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Well at last you got to see a bird this morning! nothing came into the fields where I was set up this morning…they were not using the roost trees I expected them to be in.

Here is the jerky recipe I use - I got it from the OOD magazine web forum many years ago. I have a 3-rack jerky tray set that I got from Cabela's, and I do it on my 4-burner BBQ (because my wife hates me smelling up the house doing it in the oven), with only one burner on low to medium - takes about 5-6 hours, and I rotate the racks 180 degrees, and bottom to top every 30 minutes to get consistent results. Called T-birds jerky Ingredients - 4 pounds round steak (I do it with turkey or venison) - 4 tablespoons onion powder - 1 1/3 teaspoons black pepper - 1 1/3 teaspoons garlic powder - 2 pinches salt - 1 teaspoon dry Italian-style salad dressing mix - 1 cup Worcestershire sauce - 1 cup soy sauce - 1 teaspoon hot pepper sauce Directions 1. Cut meat into strips no thicker than 1/4 inch. In a large bowl, mix together onion powder, pepper, garlic powder, salt and Italian seasoning. Stir in Worcestershire sauce, soy sauce and pepper sauce. Place meat into a container, and combine with marinade. Cover, and refrigerate 24 hours. (i like marinating it for 2days). 2. Place oven rack on the highest level. Place aluminum foil on bottom of oven to catch drips. Preheat oven to 150 degrees F (65 degrees C). 3. Insert round toothpicks through the tops of the strips of meat, and hang them from the oven rack. Bake in preheated oven for 4 hours, or until dried to desired consistency.

I cut the breast into thin strips and make jerky out of it.

I just want to see some dry weather because I hunt the family farm near Cayuga, and that Haldimand clay is a gooey, sticky mess to have to walk through when its wet! When its wet I try to stick to the 3 hay fields on the farm just because its easier walking thru grass than muddy grain fields, but my favourite opening day spot is against a tree in a grain field south of the main bush roost trees. And I have hunted them in all kinds of weather except thunderstorms. More than once I have started a morning hunt, only to have to make a run for the car because it started thundering, and I’m carrying a nice steel “lightning rod” (gun)!!

Weather forecast is looking good for Thursday’s opener - sunny and clear. However, it’s going to be a cold start to the morning (-3C) forecast, so I’ll be getting out the warm thermals to put on! At least I won’t have to worry about taking the Thermacell for mosquitoes.

Bill, that map isn't fully accurate for their northernmost range in Ontario - they have ranged further north than that map indicates. Back in 2007 we were moose hunting 1 hour north of Blind River, and one of our guys saw a hen turkey on a game trail in that area. There is an established flock on St Joseph Island, and many of these birds have been found north of the island on the mainland as well. The bird our guy saw was probably a migrant from the St Jo flock.

Yep, counting down! just hope the weather forecast improves by then.

Bill, i had the same canoe as you do, and I used a12 volt deep cycle in it for years with my Minn Kota 30 Lb. I ran extension cable from the front section of the canoe to the motor to balance out the weight, and it worked great. Just ran the cable down that central keel groove in the floor. I’m using the 12 volt in my kayak now with that motor. i would like to get a lithium for the reduced weight in my yak, but the price is still atrocious on them. i use a small lithium in it to power my Lowrance hook 2 fish finder.

And its not just bad for fishing. I’m hoping we get a dry spell before turkey opener on the 25th or the fields will be mud bogs. Haldimand clay no fun to walk thru in wet muddy fields!

Okay, winter is now officially over because I just had to mow my lawn! Parts of it were already 5” high, and I haven’t even fertilized yet.

Hope some on here got lucky, and got to see the eclipse. We had total cloud cover, and just were able to see it get dark. My daughter sent the attached photo from New Brunswick.

Another option is do what I did and switch gas push mower to self-propelled electric. So nice now to just walk behind it and let it do the work! From the size of your lawn you would need one with 2 batteries.

Oh oh! That sounds like a guarantee that we will still get another snow storm! 😵‍💫

Just received a notice from the Hunter Ed program that Excalibur has issued a recall notice for their C2 Crank Cocking Aid because of hook breakage. If anyone uses one of these, you should check the Excalibur website for instructions on replacement of the hooks and cords.

At last we’re not having to shovel anything! My daughter in New Brunswick is getting snow.

Chris, my top post…Speakout. I got our iphones many years ago at Factory Direct in Niagara Falls.

Their cheapest plan is $25 per month, and, if you check their website, they will often give an extra $25 topup if you make a $100 payment, so $125 for $100. I only used my phone for calls and texts, and never had any service issues with them, and good area coverage…..just rare signal drops occasionally when driving, but didn’t happen often.

Speakout through 7-11 is a cheap way to go. you just buy their SIM card, then you can pay-as-you-go….you can top up for $25, $50, or $100 whenever you need to. They piggyback on the Rogers network, so pretty extensive coverage Canada-wide. I used them for several years before we switched to Virgin.

The 2024 regulations are available to look at online now.

For any deer hunters interested, you can now get your deer licence and apply for the doe tag.

I went to the Ft. Erie show. Ordered my kayak trailer, and bought some supplies from Bruce’s wife and from Top Notch Tackle. They showed me a neat hook that keeps ur drop shot bait perfectly level, so ordered some of them. Other than those things, I came away feeling disappointed in the rest of the show…seemed like a lot of used things. But getting my yak trailer, which was the key thing I went there for.

Its going to be an interesting spring hunt this year with the major variations we’ve had in the weather these past few months. Allthe mild weather we had might trigger a very early spring breeding season.

I plan on hitting the Ft Erie show in the afternoon.

Article said they filed in the US. NF mayor claims business as usual in the Falls. Hey Bill, maybe they will let us troll from the back of their boats.

Never fished either for browns or the L Ont shore before, but, considering my poor luck in Ft. Erie lately, I have to try it. What other lures besides cleos work for browns? How about rapalas, or plastic minnow baits? And what weight line does everyone use?