Sometimes there are lengthy delays at the border, so our group sometimes crosses the border into Fort Frances. There is a nice, clean, well-run motel there that is right on the water. http://rendezvoushotel.com/

When viewing the FULL screen on my 7 inch Touch I can see plenty of detail, BUT usually I split my screen to view at least two and often three screens at once. Bigger would be better in my opinion. You will be amazed at how great the touch screen works.

Does a WISCONSIN Walmart price match St. Paul, MINNESOTA Morelli’s price on liquor???? Thanks.

East end or west end?

Please do tell of any walleye lakes with open water in Wisconsin. Thank you. Thank you.

I don’t understand. How do your hds unit, your 332 and your 480 share a transducer???

Total: 21.2
Big fish: 5.6

I highly recommend Joe’s Sporting Goods for taking care of you on this matter. Two summers ago I called and asked the same question for my ancient unit. They had me bring it in to them. They updated it on their computer and used an adaptor to install the chip. They demonstrated that it worked before I bought it.

Justin,
What shortie rods do you have now that you like?

I have stayed at places right on the lake and at Ash Trail Lodge at the “end” of the river. When you are right on the lake, you can have a lot of dificulties getting in and out of a resort’s harbor during big waves. The river is quite protected and allows you to sneak out onto the big lake during windy conditions. Staying on the lake gives you more of a feel of being in the wilderness. When you are staying on the river you drive by resorts and bars all the way to the lake. Several of the bars and restaurants will likely be closed as you get into October… IMO either location is great!

Catch your fish.
Find a spot that has a clearing where you can build a fire and shoreline where you can land your boat
Locate firewood.
Start fire using charcoal lighter fluid if wood is damp
Clean fish, wash fish and place in ziplock bag
Place grate (buy a weber grate at Fleet Farm for $10) over fire supported by rocks or logs you found.
Start coffee (Cowboy coffee can be made in an old metal coffee can or similar container.)
Cut up potatoes and onions.
Put frying pan onto grate and heat up bacon slices to make bacon grease in which to fry potatoes. Add potatoes and fry until done.
Open can of beans and put on far edge of grill to heat
Pliers works well for moving beans around.
While potatoes are cooking put slices of bread onto grill and make toast. Make sandwiches with slice of cooked bacon and slice of raw onion for hors de ouvres with coffee.
When potatoes are done place them in kettle and cover with tin foil or lid and place on far edge of grill to keep warm.
Put a little oil in the fry pan and heat it
Add eggs to bag with fish filets. Take filets out two at a time and place in another plastic bag that contains pancake flour or whatever. Shake the filets in the flour and put them into the hot oil.
Serve on real plates with real silverware.
Have fruit cocktail for dessert.
(I may have missed some things that are important and I definitely missed lots of things you can add to a shore lunch…)
You can get an inexpensive giant tool box to carry your shore lunch gear. The grate and the frying pan need to be wrapped up in giant garbage bags and will be difficult to store in your boat…
Have a great trip.

How do my wife and I sign up to attend?

Total = 26.8
Big Walleye = 8.1

e-card sent. Be strong for her and yours.

I like this Filson cap. It is insulated and has wool earflaps. Very windproof.
http://www.filson.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2092249&cp=2065674.2065685.2117162&parentPage=family

You might try just a little west off the rocky point on East Balsam for walleyes, pan fish and perch. Also try the north and south sides of that rocky point. Another area to try is south of Stump Bay (you will see lots of fishing shacks there). If you are going to fish there for walleyes, panfish and perch, you could also set tipups for northern along the weedline in stump bay. You could try leaving your minnow just under the ice on the tipups for northerns. Good luck.

On really, really cold days I would carry a thermos of coffee and a thermos of drinking water. A water bottle will eventually freeze solid when it is very cold, but a thermos of warm water really works well. Just my tip…

I definitely recommend saying no to cotton. I ride my ATV and then walk 3 miles to stand. I dress for the ATV ride, undress for the hike, and then dress again when up in my stand. Every day brings different weather. AFter doing this for a few years of freezing, sweating, freezing, etc., I have finally got it sort of figured out for myself.

I try to get a good guess at what the weather conditions will be and then dress accordingly. Basically, I wear 3/4 of my stuff for the ATV ride, then I wear only about 1/2 my stuff for the hike. Then when I get to my stand, I take off some stuff (change socks and hat immediately) and gradually add more clothing as time goes past. During the hike and getting into my stand, I have found it is very important to keep from getting overheated. I wear a stocking cap on my head (works well with my headlamp) while on ATV and hiking. By the time I get to my stand that hat is soaked and put away in favor of a Thinsulate/Goretex hat with a bill and ear flaps.

If it will be below zero and/or sleet, rain or snow I start with wool long underwear tops and bottoms. Wool pants. Worsterlon shirt. Browning fleece/goretex bibs and parka. Wool stocking cap. Polypro sock liners with wool socks. Sorrel boots if dry enough, otherwise insulated rubber boots, but I pack in my Sorels. I bring extra socks to change into when I get up in my stand. I bring a lightweight down jacket to put on under my parka when up in my stand. Loosen boot laces when in the stand.

Even when it’s very cold, on the hike to the stand, I generally wear only my long underwear and wool pants (blaze orange wool)on my lower body. Also, I forgot to mention that for really cold days, I wear polypro long underwear underneath my wool long underwear. It is important not to let hands get cold. I use puffy, insulated mittens to warm my hands at the first sign of them gettin cold in gloves. I have not had much luck with the chemical handwarmers and I feel the old lighter fluid warmers are too smelly.

