Seth

Even after comparing those images, I don't see where anything really stands out from the buck in your video that says 3.5 and not 4.5 year old. I'll say that he doesn't look like he's 5.5 as there isn't any belly sag yet. I passed the first nice buck I saw this year during MO's rifle season. He was came out about 300 yards away and walked along the fence line. His rack looked really nice, but I wasn't convinced that he was a 4.5 year old deer based on the body. If he is a 3.5 year old and made it through till next year, he will be a dandy. He could have been a 4.5 year old though. The buck I ended up shooting looked more filled out and I believe he was a 4.5 year old and shot him. I'm pretty sure the buck I passed would outscore him though as he had much taller tines and was slightly outside of his ears. Here's a couple deer that we had several years worth of pictures on. It's fun to see how they grow through the years. This one was my favorite, but we never were able to kill him. He's the largest deer we've ever been able to follow on our cameras across the years. This farm sold last year and we lost access to hunt it. I'm not sure if the new land owners ever saw or killed him this year. I'm sure we would have heard something if they had. 2014 - 4.5 years old 2015 - 5.5 years old 2016 - 6.5 years old (his best year) 2017 - 7.5 years old (his rack is really starting to show some character now)

I have a hard time judging their age once they reach 3.5+ unless I have game cam history with a deer. Most 3.5 year olds I've seen are between 110-120" around here with a few breaking in to the 120 class, but rarely over 130". If that deer truly is 3.5, he is a very rare deer and I hope you get a chance at him in the future because he will be a world class 8 pointer.

That deer has to be pushing 140" as a 8 pointer, which is a dandy. I'd have a hard time believing he is a 3.5 year old! Is it due to the lack of mass that his rack carries? If you are correct, then that deer is a freak and will blow up to something special.

I have made two orders from Frank. The baits are good quality and you won’t find a better value, but it takes FOREVER to get your items.

Well of course you don't need electronics to fish for shallow bass! Bass are one of the few species that I don't usually mess with bringing the electronics for. Those electronics are gold when it comes to non-spawning crappie and paddlefish though. I've caught plenty of both before having decent electronics, but I catch a whole lot more now with electronics. 😉 When you are a local and fish the same water all the time, you don't need electronics. I've always told people that when they start asking questions about whether they need fancy electronics or not. Maybe you do, maybe you don't. I know they have made fishing a lot easier in new waters for me simply because they make finding what I am looking for that much quicker and easier.

As long as the boat floats and the motor runs, a good set of electronics and a I-pilot features would help put just as many fish in the boat as they would on a shiny new boat. Plus you can always move them to another boat if you upgrade.

I've been wanting one for several years, but I'm cheap. I'm beyond excited to put this thing to work on some trout and crappie!

I saved $400 on a 24v-80# Minn Kota Ultrex.

My intentions when I bought my last two were to go purchase a St Croix Premier. I had the St Croix in hand and then noticed the Air Streams were on sale. Back went the St Croix and I grabbed a pair of Air Streams and saved $30. Hard to beat for the $$$, espeically when you catch them on sale.

I have used the 6.5 footer for several years and love it. Based on the recommendations of others on here, I bought a 6 footer to try this summer when they were on sale. After using both, I think I still prefer the feel of the 6.5 footer. It just seems like I miss more fish with the 6 footer. I'm guessing it's due to how I pop the jig and that little bit of extra tip that the 6.5 footer has lets me get away with delayed reaction hook sets since it flexes when a fish has it and doesn't stick them quite as hard as when I have the stiffer 6 footer. I'd try the 6 and 6.5 footers before the 7 as they are quite a bit lighter and I just liked the feel of them over the 7'. That's for straight line jig fishing for trout. I'd be all about using the 7' for a jig and float rod, but then again I would just assume have a 9-10' crappie rod for that as well.

Crappie would definitely be in trouble. I bet it would be awesome for finding roaming schools of trout on Taneycomo and for pinpointing schools of paddlefish as well IMO.

Man, I can think of so many good uses for that! I'm still working on saving for the Ultrex though. If didn't have an elk hunt to pay for this December, I'd have the Ultrex already bought.

For float fishing, I would down size. If you're just straight lining or vertical jigging, I always start out with a 3" BG Slab Slayer and then down size if needed. A 3" bait is nothing to a 10"+ crappie.

John Hewkin and whoever he fished with. Only reason I remember is because he is a Cowtown guy.

It will be hard to top that one!

I’m gonna try to do some more winter bass fishing this year. My issue is choosing them over crappie and trout.

