Time to go outside !

Beagle Puppies

2011-03-02T19:17:00.001-08:00

It has been a few years, but our first batch of puppies appeared last night.
My good friend Nick went by the kennel to feed and checked in on Wilma and there they were.
We had thought she had another week to 10 days left before she would have dropped, but it seems everyone was healthy
5 in all, 3 females and 2 males
Wilma is from great deer stock, and one of the better dogs in the pack. We have 2 young Red Tick female beagles now, as well as the tri color female, so it seems we will only be keeping a male puppy.
That's OK, because as soon as the news got out that my hound had puppies, a few guys were asking about when they could see them so they could make a claim to them.
Good stock deer/ rabbit dogs are like gold around here

Big Jay's 8 Point

2010-11-04T08:53:00.001-07:00

I am a little slow in getting these pics on here, but one of the guys in our group got an 8 pointer this past Saturday, the first day of black powder season in our corner of Virginia.
The Deer was about 3 years old, and dressed at about 130 pounds.
The rule for the section of land that Jay was hunting was antlers only outside the ears, and this one just made it into that category. The plan is to allow the deer to mature into larger bucks to be able to harvest larger racks in the coming years

The days of tossing a rope across a branch to skin out have evolved to such creations as this now.

I have to say, it looked a lot easier than the way we used to do it.

At our club, we took 5 deer on opening day between 7 hunters, so that was not bad odds, a few of the guys had taken deer during bow season, so the meat has started getting packed away in the freezers, so it is looking like a good year so far.

Deer Season In Virginia

2010-10-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

Here in Virginia, Deer season is in full swing.
Bow season has been in for a few weeks, and Black Powder season comes in in just a few days.
Due to an auto accident back in 2008, I have not been able to pull a bow back, or been able to fire a rifle or shotgun for a few years, but fortunately I have my older sons that know how to use my stuff, and keep the freezer full.
I still am active down at the hunt club, and keep track of the patterns of the rut, and feeding and bedding of the Deer.
It seems that this year the deer are not as concerned with the corn and soybeans in the fields.
There is a large surplus of acorns in the woods this year, to be specific, White Oak acorns, which any sportsman knows taste different

They are much sweeter than the Red oak and Pin oak, and the woods are loaded with them.
How do I know they are sweeter ? I have tasted them.
I believe the harsh Winter last year killed of many squirrels that would have removed many of these acorns by now, and my younger sons have not seen many squirrels out this year, so to me it is adding up to a great season.
This does not mean that the deer will not wander out into the cut bean fields, but as long as food is plentiful in the woods, they are more likely to stay in the woods, which will mean a better hunt for those that scouted a tree stand a month or so ago.
Word from the guys down at the club is that the Does are still running in packs of 8 and 10, and there are few scrapes, so that means the rut will begin mid October

More Of The Ford Ranger

2010-09-08T21:00:00.000-07:00

My brother sent me the link to the vids of his run last weekend.

He finally got his hydraulic steering done, so he was pumped up.

From what he explained to me, the pit had a sharp drop in the beginning and was rutted to the left. The staff had set up the run so that the larger tire class would run first because the hole was so sloppy.

The top vid he was proud of, everything worked out great, and he seems to be having a lot better luck mechanically, until .........

It seems he broke an axle shaft at the start, and got twisted up in the hole.

He had a blast, he says his wheel speed is around 70 mph at the line, so now he is going to swap the gears, front and back, and get the wheel speed up to around 130 at the line.

He is running a 3500 rpm stall converter, and says he has his rev limiter at 8000. Thanks to the MSD box.

He did have a company approach him about using their high octane fuel, was going to sponsor him, send some stickers for advertising, and around 30 gallons of fuel, but we have not seen it yet.

He does use a K&N air filter set up with a foam ring that he washes with oil. he has a few of the rings that he changes between runs and cleans them when they get back to the shop. The parts store that sells him the rings and the cleaning oil said they would give him a discount if he put their sticker on his Ranger, so he has it on the back.

I think I am going to get pictures of the sponsor stickers on his Ranger and post them here to help them out.

Here is a vid of Lil' little Paul in his Ford Bronco

I hope I can get out of this chair soon and see him in person

Ford Ranger Run

2010-08-24T20:44:00.000-07:00

I did not get to see all the runs my Brother made at the Fredericksburg Fair, but they did post this run.

From what I was told, he had broke his shifter cable, and had to make the run in third gear, low lock.

Still not a bad run considering he could not turn the motor up in the first two gears.

He has it back in the shop this week, removing the steering linkage, and making it a complete hydraulic steering set up. He explained to me that he can save some weight, and make the front wheels easier to turn in the pit.

