snagged: I won't argue with you about the trout--I didn't have any gear on that trip but the fish were big--I would say over 16 inches from the uh, "rise forms." Ahem. But as to the deer, you are sooooo wrong antler breath! In Wyoming, the mulies typically live in the mountains and the badlands (essentially the BLM lands) and the whitetails--oh my God, the whitetails--they live down in the river bottoms and feed on alfalfa and other crops. I have lived in Texas all my life and although I have not had the means to hunt in the prime brush country, I have seen many of the deer that come out of there and quite a few on the hoof. And on one trip to the farm country soutwest of the Big Horns, I saw the 5 largest whitetails I have ever observed in the wild. One might have grossed over 170. As it was, I put a bullet into one that I eventually measured at a net of 155. The reason it did not end up my deer was that one of my dear "hosts" followed it up and finished it off and took it for himself--the same guy going after the trout with corn. But that's another story.
As to using the rail, (I now realize I have once again hijacked my own thread) do you realize that noone has to this point discussed preferred methods, but only the wisdom/morality of doing so. With all respect, I don't think those who say it is not necessary are doing so as the result of machismo, but I would like to hear
how folks do it, especially on head boats like the Big E. I can imagine all sorts of folks saying that it would be immoral or unnecessary to make love to triplet virgins for 5 nights in a row. But I would rather learn methods and techniques.
Russ
Russ