Oh - caught this guy Saturday morning.  One of only three fish all day - it was cold 

Didn't take time to measure cause I had trouble getting the hook out and wanted to get him back in the water - probably would have gone 17" - nothing huge

3 hours ago, mikemack8 said:

Oh - caught this guy Saturday morning.  One of only three fish all day - it was cold 

she’s beautiful!

i caught a dozen spots this afternoon 

6 hours ago, mikemack8 said:

Oh - caught this guy Saturday morning.  One of only three fish all day - it was cold 

Ummm, please ignore my ignorance. But, what the hell kind of fish is that???

3 minutes ago, LacesOut said:

Ummm, please ignore my ignorance. But, what the hell kind of fish is that???

Palomino rainbow trout

11 hours ago, mikemack8 said:

Just sent in my applications for mule deer and elk for this year in Colorado - fingers crossed!  I've never missed a draw for the deer even with 0 preference points, and I had 1 point for elk so I think my chances are pretty good to draw both.  

I put in for my CO deer point today.  That’ll put me at 10 total.  Still trying to decide if I hold on for the 17 required to hunt the Air Force Academy as a non-resident, or go for a good/not-quite-blue-chip unit a little sooner at around 13 points.

16 hours ago, mikemack8 said:

Oh - caught this guy Saturday morning.  One of only three fish all day - it was cold 

That's a beauty. I had 3 of them swimming in the stream I was fishing about 8 guys around me. They would hit on anything.

On 4/4/2022 at 9:44 PM, mikemack8 said:

Palomino rainbow trout

Pardon my fishing ignorance again. Do you eat that fish or does it get released?

14 hours ago, LacesOut said:

Pardon my fishing ignorance again. Do you eat that fish or does it get released?

You CAN eat them, but I normally do catch and release, which is what I did with that one.  

On 4/5/2022 at 7:35 AM, greend said:

That's a beauty. I had 3 of them swimming in the stream I was fishing about 8 guys around me. They would hit on anything.

nice. my older son caught one years ago that we still want to get mounted. 18in. i gotta see if i can find the pic. 

 

i went out yesterday to the lake. i had one bite, that was it. first time i have been skunked there in over a decade. the earlier rain probably didnt help. 

caught around 15 spotted bass this morning off brush piles in 15-20 feet of water.

sent out my doe tag requests in for the last round. 

9 hours ago, Alpha_TATEr said:

sent out my doe tag requests in for the last round. 

I hate how I can buy my entire license online, but when it comes to applying for a doe tag I have to send it by mail with a check, and then they email me a PDF of my tag. It's archaic.....

Spending a week on the Chesapeake. Going to do some fishing and crabbing. I’ve never done any crabbing before. If anyone has any tips and tricks, please let me know. 

27 minutes ago, Gannan said:

Spending a week on the Chesapeake. Going to do some fishing and crabbing. I’ve never done any crabbing before. If anyone has any tips and tricks, please let me know. 

What area are you staying?

Crab populations area really low, I know that much. There are some unprecedented restrictions in place for commercial operations, not sure about private parties.

As far as tips/tricks, I’ve only bothered to do it a few times, but make sure you use enough line and attach weights. Between tides and currents, you need enough slack to adjust for changing conditions. And the weights just prevent anything from getting tangled.

If you’re fishing anyway, use that for bait.

18 minutes ago, TEW said:

What area are you staying?

Crab populations area really low, I know that much. There are some unprecedented restrictions in place for commercial operations, not sure about private parties.

As far as tips/tricks, I’ve only bothered to do it a few times, but make sure you use enough line and attach weights. Between tides and currents, you need enough slack to adjust for changing conditions. And the weights just prevent anything from getting tangled.

If you’re fishing anyway, use that for bait.

Eastern bay. Seems less restrictive for private parties not putting giant pots down. 

2 hours ago, BFit said:

I hate how I can buy my entire license online, but when it comes to applying for a doe tag I have to send it by mail with a check, and then they email me a PDF of my tag. It's archaic.....

There’s rumor of changing that

6 hours ago, mikemack8 said:

There’s rumor of changing that

I'll believe it when I see it. We are talking about a government agency here....

