Coach

Ran down last night for a *really* quick trip hoping to get the kids onto some fish under the lantern. We had baseball tryouts 'till 2:00 PM, an hour to get everthing together and 3 hours from Lakeside to the water including stops for minnows and permits. We hit the white point on the NE side of where the San Carlos Arm hits the main lake with about 40 minutes of light left. After rigging up poles for 3 kids it wasn't long before the first bite so I figured it would be a good night - we missed a few good bites before light dwindled and didn't put our first fish into the boat until almost 8 - thankfully it was my youngest son, Joshua who got to land the first crappie. He's the only one that went fishless over Spring Break at Roosevelt. Unfortunately, it kinda went from light bite, to really slow, to pretty much no action and the fish just got smaller as the night wore on - opposite of what I was hoping for. The good news is, everyone got to pull in at least one crappie, and I got a little "eater" catfish, but overall a pretty disappointing trip - at least as far as the bite went. It was pretty cold for this time of year with the constant breeze and low pressure system flowing in. The water was way warmer than the air temp, but even in the warmer coves, we just couldn't find a good bite. Pulled the boat out at 11:05 PM and made the haul back. The kids slept the whole way back and at about 1:30 this morning we home. Fun, but I sure would have liked to see the kids get into a good crappie bite. We'll keep trying, but if last year was any indication, a Spring like this with cold front after cold front, it may not turn into one of those years that you can get the kids on to fast biting fish - hopefully we'll get another crack at it but according to the weather we've got yet another front moving in this week. Here's some pix... The mighty fishermen Rigging up Sunset Josh - first crappie Carrie Nick's first Matt One more for Joshie Enjoy, and let's get down there when the bite really kicks IN!!!

Happy Easter!

Anyone else tried out the Meindl Perfekt Hunters? Man, have I torn through the boots in my time, but I'd stack these against anything out there. The 10" feel like you're in running shoes - even on our volcanic rock mixed in mud up here. I have light weight Danners that I use as "utility boots", and let me just say, their customer service is second to NONE. I've sent back Danners twice and each time got a brand new, upgraded pair. That said, I did have to send them back after the stitching tore loose or the gore-tex failed. It's great that they treat their customers so well, but I'd prefer NOT to have to send my boots back. And I'm not one of those guys who beats the heck out them and then expects a new pair 3 years later. IMO, the Meindl Perfekt Hunters are the real deal. Pricey, but when you already KNOW what your next pair of boots will be, well, that says something. When I get back from a hunt or scouting trip, I might leave some mud on my truck, and maybe let the oiling down of my gun wait, but my Meindl boots will get scrubbed down and treated to preserve them as long as possible. They take care of me and my legs, so I take really good care of them. I put their importance right up there along side good optics. If your boots fail you way back in, you are hosed. NEVER compromise on boots. Not to say ASOLO or Danner or a number of other manufacturers aren't good, and I may not jump up and down about Toyota or Swarovski or Bowtech or any number of products I truly count on - BUT I will go ape-nuts over Meindl boots - I just believe they live up to the expectations and needs of hunters - And nothing can wreck a tough hunt faster than boots that fail. Just my humble $.02

Thanks Brian, I think I'll try to get down there late Saturday with the boys and a bunch of minnows for some night fishing under the lantern. We have to endure a full day of baseball try-outs before we can get out of town. I'll try to get a report out a.s.a.p.

I'm really glad to see these roads still closed. I know it's an inconvenience for some, but let's face it. The ground up here is totally saturated. It simply can't support heavy travel yet. We'll all be out chasing turkeys or looking for sheds soon, but if the roads get rutted up it will make it that much harder for all of us to access the land. Let's be patient. The forest service is really looking at the big picture by trying to maintain the access to some of the most sought-after resources in our state. If those roads get rutted badly, it's just that much harder to bring the kids up for a fall cow hunt.

Nice!!! Every time I go out all the horns I find are still stuck to a bull.

Now that is SUPER COOL!!! What a find. There's a spot where I lilke to quail hunt where it seems there are always some rattlers hanging around. Well, turns out there are also pictographs very similar to those you posted, that depict people with swollen hands and snakes all around. Kinda makes you wonder about these places we drive by all the time. Have the snakes been denning up in the same area for a thousand years, and the ancient people marked the surrounding rocks as a warning? Pretty cool indeed.

Don't you just love the guys in LAYERS of camo with rubber boots sitting in a club house over a clover field? Too freaking funny. Just once, I want to see some dude in a day-glo ski getup shooting out of one of these "blinds" just to prove what a doofus it takes to dress up in camo and sit a permanent blind over a hay field and pretend to be hunting. What a bunch of dip-sticks.