I am hoping to stop in for a look and some pics later in the week

Little Brothers Ford Ranger

2010-08-04T21:02:00.000-07:00

I wanted to post a pic of my brothers Ford Ranger
A 460 powered toy he works on.
He took it to a mud bog up in Smiley Rock, that's near Orange Va, and had some tranny problems, but a new one will be ready on Friday afternoon.
That means an all nighter for him and a couple of his friends to get it back in, hook everything back up, and make a few test runs in the back field because he is racing Saturday morning at the Fredericksburg Fair.
Here is a clip from one of the guy's cell phone that was saved, I will use it as a before, and make the next post an after.............

Cost Of Crabs

2010-06-22T08:40:00.000-07:00

We had our Potomac River Festival down here at the beach a couple weekends ago, that is the official kick-off of summer here for us.
It is when all the " come here's " show up and fill the streets and beaches and waterways, and hopefully the cash registers with some much needed tourist dollars

The steamed crabs are a hot seller, and are sold by the bushell and half bushell, and then spread out on the picnic tables at the majority of the rented beach houses for the weekend feast.

For this main reason, I do not get crabs on the weekend, that is, unless family comes down to hang out at the beach. I have a few friends in the business that I can call in advance and get a good price if needed, but try not to do that to often.

I passed by one of the places I get crabs from this past Sunday and saw a sign outside advertising crabs for $95.00 for a half bushell.

I also saw a lot of cars out in the lot waiting for them to come out of the cooker.

I guess if you work all year up in the city, and only get away for a couple weeks a year, $ 95 bucks is worth it for some crabs, but here it is, Tuesday morning, and I have called the same place I saw the sign just minutes ago.

One of the owners, Timmy, has just got off the water and said " yeah, come on in here about 5:30, I get you a half bushell hot for $45 "

I bet they will taste a lot better than the $95 dollar ones

Oyster Roast

2010-03-22T07:44:00.001-07:00

Down here, we have a few fund raisers at our hunt club.
This one we helped promote breast cancer.
The main attraction was the roasted oysters. That's my boy and his friends shuckin out some.
We take the raw oysters and lay them on a grill, between two wet burlap bags and steam them until they pop open.
You then insert your knife, twist, and cut the oyster out and enjoy

We also had fried oysters, hush puppies, oyster stew, and bar-b-que.
Inside we had all the good stuff too, potato salad, cole slaw, mac-n-cheese, bean salad, and all kinds of cakes, brownies, and pies

All the members had a job to do, and we stayed busy keeping the food coming

You cant have an oyster roast without some bluegrass, so we had a tent up for the band

After we served a couple hundred folks, it was time for a break

We did have some leftovers, which made for some good sandwiches on Sunday

Poor ole' Thelma came, and helped with the clean up.

She ate so much, we had to pick her up and put her in the truck when it was time to go home

Done With The Snow

2010-02-22T11:31:00.000-08:00

Most of the time, when you get the kids out in the snow, you see them smiling and playing and just having a great time.
With a total of 14 days missed from school, and many of those stuck in the house because of the wind and freezing temps, I guess even a little boy can get tired of it.
I took some pics of my brother-in-law working with my 4 wheeler to push some of the mess around, and got this one of my youngest giving me the evil eye

I rigged up a mount for the blade that goes on my John Deere 110, and put a temporary winch mount to raise and lower it.
It did a pretty good job.

Down at the beach was a dull grey scene, and was very windy.

Around here we are expecting a little rain, and some highs in the 50's.

I cant wait till late March to be out there in the water looking for rock fish

Mom's Tree

2010-01-20T17:34:00.000-08:00

Mom wanted to get rid of a tree at the end of her driveway, so you know we had to come and take it down

It was right against the power and phone lines, so we had to limb it, and then rope it off near the top

Nick got to do the climbing

And the boy's got to do the clean up, and pulled brush with my Yamaha

Nick and Karl like their Stihl and Husky saw's, and I will agree they are good stuff but I am still using an old Homelite that is nearly 10 years old.

Best $100.00 buck's I ever spent

Season End

2010-01-05T19:40:00.000-08:00

It seems that deer season came and went so fast this year. We had many rain days that the dogs could not get a good trail going, and the snow that came in before Christmas kept everyone confined to a tree stand.
With my bad back, and other problems from my auto accident limiting me as to what I can do anymore, the weather put me out of the game more than I wanted, but as you can see, My son, and basset hound Thelma, and I managed to get in on a few drives.
This is what we do when all the others are down in the woods waiting for the dogs to run something past them.

If I do have to get out of the truck and get across a field, or drag a deer, or try to head off dogs, we just hop on the Honda 4X4

I live in an area full of history, and the place where we have hunted since I was a kid is here in Menokin

Besides the time I get with my boys, they get to hang out with their friends. I was sitting back near the wood stove and watched the guys plan a raid on the fridge back in the kitchen to get a mountain dew

I was taught early about life and death, taught how to hunt, and how to handle a gun.

