I'm done cutting for the year already

cus_deluxe · Jun 9, 2015

Yes, we kept undersized fish, but pike are so aggressive and multiply like rabbits that we cull every pike that gets caught from the lake to try to give the walleye and bass and panfish a chance. These days we catch almost nothing except hammer-handle pike and the occasional monster large-mouth and walleye. I think the perch have gone extinct from the lake :cry:

KenJax Tree · Jun 9, 2015

cus_deluxe said:
My family has a place in the u.p. on a small lake and i took a trip with some friends this spring for a bachelor wknd. We caught loads of northerns and deep fried em. Normally the fish from the lake are junk as its a shallow warm lake, but the little ones we caught in the cold water were excellent, also the bones arent such a bugger in the little ones.

Where about in the U.P.?

cus_deluxe · Jun 9, 2015

near big bay, northwest of marquette a bit.

Jim Timber · Jun 9, 2015

Y'all are making me hungrier than I already was.

2 more hours til I can stuff my face.

Funny thing about BCT and chow when I was in reception at Knox, I got KP second or third day. We had biscuits and gravy every breakfast, but I hadn't tried it yet. So I'm on receiving duty of the dirty trays and this stuff is coming back set up Hard - like 30 minute Durarock joint mud. 20 mins ago I watched it scooped up and now I'm bending a spatula trying to pre-clean it off before it breaks loose in the dishwasher. WTF?, over!

So then I ended up at Eustis for AIT and never did end up on KP there, but we had the exact same food, again... Ugh! I was sick of what I'd been living on for 2 months by now, and my buddies were eating the biscuits and gravy like it was real food - shoveling it down. And I noticed it hadn't solidified after it's 20 minute shelf life like before, so I tried it. Not bad!

15 years later I still don't know what they put in that stuff at Knox. Bullet proofing intestines or what?

Woody912 · Jun 9, 2015

Whitespider said:
Deer huntin' is a 10 minute affair for me... when I run short of venison I step out on the front porch in my slippers and pop the one I want.
Fishin' is pretty easy also, I live on the river... I can darn near (but not quite) toss a line in the water from the front porch and have Walleye, Small Mouth or Channel Cat for dinner (depending on the bait I use).
And, I don't haf'ta walk far from the front porch to start cuttin' firewood... meaning I'm never more than a few seconds from the beer cooler no matter what I'm doin'
And best of all I can be doin' all four things at the same time if'n I choose... deer huntin', fishin', cuttin' firewood, and drinkin' beer
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Deer hunting is about 60 days/yr for me, mostly with a bow and I kill one about every 2yrs.. I hunt horns, eat what I kill but if they don't have a big set of bones on top I'm not interested. Then the jerkbait bite starts and I fish till freezeup but the largemouth go back in the lake, crappie in the livewell

Whitespider · Jun 9, 2015

Woody912 said:
I hunt horns...

I'll take some pictures this fall of what walks through my yard many mornings and post 'em... I believe you'll be impressed.

When I'm sittin' on the porch drinkin' my morning coffee they walk so close I could take 'em with a steak knife lashed to a billiard cue stick. Heck, the bucks have their manhood contests in my driveway and the does drop their fawns in my yard next to the kid's swimming pool. I ain't shot antlers in years... a nice sized doe is 10 times better eatin'. Don't get me wrong, I understand the "trophy" hunt mentality, and I used to spend hundreds of hours sitting in a tree with a bow every year. But I've lived here and watched the wildlife for over 20 years... I've moved on. Just this evening before I came in a fox shot out'a the woodlot and snatched a young rabbit not more than 15 feet from where I was sittin' on the porch... then trotted past the corner of the porch with it where I could'a poured my beer on him (or her??).

I take only what we can eat (unless it's a nuisance of some sort)... no more, no less... I'd rather watch antlers than take them... can't eat antlers.
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