want to go, you can buy a cheap shit target at Wal-Mart for less than $20. If they say that you can't shoot it, there's a reason. Good luck.
http://www.prickeared.com/blog/2015/09/27/grouse-hunting-report-09252015-09272015/ Friend's grouse hunting report, up in Alberta.
I got back from Lake Disappointment in the Boundary Waters Canoe Area yesterday. Fishing overall sucked and I'm starting to think you can either choose good weather or good fishing for a trip and will rarely have both. After lots of time on the water I only caught some hand-sized smallmouth bass with a few over 12", and a couple of near-30" pike that fed our group one night. Delicious. A highlight was pulling in a very nice largemouth bass one evening while out in a solo canoe. I've been up to the BWCA over two dozen times and had yet to see a largemouth, much less a decent sized fish too. The fight was short but intense and it was doing acrobatics on the surface the entire time and I just knew I had a huge bass on, but didn't realize it wasn't a smallie until it was in the boat. Of course I didn't have my tape measure on me too but it was well over 20" and made it all worthwhile. I released the fish safely back to the lake and hope it sticks around. That double bladed Mepps #5 accounted for the bass, the two pike, and the lake trout I caught last year too. I should get more. I also stalked up within a few feet of a spruce grouse, which was very lucky it was our last morning there- I'll be back up North hunting them soon.
Plus the arrows for cracks. I went turkey hunting on Saturday morning. It pretty much amounted to sitting in the woods, being harassed by hordes of squirrels, but I did flush five grouse and that is the most I've seen yet on that property. Didn't shoot because I remembered I had the super full turkey choke and a 2 oz. load in my gun and like to eat what I kill, but I am very much looking forward to visiting again with my dog once the leaves have fallen. *Just got a couple of trail camera videos from the landowner (she just likes seeing what is out there)... and I'm not a trophy hunter so I happily take whatever opportunities are presented to me, but I would love to see either of these deer again come November! One almost-10-point buck with a busted tine, and one with a mutated third antler. Both look tasty. Spoiler: trail cam pics Nine tines and a stub. Third antler sticking out from between his right ear and eye.
I went back up North on Saturday and took my girlfriend's younger brother with for his first day of hunting. The damn turkeys were out in a field as we pulled up to the property but escaped just over the property line before I was in range to take a shot. We spent the day roaming through the woods and he had fun shooting a couple of squirrels. Around mid-day I heard a grouse flush nearby and caught just enough of a glimpse to point and shoot. Wasn't sure about it until Buck emerged from the brush with the bird in his mouth. Later I heard another grouse drumming away just in front of us, and stopped my new hunting partner so he could hear it too. I sent him ahead with Buck and a minute later he flushed the bird and got a shot off at it. Unfortunately he didn't bring it down but was still thrilled after the experience and clearly hooked for more, which to me makes it a successful hunt regardless of my bird. Yesterday I smoked and roasted the grouse, and just wish they were bigger so you had more to enjoy. It is admittedly a lot like chicken, but still very satisfying after all the effort to bring it home.
Shot this 8 point buck yesterday morning after not seeing anything after three full days of deer hunting. Three out of the four deer I last shot were taken on the Sunday of the second weekend of the season- I guess its my day. He chased some does into the field I was overlooking at about 8 am and paused long enough for me to shoot. 210 yard shot with my .270 from the foxhole I dug last weekend. Was dead less than 10 seconds after I first saw it. It is warm this week so I called my brother after driving home and we butchered and packaged it up last night. Got a little over 80 pounds of venison, even after having to toss most of the front shoulders after the 130 grain Gamekings fucked them up good. I have been deer hunting for over a decade now and had yet to even see a buck in the field while actually hunting them, so I am pretty happy now with how the season ended.
Shot sporting clays for the first time in awhile yesterday. Two stands I had never done before: one was a true pair where the second bird bounced off a trampoline, the other was a farily typical true pair where the second bird was a rabbit . . . but, this was the stand. Spoiler: Hey, y'all. Watch this!
I killed my first deer today - a 118 lb doe. I'm pretty proud of myself, I've never been able to take a shot before. Either my dad or brother have always been with me & this time I went in by myself. I found the blood trail, found her about 130 yards away & dragged her out. I'll be honest, I got all teary-eyed when I found her.
Don't feel bad. I shot my first and last deer when I was 15. It was a young fork buck that I killed with a clean shot. When I went to claim my prize, a small, confused doe was standing guard over his body. I had to actually kick her to get her to leave the little buck. I manned up and field dressed the buck and drug him out, but I've never been deer hunting again. I love venison, but damn did that little doe break my heart. I'll happily eat venison, but I'd rather never go through that again.
I now rarely take deer, unless the wife is absolutely pestering me to put some venison in the freezer or I have to put one down because it's stuck in a fence or something. I used to hunt a lot when I was younger but then after a while it felt like point and click hunting. Find deer, put in crosshairs, pull trigger, kill animal. There wasn't much sport in that, and it was upsetting. I went about a decade shooting clays and taking extremely long target shots with iron sights and kentucky windage. Don't think you'll find a single "true" hunter/sportsman who doesn't still get a little upset about taking an animal. Hell, even fishing, I always prefer to catch and release.
Deer are at least mammals. I've had those pangs of humanity when other deer stay and look on as their little friend dies. If you could guarantee a head shot every time I'd do it. Im pretty sure she meant she was happy at her accomplishment alone. Bunch of god damned pussies.