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I usually do a dawn hunt, and I’ve given up on putting out any decoys for early morning hunts. Why: because at dawn the gobblers are with hens, and they don’t seem interested in decoying then. If I were going out after 11:00 am to hunt after the second week of the season, then I would put out my good Avian-X hen decoy and my thunder chicken jake, as by that time of day the hens are nesting, and gobblers are roaming in search of other hens to breed.

Spraying inside pockets/boots is just a waste…if the outside layer is treated it will repel them and they wont stay on it long enough to crawl inside anything. First year I used it I saw a tick on the ground, set it on my treated boot top, and watched it scramble to get off quickly.

That Ultra Shield container should last you at least a couple of years Bill. Last time I went to buy it they were out of the spray bottles, so had to buy a 4 Litre jug. Expensive, but 3 years later I still have lots left for another couple of years. I have never found a tick on any of my clothing or gear since I started using the stuff - can’t ask for better performance than that!

I tried rage mechanicals once for deer - lost a 6 point buck hit standing broadside 20 yards away with a good heart/lung shot. Found the deer 3 weeks later lying in a spot I had walked thru 3 times during a 3 hour search. Thru the dam rage out!! Switched to Excalibur mechanicals and love them for deer, but never tried them on turkeys

Been spraying my outer 2-piece camo suit, hat, gear bag, seat, boots with Ultra Shield for the last 4 years - never picked up a single tick in all that time I hunt spring or fall! Very effective. I get it at Peavy Mart. I Bag my camo suit in a garbage bag after spraying and letting it air out on clothesline for 3 hours, and just get it out of bag once I’m at my hunting location. Rebag it as soon as I get back to the jeep. Respray again after 3-4 weeks.

Thanks Bill. I catch a few of the pickerel right from her dock each time we visit - nothing real big though, usually the biggest is about 20 inches or so. Still, fun to catch.

Sorry, no. Just for myself and some family members. Easy to make your own - I just got the in-line spinner kit from luremaking.com Only takes about 2 minutes per lure.

Bill I've been hunting them for 20 years now. Your "worst" days to hunt are usually calm days, because ANY movement you make AT ALL will spook them, even if they are over 100 yards away. Windy days are much better,, as all the moving vegetation makes any movement you make less noticeable with all the vegetation waving in the wind. I personally like days with light rain, as long as it isn't raining heavily or strong wind + rain - I have found that on those days they are more often out in open areas away from the woods. I think the rain dampens the vegetation, and they cant hear the predators as well, so they gravitate to the more open areas. Downwind doesn't matter, as they have absolutely no sense of smell. However, they can hear 3 times as well as we can, and see 5 x better, and their eyes are on the side of their head, so they have 270 degree vision! And yes, owls do kill them at night. One day when a buddy of mine was walking his dog thru the bush on my cousin's farm he found 3 turkeys with their head ripped off by an owl. I'm expecting there to be lots of turkeys to hunt this spring because we had a relatively short period during this past winter with very much snow on the ground, so the birds had it reasonably easy to find food throughout the winter. Long. deep snow depths during the winter months cause significant die-offs because they can't find food.

One of my daughters lives on a small lake in southern New Brunswick. The lake contains chain pickerel and, supposedly, trout in the deeper water. She had a very rough year last year dealing with breast cancer and the associated tough treatment regime, and was using fishing as a mental morale booster. Last year I made her a bunch of harness style lures with either 1 or 2 single snelled hooks, fluoro line, beads, and Colorado blades to use for the chain pickerel, which she can catch right from their dock. This year I decided to make her some in-line spinners to use - photo shows the set I made for her.

Back to the topic of turkeys - a neighbour across the street from me here in Welland showed me a photo today of a big jake turkey in his back yard yesterday, and we are inside Welland at least 3/4 mile from any open rural area! No idea how that bird ended up here in a subdivision.

Intend to get out for sure! i lost out on my spring hunt last year because I came down with Covid 3 days before the opener, then brother-in-law from B.C came for a visit so I missed the final 2weeks of the season.

Don't blame you Bill. The only way I ever go to Toronto is by taking the GO train from Burlington……and I hate Toronto, so rarely ever go!!!

I started bowhunting in the ‘70s with a 50 lb recurve bow, then after a few years went to a 50 lb compound (only 50% letoff in those days). When school ended in June, I would start practising 5 days a week right thru till opening day in Oct. before I felt competent with the bow. Eventually I got tendonitis, and couldn’t pull the bow any more, so bought a used PSE crossbow (125 lb) to hunt. As someone stated previously, very little practice needed to get 2” groups out to 30 yds (my max shot I would take with it). Then 4 years ago I got a new PSE (150 lb), and now guarantee 2” groups out to 50 yards (my new max distance). Only a few shots needed each fall to ensure groups are still right on the sight lines, and I’m good for the season! Whatever type of archery equipment you choose to use, the cardinal rule is know your maximum yardage limit for accurate, consistent shots, and always stay within that distance, and only shoot when you know you can hit the vital heart/lung area!

