Matt page 7 and growing

Hello MAHA folks...I've attached several photos from a recent fishing trip on club ground. It is so great when the student surpasses the teacher in ability...my 11-year old was catching three to every one of mine. I only moved ahead when he got too cold and stopped fishing for a while to take a nap in the bottom of the boat...I was able to take advantage of his temporary discomfort and finally start landing some fish. We hooked and released too many fish to keep count...I lost count after the first day anyways. All the fish looked healthy and were in great shape. In spite of the cool temperatures and the extremely low water levels, the bass were very aggressive and attacked our baits with enthusiasm. We woke up one morning to a dusting of snow and another morning to a heavy frost. The best thing about the trip was the wind didn't blow like it usually does in that part of the country...it made for some nice easy fishing in our small boat. The new gate seems to have helped some although it appears that some folks are bypassing the gate and entering the property from the south side of the property and also from immediately south of the gate, driving onto the property across the ditch...I guess folks who are intent on trespassing will find a way.

We found two buck carcasses...one looked like it had his antlers cut off and the carcass was left...either that or someone found the carcass and cut the antlers off then. The second carcass was right next to the water with antlers intact...I've included a photo of this one. It was a good trip and the fishing was excellent. Matt

Thanks for the feedback Matt. We seem to look especially forward to your additions each season and for all seasons. Good to see your children growing up sportsmen and woman.

A note to all the above negative with the positive in Matt's update and that it reflects life and how it is not perfect. We all should make it the best we can, Matt certainly does!

Matt later responded by email with this follow-up to the comments immediately above.

I agree with your last statement...if folks are joining the club expecting everything to be perfect, they have no concept of do-it-yourself hunting/fishing/limited camping. There's never a guarantee if this is the route you take or frankly in most other options, and as far as I'm concerned there is no other route. Sure, you can go hunt high fence and pay thousands for a guaranteed hunt with no chance of trespassers and 100% success rate, but what the hell would that be "worth"? Trespassers are a very unfortunate and sometimes dangerous aspect of hunting private/lease land in the midwest, and probably anywhere in the country for that matter...it sucks but there's virtually nothing practical that can be done about it but to stay vigilant and to pay attention to what's going on around you while you're out there. I hunt other "non-club" private ground in MO, KS, and OK...trespassing is no less a problem there than on MAHA leases...and anybody that has spent any time at all pursuing game and fish should know that.

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