Thanks for the info. I’m still figuring out what to do. There is a decent amount of pulp wood that is supposed to be removed according to the MFL plan that was written but with the steep slopes it is hard to get at with the machines that would take that kind of wood. Nothing is ever simple it seems.

Did they do a molar wear aging test on your deer? Just as an FYI, molar wear aging is not very accurate in many cases. If you really want to know the accurate age, make sure you have a “cementum annuli method” done for aging them. That is most accurate way to age deer. I had a buck aged a couple years back that had the body of a 2.5 year old but was really 5.5 years old and the rack supported the 5.5 age also. My deer’s teeth using the molar wear method showed them to be 3.5 so that was wrong too. You are probably real close with the way you aged them by body size and features. That’s how I try to field age my deer when hunting. If you still have the jaws you can still have them officially aged. I sent mine to http://www.deerage.com and they did a great job. I highly recommend them.

I ended up going with the 788ci hd di. I got a great deal on it from moodeals.com as they have the best prices that I could find. On top of that there is a $50 rebate from Humminbird on this model and a few others through 5/1/12.

I am installing a new 24 volt trolling motor on my boat and I need to use a piece of plywood to mount the dual battery tray and onboard battery charger onto. I need to use the plywood as the compartment for the batteries in the front isn’t quite flat enough with the curve of the boat. There is a piece of carpet in the compartment already which I planned to leave there and put the plywood on top of it. I only need about a 2′ x 2′ piece to do the job. I have a piece of 3/4″ treated plywood from 2005 stored in my garage that I was going to use. If I have the carpet between the wood and the alumininum hull, will that be ok? Will the carpet be enough separation from the aluminum?

LakeMaster support already answered my question. They just add more lakes to the chips.

Thanks for the information guys. I see there are different versions of the Lakemaster Minnesota chip. Is there any difference between version 2 and 3 other than there are more lakes covered on the version 3 chip?

Thanks for the insight. I’ll lef you know what i decide on.

Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the information. Can i put on a small external antenna for the gps to more accurately measure speed? Or isn’t that an option?

I did some more searching and found many more favorable reviews of the 597ci DI HD sonar/gps combo and it seems to be a pretty good unit. Since I fish the Mississippi River what kind of Map software would be recommended for this unit? I would like to see where wing dams are at a minimum.

I like the 587ci di sonar/gps combo. Any comments from anyone who has used that one? I looked at the 597 ci hd sonar/gps combo but i didn’t like the comments about issues with the speed readout being off. That’s important for me when trolling. Some units have 4000 watts of power and some have 2400. Whats the benefitof the higher wattage?

Got it. Thanks for all the info.

Thanks for the information. That answers my questions.

Ok. Did you guys hook up the power for the fish finder to the trolling motor battery or the starting/accessory battery? My trolling motor is 24 volts so I’m going to hook up 2 12volt batteries in a series for it. Can I hook up my fish finder to this setup or do I have to wire it all the way to the back of the boat to my starting/accessory battery?

Thanks for the info.

Does your Maxxum 74# thrust have the Universal Sonar built into it? What is the shaft length? I need a 54″ shaft. Also, what year is it? I don’t see a 74# Maxxum on the new list of motors on Minn Kota’s site. I know they are always changing something on them every year.

Thanks for the great insight. Now I know that a 24 volt system is a must so that’s the way I’ll go for sure. I don’t have a lot of money to spend on it so I’m hoping to find a good used one before spring comes. If anyone has a good 24 volt minn kota with universal sonar that they are looking to sell, let me know.

Thanks for the information. That’s just what I was looking for.

Thanks. That’s just what I needed to know.

I’ve used a moultrie i40 since 2007 and it has worked well but need another camera and want something smaller. The scoutguards seem to be just about what I am looking for. I’m used to having a readout for the % of battery left, but on the scoutguards, there is just a low battery indicator. Once the low battery indicator lights up, how long will it be until the batteries are dead? And/Or how many pics are left to be taken?

Also, how well does the remote viewer work? I’m looking at the 560V or 570V potentially.

Thanks for the input!

sign me up.

It is opening morning of the 2nd season in Wisconsin, 4/22/09, temperature in the mid 30’s, clear skies and a cool breeze. I arrived at my hunting spot at 5:30am, loaded up my decoys, gun, calls, and chair and headed out to go set up my blind. I set out my decoys, including my new Primos strutting gobbler with a real tail attached to it. As I was finishing setting up my blind, I heard a couple hens yelping and a couple faint gobbles. I got set up and started calling to the hens hoping they would come in and a gobbler would follow at some point. Well I had one hen fly down about 150 yards away and another came out about 125 yards away but both walked the other way. Then I had a tom answer me quite a distance away down in a deep draw. He proceeded to gobble back at me but continued to go up the other side of the draw to a different bluff than I was on about a ¼ mile away. Eventually he got quiet. Then a hen started yelping to me in the draw and was coming closer but decided to head up where the gobbler went to and then she got quiet too. I kept calling on and off and suddenly that hen starting coming off the other bluff and was working her way down through the draw back towards me yelping the whole way. Shortly thereafter, the gobbler started gobbling again and began working his way down the draw towards me too. The last gobble I heard, I figured he was about 70 yards down in the woods. All of a sudden, he stepped out of the woods 20 yards away to my right. Luckily I was fully hidden in my pop up blind so he had no clue I was there. He instantly saw the decoys and walked about 5 yards towards them fluffed himself up a bit and then proceeded on a fast walk right at the strutting gobbler decoy. When he was about 10 feet from my decoys, 17 yards away from me, I shot him. At 7:30am after a lot of calling my hunt ended. He weighed 20lbs and had a 9 ¼” beard. I used 3”, #5 Remington Nitro turkey loads, with an extra full turkey choke in my 12 Ga. Remington 870 Super Magnum turkey gun. They work way better than the high end loads and the shells eject better also and only cost a fraction of the price of the “fancy” shells.

In the picture you can see the actual decoy setup used.

Thanks for the insight. Unless I get a hot tip somewhere else for opening day, I’ll be setup in one of those 2 locations I spoke of and we’ll see what happens.

I’ve been gathering information from my trail camera on new areas each year too. I’m starting to get some pretty consistent data to confirm what I was thinking. I’ve been noticing the past couple years that I have to wait until about the 28th of Oct. until my funnels start to heat up as they are not typical travel routes between bedding and feeding areas. In my area, it is very difficult to setup between bedding and feeding areas early in the year as the deer quite often bed right on the edge of the woods near the beans and corn. Smart move for them, bad for me…

Thanks for the comments. I plan to hunt this spot later next week and we’ll see what happens. It looks like the weather is going to be pretty nice starting on Monday. Hopefully the cold nights will get them moving.

Sign me up.

The Schaffer drop away rest does look like a good one, the only negative that I give it is that it is not a full containment stlye of rest. I want to make sure my arrow doesn’t fall off the rest in hunting situations.

Count me in too!

Thanks for the suggestions. I think I’m going to go with the Peltor Tactical 6 Hearing Device with Backband

This product has gotten excellent reviews and is affordable for only $69.99.