If you listen closely, you can hear the morels popping with this weather
I walked a bunch this weekend and only found false morels, ramps just starting to pop up, and LOTS of ticks. The warm up the next couple days should get them going good though.
I say good for the DNR. Why shouldn’t they get to have little fun on the job. Instead of getting mad at the DNR get mad at the people that left trailers on the public even after being told to get them off. Now the officers just need to cuff the people the stands belonged to, and make them clean up the mess as their community service. If dynamite is what it takes to get all the stands left on public removed I say have at it.
Good luck in the draws! It will be fall before we know it!
Well I just threw my name in for another SD archery deer tag. If I get drawn I’ll be going solo for the first time which should be interesting. After last year I’m excited to get back out there. Anyone still looking to apply you have until the 18th.
My rain gear gets worn often for both work and pleasure. The Simm’s Challangers were great for the first couple years, and then I started getting very wet just like the other higher end rain gear I’ve owned over the years. I went back to the Carhartt Storm Defenders, but the heavyweights this go around, and couldn’t be happier. They’re a bit warm, but they’re holding up good. I would definitely recommend them, and they should be right around the price point you’re looking at.
Found the biggest one of the year so far plus a little 4 point side this morning.
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<div class=”d4p-bbt-quote-title”>hillhiker wrote:</div>
Fresh dropped set to start the weekend!What part of the state are you in ? You have a damn good dog.
I’m in SE MN. We walk a mix of public and private all over the bluff country. The dog does really good in the fields, but he gets distracted pretty easy in the woods.
Fresh dropped set to start the weekend!
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Lots of bucks still holding. It is still just the end of February. It just feels like they should all be down with how nice the weather has been. The last two weeks the shed count has started ramping up though.
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…and then you hang 4 $80k engines on it – because why not?
Or 6…
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The sheds…
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Good one BC! I went out this morning to walk a bean field, and the dog took off and found a dead buck just off the field. We finished the morning both finding a shed in the field as well. Turns out the farmer knows the buck well so he’ll get that once the dnr sends the tag.
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The dark one is a little strange. It looks more like dirt stuck to the antler than it does normal dark staining, but it doesn’t wash off. I’m not sure what that deer got into.
I trained him. Biggest thing is getting a dog interested in antlers. I got lucky and my dog was obsessed since day one. I know a couple people that tried to train their dogs for shed hunting, and they could never get their pups interested in antlers. Watching a dog work a field of corn stubble is great entertainment when you’re not finding a bunch of antlers!
Me and the dog put on a lot of miles in the fields this weekend and here are the rewards. I’m still seeing a lot of bucks with both sides so I’m still staying out of the woods for another week or two.
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Nice work finding a few Haleys! It’s seemed like a slow year so far for me with only a couple fresh ones and a couple old ones. I’ll be starting to walk on private this weekend so hopefully things will pick up. I did run into a guy on public this weekend carrying a very nice 5 point side along with a couple other small ones. There’s alot of competition out there with the nice weather, but it is good to see people having some luck.
State parks, SNA, and AMA lands are all closed to shed hunting. Some county land is also closed to shed hunting, depends on the county.
Is looking for shed antlers regulated by the DNR?
On some types of public land the taking of shed antlers is not allowed. I would imagine the DNR would be in charge of that.
One of the farmers that lets me shed hunt finds them with his drone. In the spring he flies it around the fields in the morning while he enjoys a cup of coffee. He’s showed me a few pics, and once the antlers bleach out they really stand out in the corn stubble. I should add he has a pretty high end drone/camera for taking aerial photos. I’m sure that helps.
I see you bought some boots. I hope you like them.
The Danner Pronghorns were a great boot till about 15 years ago when they started making them in China.
2 of the best boots I have worn are Crispi summit and lows cevendale.
The Crispi boots didn’t need much to break them in.
I ordered a wide in both since they have a narrow toe box.Another option that was pretty good but I would label them a hiking boot on steroids is the Salomon Quest 4D boots. They have a wider toe box than other boots. One year I forgot my hunting boots for a mule deer hunt in Utah. I hit up REI in Grand Junction and bout a pair of Salomon Quest. Threw them on and hunted above timberline for 2 weeks. Never had an issue.
Every year after hunting season I scrub my boots and treat them with NikWax. This fall will be the 7th year I have worn my Crispi boots and I don’t even want to guess how many miles are on them. It is a lot that is fore sure.
The Salomon Quests were amazing boots up until a few years ago and then they changed. Fit seemed narrower, and they fell apart very fast compared to my previous pair. It seems like this was a pretty well known issue, and many people had to find new options.
