Hunting And Fishing Thread!?!

[Ishi]

Here’s my 11/11/23 bow kill. Three years in a row for that date. As a taxidermist for the last 33 years I get the pleasure to work on my own deer.

The form is an extreme full sneak wall pedestal mount. The exposed part was made with tile grout and colored to resemble weathered barn wood.

Right now I’m planning on retiring from the business and hoping to transfer the shop into my hunting room with all my whitetail mounts! The walls will be lined with pine tongue and grove or some kind of hardwood

 

[Gonna Smoke]

Nice buck, but what's that thing hanging on the wall below?

 

[smokerjim]

Nice buck, but what's that thing hanging on the wall below?

Might be a doorbell, not really sure.

 

[tallbm]

Here’s my 11/11/23 bow kill. Three years in a row for that date. As a taxidermist for the last 33 years I get the pleasure to work on my own deer.
View attachment 695178

The form is an extreme full sneak wall pedestal mount. The exposed part was made with tile grout and colored to resemble weathered barn wood.
View attachment 695179
Right now I’m planning on retiring from the business and hoping to transfer the shop into my hunting room with all my whitetail mounts! The walls will be lined with pine tongue and grove or some kind of hardwood

Nice buck and nice work!!!

 

[Ishi]

Nice buck, but what's that thing hanging on the wall below?

That’s an antique for sure lol! Every once in awhile I use it to remember how old I am

 

[Gonna Smoke]

That’s an antique for sure lol! Every once in awhile I use it to remember how old I am

We just cut that cord about a year ago...

 

[Ishi]

We just cut that cord about a year ago...

When I line the walls it’ll be taken out

 

[JLeonard]

That’s an antique for sure lol! Every once in awhile I use it to remember how old I am

Now if it had the rotary dial.....it would be a classic.

Jim

 

[JckDanls 07]

Ours had a 10' cord that was stretched to 20' and always tangled/twisted up...

 

[Buckeyedude]

Really sucked trying to have a private conversation in front of the whole family in the living room!

 

[JckDanls 07]

Really sucked trying to have a private conversation in front of the whole family in the living room!

LOL.. That's why the cord was stretched out ... Trying to get away from em...

 

[chilerelleno]

Actually got some premium quality time in today.

Went out and caught a mess of Bream using crickets.
Tossed them in our bait bucket and headed for a favorite backwater.
We targeted Gar, and with it being peak breeding season they were both horny and hungry.
The Longnosed Gar gave us a workout, we caught and kept three and released the rest.

Now of course we got home cleaned some fish and made dinner.
Home Cut Fries and Deep Fried Gar

 

[cptnding]

Actually got some premium quality time in today.

Went out and caught a mess of Bream using crickets.
Tossed them in our bait bucket and headed for a favorite backwater.
We targeted Gar, and with it being peak breeding season they were both horny and hungry.
The Longnosed Gar gave us a workout, we caught and kept three and released the rest.View attachment 698604View attachment 698605View attachment 698606View attachment 698607
View attachment 698603

Now of course we got home cleaned some fish and made dinner.
Home Cut Fries and Deep Fried Gar

View attachment 698608
View attachment 698609

Nice catch Chile. We have gar here in GA and I'll catch one every once in a while by accident fishing for striped bass with live bait. I've always tossed them back. I've never known anyone who kept them. How do you clean them? That looks damn tasty!

 

[Timber II]

Nice mess of grub there!! I’m sure chilerelleno will chime in on cleaning the gar but I’ll add that I always use heavy tin snips to cut up the back then simply cut out the boneless back straps!

 

[DRKsmoking]

ow of course we got home cleaned some fish and made dinner.
Home Cut Fries and Deep Fried Gar

Wow John , nice family day of fishing some strange looking fish for me, We have some weird lookers up here in our water also , but that is just cool looking.

And than a nice big fish fry . GREAT day

David

 

[Gonna Smoke]

John chilerelleno , I've never eaten gar, but have heard it's a pretty white meat that fries up kind of like shrimp in that it curls. Nice work and we love fried fish...

How do you clean them?

Here's one technique...


I saw something similar one time where tin snips were used instead of a reciprocating saw. From what I understand, the skin is cut lengthwise down the top of the fish and then the 2 "loins" are filleted out kinda like removing loins from a deer. End up with 2 boneless filets that can be breaded and fried.

Word of caution, DO NOT eat the gar eggs, they are toxic...

 

[jcam222]

I've heard gar is phenomenal. It's considered a delicacy by many.

 

[chilerelleno]

Hi guys and thanks for the replies and Likes.

Yep, these armor plated, 100 million year old prehistoric fish require some tools to clean.
We use tin snips and heavy shears.
I've seen people use the Sawzall method on Alligator Gar.

Gloves are a must too, their scales can and will cut you if your hand slips while cleaning.
And their gill plates and rakes can slice ya too.
Oh yeah, their mouths are filled with razor sharp, needle teeth, avoid them.

We generally use a machete or ax to chop the head off first, then snips or shears to open up the back.
Then a filet knife to extract the meat by cutting it away from the thick skin.

You get a lot of meat off these fish!
The nearly boneless backstrap meat has a consistency like chicken and the light flavor seems to be a cross between gator and fish.
The meat can be cooked several ways, deep or pan fried, steamed or boiled.
Boiled with spicy crab seasonings is my second favorite method next to deep fried.

And yes, their eggs are toxic to mammals and birds, but not other fish, weird.

Did you know that some indigenous peoples used Gar skins as very effective armor.

 

[Rafter H BBQ]

Nice catch and fry John!

 

[chilerelleno]

Fishing these guys is easy, just need some patience and understanding of their feeding habits.

Small cut baits, we like half a small Bream.
A large Bream can make up to four baits.

A bobber just big enough to stay on the surface.
Not too big or it creates too much drag and they will drop the bait.

A small treble, #4 or smaller, 6-10 inch wire leader, barrel swivel and 10-20lb mono.

Now toss that rig out where you see them cruising or rolling on the surface.
When the bobber disappears... Relax for a minute.
I mean a minute, 60 seconds or more.
Let him take line slowly as he swims, he's working the bait in his mouth to where he can swallow it.
Usually they stop to actually eat it, be watching your line.
Now when he starts to move again, engage the drag, flip your spool shut or whatever, and jack'em up!
Set the hook like ya mean it!
If he hasn't already swallowed it, ya need to set the hook into his bony mouth.

Now it's a fight, they pull pretty good.
They'll go one way then the other, they like to jump and just when ya think the fight is over... Nope.

Gar fishing is fun and the reward is tasty.