The last time I fished for crappie with a float was when they were spawning in weed pockets on a local lake near where I live. I'd just drop a 1/32oz jig with a 2" BG slab slayer and float in the openings and if it didn't go down within 10 seconds, I'd move it a little and just let it sit. I couldn't tell you the last time I fished minnows under a float for crappie. I'm either shooting docks and swimming a jig back or vertical jigging with the long rod these days depending on the body of water I am fishing.

People get far too careless with firearms. It blows my mind. Heck, I got mad at myself when my rifle slid on my back a bit and pointed towards my buddy for a split second as we were getting ready to get down out of the blind. The gun was unloaded and the safety was on, but the #1 rule is always point the muzzle in a safe direction. Even if the gun goes off, you won't hit anybody if it isn't pointing towards anything that can be hurt in the first place.

Replace your lights with LED versions and replace any of those quick splice connectors with some good waterproof butt connectors and then coat the connectors with some liquid electrical tape after they cool down and you shouldn't have any lighting issues for a long while. Also, make sure your ground wire is mounted to the solid frame of the trailer and not the swing away tongue, if your trailer has one. I did this to my new boat trailer shortly after I got it in the summer of 2014 and the only issues I've had was I had to replace a couple running lights once the bulbs burned out. They are also LED now so I should be good for VERY long time as long as I don't beat them on anything to break them.

I don't bobber fish for crappie much, but I do for trout. I've grown fond of those 3/4" weighted round clip on floats. It doesn't take much to pull one under so they are great for light biters. Crappie will typically make the float swim versus taking it under when they bite.

It was a great opening weekend for us. Me and a buddy sat dark to almost dark (had to track deer) Saturday and saw over 30 deer. Movement was great all day long. Mostly fawns and young bucks chasing does. I shot a young doe and a nice 4.5 year old 8 pointer and my buddy got a large doe. Dad was hunting on the south end of the property and saw 25 deer himself and shot a large doe that evening. On Sunday morning, dad hunted the same spot and shot a 3.5 year old buck shortly after 7. We didn't sit all day, but saw 9 deer Sunday morning and passed on a few nice does. That evening was more of the same with does and small bucks till 4:30. Four slick heads busted up on to the field 300 yards away to the north followed by what looked like a really tall racked buck. He was chasing them hard and with little time to react, my buddy took the first crack at him when stopped. It ended up being an awesome 2.5 year old up and come. We were doing our best to avoid shooting 2.5 year olds, but this one really fooled us due to his smaller body. He looked huge 200 yards away chasing those does! Oh well, it was still an extremely exciting hunt! I've got one more firearm antlerless tag left for my county so I may go out and try to fill it this weekend just to get back out there. I'm sure I will see an freakin monster since I have no buck tag.

Hard to beat main lake bluff docks with big swim decks from fall till spring IMO for crappie. If you have side imaging, you can keep scanning docks until you find fish before making a cast. Otherwise, just find as many of those docks as you can, stop, shoot jig under them a few times, and move on if you aren't bit with in 10 casts. Start shallow and work your way down every few casts if you don't get bit.

Deer were going bonkers up in Linn County this past Tuesday and Wednesday. I've never seen so much chasing in the woods in such a short period of time. Actually got to watch a buck breed a doe, which was a first for me. Between Monday evening and Wednesday morning, we killed two button heads, a fawn doe, a big doe and a 3.5 year old 8 pointer. I had a chance at a 130 class 8 pointer before I shot the buck, but a big doe was staring right at me and I had to move slow to try and get turned for a shot and the buck got through my opening before I was ready. We tried to call him back with grunts and wheezes, but he made a scrape and then took off after some other does. The buck I shot came cruising right to us around 8:30 and I shot him at 12 steps. My buddy and I decided to give the deer a break Wednesday evening and get in a couple limits of crappie as well. The redneck grocery store was very giving this week!

I’m on year six with my Minnkota 210. I plug my batteries in as soon as I get home and unplug them the next day after they are juiced up. My last set of Everstart 29dc’s from Walmart lasted nearly 5 years. They still worked, but I noticed they weren’t quite as strong at the end of the day.

Things have gone off today in this are the way it sounds. My boss is hunting and has been covered up in young bucks this morning and also spotted a giant cruising through around 11am. His brother killed a nice buck earlier this morning. Another guy camping near them killed a nice buck. That's all on public ground too. Normally I go with them, but I figured I would skip out this year and cover things here at work since I will be gone most of next week hunting up north.