Wade mentioned trucks from Idaho… Watch out for them, they’re super clean! When I bought mine the dealer had a second from an Idaho auction that was spotless as far as rust, just like the 2019 I bought, but it had considerably higher miles. The other really clean trucks I found were from Quebec, and for sale in Iowa for some reason. I found 2 or 3 down there that looked really nice and low miles. Take a look at the car fax report many of the dealers offer. It gives you an idea of what you might be going to look at
I went the fluid film route after bringing it up on here. We’ll see how well it works. My old 2006 GMC was very rusty, but still a good runner and never left me stranded.
I’ll second the sauerkraut and country style ribs served with boiled potatos. It was a staple of hunting camp in WI when I was young.
I also like a venison roast with onions, garlic, taco seasoning, and beef broth. Cook until the venison easily shreds, and make it into taco’s. As a bonus there’s always leftovers for breakfast burritos the next day.
The dog brought this back on todays walk. We were running low on light so I didn’t get to go look for the match. I’ve seen quite a few bucks on our walks over the last week, and all were carrying still. Definitely too early to really get after it, but it’s good to break the ice early.
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thalwag, I had the exact concern with liners you mentioned. I was considering what you’re doing, only spray the body parts. Having tons of dirt clinging to moving parts under the truck seems like it could cause it’s own issues.
Hillhiker does this truck have the wheel liners in it? If not that is the first thing I would do. Not only does it make it much quieter on gravel roads, but it really protects inside the wheel well from rusting. I have no experience with those products though so no help there.
It does not have the wheel liners now, but I’ll either install them or maybe do bed liner in the wheel wells for some protection while still being easy to wash. I plan to keep this truck for a long time, so I’d like to prolong the slow death from rust my old truck succumbed to. I’m just trying to decide if these coatings are a good idea in my case or if being good about washing the truck is a better option. FYI I do have a company truck as well that I put most miles on. My personnel truck is for weekends/hunting/fishing type use and the occasion road trip. The new truck is probably nicer than I should have bought, but the deal was too good to pass up for a spotless low mileage truck.
I just bought a new to me Chevy 1500 Trail Boss that’s essentially 100% rust free. The frame doesn’t even have surface rust at this point. For a 2019 I question whether the previous owner ever drove it in the winter. I’m seriously considering treating it with Fluid Film or the PB equivalent to keep it this way as long as possible, but I’m curious how nasty of a mess I will have if I drive gravel roads on a regular basis. Will the under side of the truck be completely caked in gravel dust, and will that be an issue? Any insight would be appreciated.
I’m currently running Crispi Colorado GTX when it’s warmer out, and Salomon Tundra Pro’s when it’s colder including in the treestand during late season. The Crispi’s may be a little stiff feeling for some, but one of my favorites to date. Sadly I’m pretty sure the Salomons are being discontinued. Glad I picked up a spare pair earlier this year! They both are extremely waterproof, and I have close to a thousand miles on the Salomons in a couple years and they’re still in great shape. If you feel like branching out from the usual brands watch steapandcheap, camofire, and blackovis for boot sales. You can get some pretty good deals on the next level of boots if you watch these sites.
In the past I’ve had good luck with Lowa, Salomon, Crispi, and Oboz. What ever you do stay away from Lacroses. I had both the Lodestar and the Windrose. Both fell apart and started sucking up water in the same shed season. I bet I didn’t get 300 miles out of both pairs combined.
I have to say I love seeing shed season being discussed already!
I jumped a 8 last night walking into a coyote stand, and he only had one side( may have been busted, tough to tell). I’ve always heard it’s the drop in testosterone after the rut that triggers the start of antler shedding. I think stress and the health of bucks after the rut definitely influences the timing of antlers actually hitting the ground. However it seems like every year people start seeing a couple shed bucks in late december and they start to question timing. In the end the majority of deer drop headgear in the same time frame every year.
One thing is for sure, unless we get a pile of snow and cold soon it’s going to take some extra miles to find numbers of antlers this year. Like Jimmy said the deer are spread out. Some of the fields that would normally be loaded with deer this time of year have been nearly vacant.
Tough to beat the build on river eyes in the winter!
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What you were hoping to do will function, but you will need to keep an eye on the voltage on your cranking battery. When starting the engine you will also likely see a delay in the pump starting as well due to the voltage drop when cranking. If you can be flexible with the number of batteries I would start with 5(one cranking, one for pump and electronics, and 3 for TM). If your electronics act up add the 6th specifically for the electronics. Depending on the engine you’re looking at 5 batteries may work. Assuming you’re looking at a Merc, a 175-300 will have a pretty good alternator output, and it may keep up depending on how much idling/slow trolling you do. I’d have my doubts a 150 will maintain a 5 battery setup with that many electronics on the same battery as the pump without low voltage issues on your graphs.
All of this depends on how you use the boat. If you’re not spending extended periods of time idling around and trolling the likely hood of voltage issues drops dramatically because alternator output ramps up pretty fast above trolling speeds. The additional loads on the battery like lights, stereo, livewell, etc all make a difference in how long that accessory battery will hold up as well.
