Bowhunting is Only a Month Away-Time to Up Your Practice and Get Blinds and Stands Set Up

Here in Ohio,bow season starts Sept.29th,other states have similar starting dates,most by mid Oct. at the latest.
Ohio deer  seasons-

White-tailed Deer Hunting

Species	Opening Date		Closing Date		Daily Bag Limit
Archery	September 26, 2015		February 7, 2016	Refer to the Deer Hunting Section for details on zone and bag limits.
Gun	November 30, 2015	December 6, 2015
	December 28, 2015	December 29, 2015
Muzzleloader	January 9, 2016		January12,2016

More info @  http://wildlife.ohiodnr.gov/hunting-trapping-and-shooting-sports/hunting-trapping-regulations/deer-hunting-regulations
W. Va deer seasons-
Archery-Sept 26th-Dec 31st
More info-
http://www.wvdnr.gov/Hunting/Regs1516/Deer_Season.pdf
Pa deer seasons-
DEER, ARCHERY (Antlered and Antlerless) WMUs 2B, 5C and 5D: Sept. 19- Nov. 28 and Dec. 26-Jan. 23, 2016. One antlerless deer with each required antlerless license. One antlered deer per hunting license year.
DEER, ARCHERY (Antlered and Antlerless) Statewide: Oct. 3-Nov. 14 and Dec. 26-Jan. 9. One antlered deer per hunting license year. One antlerless deer with each required antlerless license.
More info @ http://www.portal.state.pa.us/portal/server.pt?open=514&objID=576240&mode=2

• don’t forget-Pa has elk hunting!

Michigan deer seasons-
*Archery: Oct. 1 – Nov. 14 and Dec. 1 – Jan. 1
More info @ http://www.michigan.gov/dnr/0,4570,7-153-10363-312005–,00.html
Kentucky deer seasons-

More info @ http://fw.ky.gov/Hunt/Pages/Deer-Hunting-Zones-and-Seasons.aspx
Indiana deer seasons-

Archery Season – Oct. 1, 2015 – Jan. 3, 2016

2 antlerless deer OR 1 antlered and 1 antlerless deer (AND bonus antlerless county quota)

More info @ http://www.eregulations.com/indiana/hunting/deer-seasons-licenses-equipment/
That covers Ohio and surrounding states. The rest of the country has similar hunting seasons-some start earlier,some start later-but they all start in the fall. You should have your blind/stand locations scouted out,shooting lanes cut,and your trail in and out raked clear of leaves,sticks,branches,etc. with any overhanging branches trimmed,along with any low branches from small trees,and briars and berry bushes that protrude onto the trail cut off at ground level.
Save all that stuff you trim to brush in your blind or stand. If it’s legal in your state-put out fresh mineral blocks and salt blocks now.
Increase the number of arrows you shoot each day,because as the season starts,you’ll be in the woods,and not practicing as much. I shoot a minimum of 6 groups of 6 arrows a day now,and at least 3 days a week,I shoot 12 groups of 6 arrows-6 in the morning,6 in the evening. At least 2 days a week,I shoot my 6 groups of arrows at last legal shooting light-(half hour after sunset here) Everyone needs to do this-because if there’s any issues with your sights – it’s better to find out now,and have time to fix the problem than it is to find out when you draw your bow on that big buck-and you can’t see shit.
If you hunt private land,and can get your stand/blind set up now-set it up-that way the deer get used to it,and don’t see it as a threat.
If you use trail cameras-you should have had them up in July. If you don’t have them up-get ’em up now.
I know I bring this up a lot-but until more deer hunters get it-the deer herds will continue to shrink many areas-
Shoot every coyote you see-more ‘yotes= fewer deer,in some areas,fawn predation is as high as 90%. That means the ‘yotes are killing 9 out of every 120 fawns born. Shoot the damn things-they’re not native to the eastern U.S.-they are an invasive species-plus eastern ‘yotes have a considerable amount of wolf DNA that they picked upon their way east in Minnesota,Wisconsin,the U.P.of Michigan,and parts of Ontario.
The second problem animal affecting whitetail deer are feral hogs-they eat the same foods as the deer,and while deer can have twins,even triplets,hogs can have 3 litters of 6-8 piglets-(sometimes up to 10 per litter)- per year,sometimes 4. The only way to remove a feral hog family-called a sounder-is to kill or trap every single one of them.If you leave just two,a boar and a sow-within a year,there will be 60-100 hogs in the same area,as the piglets from the first litter will be able to breed and have piglets within 6 months.
The sounders are territorial,so if you take one out-it will be at least a year before another moves in.
Feral hogs have been around from the Carolinas  to Florida,and Florida to Texas along the gulf coast since the Spanish explorers in the 1500’s released pigs in every new place they came to,because the pigs could fend for themselves,and be hunted for food when needed.
It’s impossible to eliminate feral hogs from the southeast,but it is possible to remove them from the surrounding states where they are a problem. The best the southeast can hope for is to limit the billions in crop damage by removing individual sounders.
Unless you want to see the deer herd in your are crash-start killin ‘yotes and feral hogs-remember-you gotta get the whole sounder-all of ’em- to get rid of the hogs.
Get out in the woods.
Read.
Learn.
Train.
Do more PT !