Awesome! I hope you take good notes and write up a story about your hunt!

krp, Thanks for posting that. It really gets into the meat of this problem. Unfortunately, this is a political problem. But no matter how aware of it our politicians are, they are unwilling to do anything about it. They care more about their own aspirations than any single citizen - and they don't think they can advance their carreers on an agenda that will make formative change WRT illegal immigration from Mexico. It's a "catch=22" for them and a big old "sh!t sandwich" for us. The problem could be easily solved through a variety of means - force, diplomacy, legislation. But our so-called leaders don't want the problem solved, because for them it is NOT a problem. That's why its our job to make it their problem. We have to find a way to pressure them into doing what must be done, or they will continue to look the other way. It has to hurt them politically NOT to address this problem or it will only get worse.

Muzzle Loader

Happy Birthday Dan.

Dang!!! Nice horns!

Thanks Brian - looking forward to it! Have fun catching all those fish.

3A/3C cow for the boys and Unit 1 Bull (Muzzle Loader) for me - my DREAM HUNT!

3A/3C cow for the boys and Unit 1 Bull (Muzzle Loader) for me - my DREAM HUNT!

You guys ever watch a good "steak cookoff" in Texas - they literally melt a slab of butter or chunk of solid milk creme over it as it cooks. Not too good on the arteries, but some tasty eatin' right there.

Everything I've heard about SC has been really bad this year. Know some guys who went out for Crappie and ended up shooting carp with a bow all day - they had fun for sure, but no crappie fillets. Took the family to Roosevelt Wed thru Sunday and fishing was VERY slow. We caught a total of 3 bass in 4 days of fishing, two being under the slot. Couple more weeks to warm up, or go with Standman if you want to eat fish.

Social Security, Medicare/Medicade, State and local governments all bankrupt or running in the red, even the USPS can't be profitable, yet somehow some people in this country want to trust our entire health care industry to be run by the same bunch that financially ruins EVERYTHING they touch. Some freakin' morons must be really proud right now about what they've done to our country.

They either like messing with us or have the biggest bunch of clowns running their computers. I imagine a herd of chimps banging away at the keyboard - helps me pass the time until the draw REALLY comes out.

Ribeye all the way - patted down with some Zatarain's Creole seasoning - seared over mesquite and pink in the middle. Add a red wine or porter and a decent cigar and you'll think the angels swept you up to heaven.

Absolutely horrible - my heart goes out to the family. This whole border situation is an absolute travesty. Somehow, we've got to get more vocal. We've got to bring more attention to the increased danger of our border areas. I can't believe how this whole situation is being swept under the rug - well, with Janet Napolitano as the director of "Homeland Security" I guess I can. We have to vote these idiots out and get someone in place who is willing to grow a backbone and actually do something. My solution - tell Mexico, for every 1000 illegals we detain, we move our borders South by 10 miles. Within 6 months, you'd see a wall built - in Mexico by Mexicans - and manned by their own military. I'm sick of seeing Americans afraid to access their own land - and in this case, work their own ranch. Now they are killing us. Our borders are under siege and we have a right and responsibilty to protect our land. Unfortunately, we can't do it without support of our now-socialist government (thank you Dem voters), so get your cans to the ballots and remove the "soft-on-illegal-immigrant" clowns and get someone in there that will make securing our borders their top priority. Makes me so mad I can barely type this.

Prayers sent - I hope it works out for you.

PM sent - I had changed my mind about selling it - need a little time to think about it.

My 25-06 loves the 115 grain Combined Technology ballistic silver tips. Haven't shot any game with them yet because the gun is a little on the heavy side, but they are extremely accurate in my Savage 110FP. They'll shoot much tighter groups than I can. When I'm doing things right, 3-shot groups can be covered with a dime at 100 yards and a quarter at 200. I didn't have much luck with Nosler ballistic tips - guess some guns just like certain bullets. The silver tips are not a super strong bullet compared to accubonds, but for coues or other light-skinned game, I love them. I've shot a couple deer with the silver tips in .30 caliber and have been very impressed with their performance. I've seen multiple coues almost lost using bonded bullets because they don't expand quickly in smaller animals. One in particular was hit cresting a ridge with a .270 Nosler Partition. Lucky for us, the deer died shortly within 30 yards of the hit, but had tiny entrance and exit wounds despite the bullet hitting pretty far back and coming out the front shoulder. It passed through a lot of tissue but never expanded. There was absolutely NO blood trail and we couldn't even find the wounds until we skinned the deer. There were two tiny blood drops right next to the buck's nose where he died, even after the bullet had gone through most of the vitals.