11 hours ago, BFit said:

I hate how I can buy my entire license online, but when it comes to applying for a doe tag I have to send it by mail with a check, and then they email me a PDF of my tag. It's archaic.....

and then they send the pink envelope back with another copy of it. i guess the treasurer needs to justify her job. 

 

The only issue I have with doing it the same as you buy your regular license is you're going to have to deal with ridiculous lines at the sporting goods stores selling them when it's time to get your doe tags 

11 hours ago, Alpha_TATEr said:

and then they send the pink envelope back with another copy of it. i guess the treasurer needs to justify her job. 

 

That’s it 100%.  The treasury office get a boatload of work in for doe tag processing.  I’m on a PA hunting forum and you would be shocked at how many oldtimers push hard to keep the status quo for the mail-in doe tag processes vs. online applications.  It didn’t help that Aspira (?) seriously porked the first ever PA online ordering a few years back.  Lots of people had delayed/no-show regular licenses and tags, which added more fuel to their fire.

I’m going west this year back to Nevada for a mule deer rifle hunt in unit 151-156. Cooked off 10 years of applications/10 bonus points for it so, needless to say, the pressure is on to score.

29 minutes ago, MIRV Griffen said:

That’s it 100%.  The treasury office get a boatload of work in for doe tag processing.  I’m on a PA hunting forum and you would ve shocked at how many oldtimers push hard to keep the status quo for the mail-in doe tag processes vs. online applications.  It didn’t help that Aspira (?) seriously porked the first ever PA online ordering a few years back.  Lots of people had delayed/no-show regular licenses and tags, which added more fuel to their fire.

I’m going west this year back to Nevada for a mule deer rifle hunt in unit 151-156. Cooked off 10 years of applications/10 bonus points for it so, needless to say, the pressure is on to score.

I'm leaving for Colorado in 3 weeks to hunt mulies and elk - got muzzleloader tags for both.  

1 hour ago, MIRV Griffen said:

That’s it 100%.  The treasury office get a boatload of work in for doe tag processing.  I’m on a PA hunting forum and you would ve shocked at how many oldtimers push hard to keep the status quo for the mail-in doe tag processes vs. online applications.  It didn’t help that Aspira (?) seriously porked the first ever PA online ordering a few years back.  Lots of people had delayed/no-show regular licenses and tags, which added more fuel to their fire.

I’m going west this year back to Nevada for a mule deer rifle hunt in unit 151-156. Cooked off 10 years of applications/10 bonus points for it so, needless to say, the pressure is on to score.

 

1 hour ago, mikemack8 said:

I'm leaving for Colorado in 3 weeks to hunt mulies and elk - got muzzleloader tags for both.  

this is my 2nd year hunting so i'm still good with learning this state. i just got a new spot to hunt, the guy that set up there got booted from the campground. i already have some nice trailcam pics of doe and a couple of bucks that come in off the logging road that leads to a pipeline. 

good luck out west !!!

8 hours ago, mikemack8 said:

I'm leaving for Colorado in 3 weeks to hunt mulies and elk - got muzzleloader tags for both.  

Good luck to you, man!  What season/unit?

On 8/16/2022 at 11:23 AM, Alpha_TATEr said:

 

this is my 2nd year hunting so i'm still good with learning this state. i just got a new spot to hunt, the guy that set up there got booted from the campground. i already have some nice trailcam pics of doe and a couple of bucks that come in off the logging road that leads to a pipeline. 

good luck out west !!!

Thanks!  I started hunting late in life myself.  I was fortunate to have an incredibly skilled mentor - a Syrian immigrant who is Muslim and can’t buy commercial meat since it’s not Halal (their equivalent of Kosher).  He learned how to hunt public land as a late teen and was a huge help in getting me rolling in Nebraska.

I got better and better over the years and learned how to become self-sufficient with scouting and avoiding pressure.  I made some connections over the years and eventually got private access, as well.  

Be patient, take notes on what works and doesn’t work, and if an area is dead for more than a couple days, do not be afraid to change it up ASAP.  I went from not being able to kill a turkey, to tagging out in 4 different states in one season (8 birds total).  You’ll get there with persistence and adaptability.