These are just a few tips that may help you. I have other suggestions for different circumstances.

I use a Kershaw folding knife with a gut hook. Great blade, holds edge well. I use it in conjunction with a saw. The saw is for the pelvic bone on the bucks and for opening the rib cage to get more rapid cooling. I carry the saw on my belt and use it for things other than gutting deer. If I was to not carry a saw, then I would probably buy a Buck Crosslock with the two blades-one is a saw blade with a gut hook. My sons use that knife very effectively and do not bother to carry a saw. I love my buck knife for general duty and have used it for gutting deer–it works well. I just prefer having a gut hook. Also, years ago when I did not carry a saw, I broke the tip off my buck knife by using it improperly on a buck’s pelvic bone. Of course it really comes down to personal preference.

How does she do with the “sit” command? You might try working a lot on having her sit on command so that she immediately obeys the command. Then progress to having her sit when you come home. Have her sit while you greet and pet her. The idea is to work up to the point that you can have her sit when company arrives and then they can greet her one at a time.

Our current lab is an indoor dog. I do not believe that keeping her indoors has much affect on hunting.

Her predecessor would probably have been classified as an outdoor dog. Her schedule was to come inside the house at about 6 am and socialize while the kids and wife and I got ready to leave. My wife used to be the last one to leave and would put Mitzi into her outdoor kennel at about 9 am. At least one of the kids was home by 3 pm and would left the dog inside where she would remain until about 10:30 pm when we went to bed. On colder than minus 20 nights we would put her inside our garage in her kennel. She would develop a good winter coat and almost never got cold duck hunting. Mitzi simply knew and understood that she spent the night outdoors in her kennel run with her insulated house and heated water dish. She never barked at night, but if we neglected to bring her inside during “daytime” hours when we were home, then she would let us know that she wanted to come in and see us.

Our current dog has had a couple of instances of being chilled while duck hunting. As soon as I notice that Lucy is cold, I vigorously towel her down and she is fine.

JF

F.Y.I. The other day I noticed that the directions for the SportDog say something about holding the transmitter HIGH and AWAY FROM YOUR BODY to get maximum range…

JF

Better late than never?? I’m in!
Thanks.

JF

I have that reel and that is how it works. By the way, I like that reel a lot.

JF

I have a bit of advice that I cannot help but give you. A friend once gave the advice to me, and it has proven to be completely correct. The advice is this: do not price shop for a dog. You are going to end up making a huge emotional investment in a dog. You will want the dog to be healthy and emotionally stable. You will also want the dog to be friendly and teachable. You will want the dog to hunt. Breeding is a big part of assuring you that you will get these things from a pup. Part of it is still luck. In addtion to your emotional investment in a dog, there will be a financial investment. You will likely spend $6500 in dog food and $4500 in vet bills over the course of the dog’s life. There are still lots of other expenses. the point of it is that in the long run, saving $100 or even $500 on the initial purchase price of a pup really does not make any sense if you sacrifice the best chance at a healthy, happy companion and hunter.

If you look at the graph provided by Ferny, you can see that at 25 yds the holes in your target should be one inch low. That would put you dead center at 100 yds.

You asked where you would be at 100 yds if you were dead on at 25 yds. I believe that the answer is that you would be one inch high at 100 yds when you are dead on at 25 yds.

JF

I recommend the Buck Crosslock series of knives. This one knife will enable you to “do it all” in the field. I personally like the gut hook feature. I think it will open your deer like a zipper. The saw blade works for sawing through the pelvis of a buck and also works well for sawing open the sternum. It seems to hold an edge pretty well.

Having said all that, I do not own one. One of my sons and my brother-in-law have them. My knife is a single blade Kershaw with a gut hook and a rubber handle. I really like it a lot. I carry a small saw for doing the pelvis on bucks and opening the sternum. My saw is also handy for last minute trimming of shooting lanes.

JF

A couple of you have asked WHY steel. Good question. The answer is only mildly complicated. We will be hunting for grouse on our own land–swampy prime duck habitat. My youngest son (24) and my oldest (33) have both decided they will use steel shot in order to be “good stewards of the land.” I respect their views and choose not to argue the point. (One of my middle sons takes no position and will shoot whatever we decide.) Furthermore, we could have a chance to jump shoot some ducks. If I understand the law correctly, we cannot even possess lead shot if we hunt any ducks along the way. For these reasons I have decided to decree that my friends and guests must all use steel shot. This will, of course, include me.

Thanks for the input.

John

A couple of you have asked WHY steel. Good question. The answer is only mildly complicated. We will be hunting for grouse on our own land–swampy prime duck habitat. My youngest son (24) and my oldest (33) have both decided they will use steel shot in order to be “good stewards of the land.” I respect their views and choose not to argue the point. (One of my middle sons takes no position and will shoot whatever we decide.) Furthermore, we could have a chance to jump shoot some ducks. If I understand the law correctly, we cannot even possess lead shot if we hunt any ducks along the way. For these reasons I have decided to decree that my friends and guests must all use steel shot. This will, of course, include me.

Thanks for the input.

John

I used to have a Morrum reel, but I stupidly left it behind a bush on Rainy Lake. I loved that reel. Smooth. Very well made. I do not believe that they are currently making them are they? If I cannot recover mine, I may need to know the replacement cost. Do you know the price?

Thanks.

John