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Hunting And Fishing Thread!?!

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Doing something I haven't done in decades... opening day of trout season.
 

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looks neat to me. I don't know much about elk by any means so those points at the base would those possibly be the brow tines starting to take shape for the future? Just asking because I truly don't know the various stages of elk growth.

Sorry for the delayed response… with this spike I am seriously not sure. Just not the normal that we are used to seeing. The small drop tines as I call them were just very unusual.

Anyway, with that being said… I hope this link will be of help to elk antler growth… Elk are very unique with not only their antlers… but they have ivories as well. I’ll post a link on that as well.



Here’s some elk ivory info…


And also some jewelry example you can do…


On the last link, scroll to the top to see the necklace.
 
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Thats awesome. We run on a preference point system here in Colorado, but it doesn't seem to matter as it is still a lottery. A few years ago, I drew a sheep tag with 3&1. I had to stop telling people that I drew with only 1 point. The guys with 20 were pissed lol. I am curious how your draw works though?
For ND, elk, moose, bighorn it is 100% random. Really pisses off the people that have been applying for 10-40yrs, I say it is what it is and life just isn't fair.
It's amazing how so many "Sportsman" are so covered with greed and entitlement it about makes me sick.
 
Daughter #2 (11yrs) got her first animal with a rifle this past Sunday. Turns out there is a guy that runs a game preserve and brings in various exotic rams that is only 2hrs away. He had donated a $1,500 youth ram hunt to our SCI Chapter (Red River Valley) banquet live/online auction first weekend of March. I didn't bid on it because I was busy running something at the banquet. When Shane checked in afterwards with me he gave me a very reduced price on 1 he had to get rid of beings he will be getting some more soon. Worked out perfect for a little congratulations surprise for the daughter passing hunter safety the week before and to get her some experience after her miss on her first deer this past fall on last day of season and not getting another opportunity.
Yes this was a high fence hunt but it was not sit in a blind and shoot off a feeder. Ram was actually hard to get hidden from and at 1 point was only 10yds from us. At supper close range 3 times before we could get out of its sight enough to hide again in the tree edge. It was coming by at a good clip at about 40yds, I did a bahh and it stopped, she made a great shot and it stiffened up, beings it stayed standing I had her hit it again and it was over. After gun was on safe she was hust shaking and I asked if she was excited, she said "no I'm terrified" and then I'm thinking I just scared my daughter but then everything sunk in, we hugged (I might have got a little teary) smiled, unloaded the gun and met Shane (owner) at the ram. She eventually stopped shaking and as the pictures show became very happy with herself, she wants to go back even. Ram was broken down ad meat taken home, haven't taste tested yet and we stopped to drop off the head for a euro mount with a gal that the outfitters knows.
In 1 week spring turkey opens and both daughter's have tags for home. 2 weeks we take our father daughter's turkey hunting trip to western ND and all 3 of us have tags there. I have been very blessed with daughter's that have found a love of the outdoors and hunting.
Sorry for the long post
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Thank you to Shane with Rams on the Ridge. If you are within a few hours from Alexandria MN and want to get kids out or looking for something for adult kids check him out.
One last thing, we used a 6.5 Grendel with 123gr ELD-M on a handload I developed and the night before Claire helped load them, she did the powder fill and bullet seating

So awesome! Tell that young lady Congrats! Not sure who looks more proud in those pics… and can’t blame you for being a proud Papa. That 6.5 Grendel is a pretty slick round… and to make a shot with a round you helped to load… so cool.
 
Ok, I feel like @Steve H here… Yea, you all know what’s coming… and unlike Steve… I can‘t even blame my son this time… 😉😂

Anyway, any shooters or hunters out there that are interested… found this today via text from Midway USA. Couldn’t resist and pulled the trigger… 😊

Have always wanted one, but the original price was so steep when raising a small fam… money was needed elsewhere.

https://acs1.tc/O1db87jB0k
You enabler you. That is a killer deal and I would probably hop on it but I have been hemorrhaging money lately. Vehicle repair ($5,330), new couch and recliner (bought before the vehicle problems), new shotgun for older daughter, pheasant shoot at a preserve this past weekend for her plus taking off turkey hunting this weekend 7hrs from home with the kids.
 

They caught a cat by the grade school this morning.
Ha a black bear roll through Fargo ND last week. It wasn't too far from the VA where my wife works which is right on the Red River. Basically it sounds like everyone just urged to give Boo-Boo space to find its way to mamma.

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Did a little googling to see at what age black bears get weened off ofof mamma bear and seems to be 16-18mo. My knowledge of bears is not very high so I would be interested if anyone on here know more what you would guess the age to be, my guess is that it Boo-Boo is right in that age range.
 
A few weeks or so ago. I stumbled upon a company called Obalus. They've only been around for about 5 years. And after reading their reviews. It almost sounded too good to be true.
Their reviews are amazingly good. These are labeled as "beginner "reels by many of the reviews. Probably because of concerns over longevity at this price point.


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When I go fishing I carry a extra reel. In case I oopsie. And the backlash is beyond repair. It is rare that it can't be fixed on the spot. But it's a crappy way to end your day. Especially if the fish are biting!
This model is currently sold out.
These came in a no-frills box with instructions.
The price got me interested enough to give them a try. The sell for 59.00 each.
But had a sale going on for buy one, get one free.
I haven't spooled them up or tried them yet. But they feel every bit as good as the Abu Garcia and kast king reels I have. Smooth functions and the handle feels tight with no backlash.
For someone who said he would not outfit the new campsite with new gear. I really proved myself wrong.....again!
 
I see you combo the buy one get one with either the one you got or the Cobra strike...need to look into this, not that I need any more gear.
 
A few weeks or so ago. I stumbled upon a company called Obalus. They've only been around for about 5 years. And after reading their reviews. It almost sounded too good to be true.
Their reviews are amazingly good. These are labeled as "beginner "reels by many of the reviews. Probably because of concerns over longevity at this price point.


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When I go fishing I carry a extra reel. In case I oopsie. And the backlash is beyond repair. It is rare that it can't be fixed on the spot. But it's a crappy way to end your day. Especially if the fish are biting!
This model is currently sold out.
These came in a no-frills box with instructions.
The price got me interested enough to give them a try. The sell for 59.00 each.
But had a sale going on for buy one, get one free.
I haven't spooled them up or tried them yet. But they feel every bit as good as the Abu Garcia and kast king reels I have. Smooth functions and the handle feels tight with no backlash.
For someone who said he would not outfit the new campsite with new gear. I really proved myself wrong.....again!
what are you going to spool them up with?
 
They didn't have that deal when I bought these. I would have jumped on it if they did. I'm going to put 15 pound braided on these.
do you tie the lure right to the braided or us a mono leader?
 
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