Hi Folks ! It is now February and I don’t want to hear any complaining ! We have had an exceptionally mild winter so far and no snow ! I have only burned a ½ a tank of heating oil since December 1 st ! Having a new efficient wood stove helps. I don’t have anything to give for a fishing report. The scallops from Pleasant Bay are becoming harder to catch now as they are further apart from one another as they once were. I guess you can only catch them once. Not to worry though, as since they are mature scallops in their second and last year of life, they have already spawned this year. Now that their life’s job is done, if they are not caught, they die. They have done their job of maturing to spawn and hopefully there is a new crop of scallop spat that will settle to the bottom and survive the many predators, such as the green crab, mud crabs, and starfish etc. and provide some tasty delicacies in 2008.Also, in my off time this winter, I have had a chance to look through my bowhunting photos from this last year and many of you that fish with me know that this is a passion of mine. I would like to attach a couple pictures of decent bucks from Kansas, one that I never saw within range, and one that I let walk under my tree unmolested. Understand that, when bowhunting you must be very close to the animal, sometimes within 50 feet or less ! The picture of the first one, is a beautiful 8 pointer that I let pass without a shot, in the hopes that I would get a shot at the larger buck in the second two pictures. I got several great pictures of him as he passed by at about 12 to 16 yards and got a real show as he rubbed a sapling in front of me for 10 minutes ! This deer is the biggest deer that I have ever let pass without a shot or an attempt at a shot.
The other two pictures are from one of my digital Cuddeback trail cameras. These little cameras are pretty handy as they can show you what kind of animal is in the area you may be hunting. I had only seen this second buck once, as he crossed a field one late morning about one half a mile away. I think he would score around 145, with the broken brow tine, and was the dominant buck of the area. The tree row that he frequented was ripped to shreds by his rubbing and scrapings. I was quite surprised to see that he passed in front of my camera, located in a funnel, about 100 feet away from my tree stand, heading towards it on the same trail as the 8 pointer, several times during the week I was there. He is still there !
We will be fishing soon.
Thanks, Bruce