I got to the show yesterday morning just in time to meet Bill as he was leaving - nice to meet you again Bill and had a good chat. Picked up a Rap lure and lots of jig goodies from Bruce, and it was great finally meeting him and chatting. I was glad to see the kayak guy there, as I found out he sells kayak trailers. I’ve been thinking of buying a trailer for my kayak for the past year, as its getting harder for me as I get older to keep lifting it up on my Jeep Cherokee roof racks. I didn’t realize anyone in Ontario sold a kayak trailer - I had a photo of one from the U.S., and have been looking for someone to build n me a custom copy from the photo.

I I filled out the survey fully, but it kept refusing to upload my answers, claiming I hadnt answered all the questions, even thou they were all done, including written answers.

Yea they actually do Bill. Once a sounder has been reported in a location the MNRF send in a team to locate and trap them to get the entire sounder eliminated. They did this last year when a group of pigs was spotted near Pickering. I haven't read any reports lately of more sightings, so maybe there haven’t been any more groups spotted. On a personal note, I was disappointed when they announced the hunting ban, as I was hoping to have a third type of large game that we could hunt in southern Ont. You only get one per tag of your big game, so if you bag one early, your hunting season is over until next year. I had hoped that we would be allowed to bag multiple pigs if they showed up in our area.

Here is the relevant section from the hunting regulations: New Invasive wild pigs As of January 1, 2022, a new regulation under the Invasive Species Act makes it illegal to hunt pigs in the province. Hunting wild pigs is not an effective approach to control their spread or eradicate them. When wild pigs are hunted, they flee into new areas and learn to avoid humans. They are quick to reproduce and populations are known to rebound rapidly. Prohibiting hunting is one component of Ontario’s approach to prevent the establishment of wild pigs. Although hunting of pigs is prohibited, hunters still have an important role in addressing the wild pig problem. Given the knowledge and time that hunters spend outdoors across the province, the ministry is seeking their partnership and expertise in reporting wild pig sightings. To learn more about reporting wild pig sightings, the new regulation and what the province is doing to actively address the wild pig problem, including Ontario’s Strategy to Address the Threat of Invasive Wild Pigs, visit ontario.ca/wildpigs.

Sorry guys, but the MNRF wont let you hunt wild boar in Ontario. Their reasoning is if you had a group of 14 pigs (called a sounder), and you shot a few, you would end up just spreading the rest of the sounder over more area, and they breed like rabbits, so you would just end up with more pigs than the year before. In areas like Pickering where they found some they trapped them to get rid of the sounder.

Yea I’ve been thinking of going down to Ft Erie and trying the river, but I expect its murky as well with the wind an rain. I wish there was some way of checking the river conditions without wasting the 45 minute drive to get rhere.

I just read that yesterday Mt Washington in New Hampshire recorded a wind chill of -108, the lowest in U.S. history We went up there one summer, and it certainly is a cold mountaintop, but that reading is unreal!

Shore fishing from beside Nicholl’s has always been an iffy outing. Its easily accessible, but many times no luck there, nor have I seen others have a great deal of luck there. If you know of a better spot to SHORE fish the upper river I’d sure like to know where to go!! - pm me if you have a suggestion, cause I’m tired of getting skunked.

By the looks of the long range forecast, first possible day for me might be next Tuesday. No real strong winds in the forecast before then, so maybe the water will clear a lot by then.

Bill, you should live trap them - as Tyler suggested, they would make great swim baits for big pike!! Just would be a little tricky tying on a couple of treble hooks 😏 Hmmm…wonder how you could tie up a braid harness for rats?? There’s a winter project.

Radio, I dont think Tyler meant the couch comment as a put-down, just that trying is the only way to catch them, even if you have the no-luck days. I certainly wouldn’t be able to do an all-day like you!! And I don't blame you for not going today, cause it certainly wasn't worth the effort, both with the water conditions and the weather.

Since there doesn’t appear any hope for ice in Niagara, I decided to try a pre-dawn trip to Ft. Erie this morning to fish the river at Nicholls for a chance at a dawn walleye. Really disappointed when I got there before daylight to find the water very murky with sediment, and visibility only about 6 inches down! Fished for 1/2 hour, but quit when it started to rain.