Warmth gives ugly invasive fish brief reprieve from anglers

That's one ugly fish...

CHEYENNE, Wyo. (AP) — Warm weather has helped grant a reprieve this year to a homely, eel-like and especially slimy invasive fish pursued by anglers as they compete for big money in two ice-fishing tournaments on the Wyoming-Utah line.

The goal of both annual events is to remove burbot (pronounced BUR'-but) from Flaming Gorge Reservoir.

Burbot are known for being best caught in frigid weather using smelly bait, for wrapping their slippery bodies around fishermen's arms — and for being delicious. Some call them the "poor man's lobster."

But wind and highs in the 50s have kept the reservoir mostly ice-free lately. Much of the remaining ice near shore is getting dicey to walk on.
"It's still about 6 inches thick, but we don't recommend going out on it now," said Les Tanner, owner of the Buckboard Marina and host of the Burbot Classic tournament.
Lack of ice cancelled the Jan. 23-25 Burbot Bash tournament. This weekend's Burbot Classic is still on, but has been opened to fishing by boat and from shore.

View gallery

Im this photo taken in 2014 and provided by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department, a young angler bra …

Both events were coordinated with the Wyoming and Utah state game and fish agencies.
In each tournament, anglers can win up to $10,000 for catching one of 50 burbot previously netted and released with electronic tags. Other cash prizes reward the biggest and the most burbot caught.
The problem is that burbot — which are native in Wyoming east of the Continental Divide and parts north — somehow got introduced to the Green River drainage west of the divide in the 1990s.

In Flaming Gorge, the voracious and prolific predators are eating the eggs and spawn of kokanee salmon and other game species that make the reservoir a renowned angling destination.

In Canada, burbot can top 25 pounds and 3 feet long. They don't get quite so big in Flaming Gorge but pose a risk to endangered species such as the Colorado pikeminnow if they continue to spread down the Colorado River system.

View gallery

In this photo taken in 2014 photo provided by the Wyoming Game and Fish Department shows Ryan Mosley …

A couple burbot have been caught in the Green River below the Flaming Gorge dam.
"That's an endangered species core habitat," said Joe Skorupski, a Wyoming Game and Fish Department fisheries biologist. "It's just another nonnative they don't need in that system. It's a definite, major threat."

Many fishermen out West would much rather flip dainty flies into the babbling lairs of trout than sit around in the cold and dark with a bloody hunk of bait on their line. But that's how you go for burbot: Ice fishing is best, hands-down.

Burbot can be found from a few feet to more than 70 feet deep and typically are most active around dusk. Cut-up sucker fish hooked on glow-in-the-dark jigs make good bait.

Fishermen not only can keep as many burbot as they can catch from Flaming Gorge, they must. All burbot caught from the reservoir must be killed under state regulations.

Several hundred anglers have taken part in past Burbot Bash and Burbot Classic tournaments and participants in last year's events caught more than 6,000 burbot.
Biologists credit the Burbot Bash, started in 2009, and the Burbot Classic, begun last year, for having a big effect. Studies show burbot numbers in Flaming Gorge are down substantially in the past couple years.

http://news.yahoo.com/lack-ice-hampers-efforts-net-homely-invasive-fish-205027501.html