To have respect for any firearm, respect for the outdoors, and respect for the people that owned the land that we hunted on.

I learned to listen to the old guy's when they told me something, and found out that they really did know more than I did

This season I started to realize that I am becoming one of those old guy's

Sinkin' The Gator

2009-12-15T18:48:00.000-08:00

We have had a lot of rain around here, and every bottom turned into a swamp.
We had a couple dogs doing circles in the deep part of the swamp, which meant some of the boys had to hike in and a couple rode in on 4 wheelers to get the dogs, and drag a few deer out.
One of the boys went over to the barn and got the John Deere Gator and was doing pretty good through the thick stuff, but then he found spring.

Before any of the wheelers got back, they decided to use a come-a-long a winch him out

Did not do much good, wound up having to use the winch on my Kawasaki Bear Tracker, and the snatch strap on a Honda Foreman.

We got him out.

After that, and all the deer were skinned, we all went down to the Turkey Shoot at Potomac Hunt Club

My son Bobby won a meat round

My brother Karl won a couple meat rounds and some money rounds.

Just so you know, you get some people shooting at a target with equal guns, and equal loads, at the same distance, and the one with the pellet closest to the mark, or the most pellets to the mark wins the round.

The money goes for a good cause, and it's a chance to get together with some good guys and just have some fun

We use an old Belgium made Browning 12 Ga, and have a Remington 870 to shoot with.

I did see a few Thompson's, Ithaca's, and even a Mossberg that gave a few good shots

Hondo And The 9 Point

2009-11-23T21:25:00.000-08:00

At the hunt club last weekend, one of the guys got a nice 9 point buck.
I was on the other side of the swamp picking up dogs, so I did not get a shot of the deer on the ground when he shot it

By the time I made it to the skinnin shed, Hondo and Garnet were almost done with it. My son Jesse wanted to get in there and help

The proud hunter. We are gonna hear about this for the rest of the season

It was a tall rack, and wide, but did not seem as full as it could have been.

Either way, I would have been happy to have it on my tailgate

Deer Season Begins

2009-11-18T21:18:00.000-08:00

Our First day of deer season here was rain rain rain

I did prepare, and got in a blind early in the morning near some thick pines hoping to catch something coming in from the bean fields.

No luck.

Our dogs got a few hits, but the runs were short lived, and as I switched channels on the radio to listen in on the other clubs in the area, it seemed that they were not having much luck either.

After lunch, we did a drive in a thick, pine piece bordered by a beaver pond and bean fields.

The guys got around at different spots and the beagles went in.

Sure enough, as soon as they got in, they hit it hot, and we put a few on the ground.

I think I am getting old because I did not even take my 50 cal. or my 12 gauge out of the truck all day, I just enjoy listening to the dogs run

Sad Sad

2009-10-26T20:32:00.001-07:00

Here are the leftovers from our last crab feast of the season.

A sad day.

We have had some frost, and the water temps are dropping, and for the recreational crabber, you can't catch enough in the 2 pots and the short line you are allowed to use to make a good meal now, so it is time to wash it all down and put it up for the winter.

Bow season is in now, and black powder comes in on the 31st, so I will be in my stand Saturday morning.

Later in the week, I will post about my new 50 caliber black powder rifle, so check back in a couple days.

as for now, I did pick some of the leftover crab meat, so It is crab cake time : )

The Tree

2009-10-19T11:31:00.000-07:00

My brothers and my two sons tackled a red oak the other day at a neighbors house. It was dead, and was close to falling across her shed and clothesline.

My brother Karl put his spikes on and walked up the tree and took out some of the lower branches

The tree was so rotten in the top, he could not get to far, so we had to rope it off and notch it. We tied it off to his F-350 Ford to persuade the tree to come down where we wanted

A shed on one side, and a basketball court/picnic area on the other

It came down right where we needed.

The base of the tree where we made the notch to bring it down was about 35"

My brother took home about 3 cords of firewood, and I took my other brother a truckload for his smoker and fire pit, and I was still able to go back and get a full truckload to take to my house
This was our good deed for the month, to help a lady that we grew up with. Out of all the kids that used to run around our little neighborhood, I think my brothers and I are all that are left that ever come back

In The Woods

2009-10-05T20:02:00.001-07:00

My boys and I decided to do some squirrel hunting this past Saturday.
What this means to us is ride the trails where we deer hunt, clear away the brush and fallen branches, and maybe take a shot or two if the dogs get a good chase going.

We look around for scrapes, and deer trails and check for tracks

And sit back and enjoy the outdoors

After some scouting, and following some rub lines, we find some choice spots to attach our tree stands.

Black powder season starts in a few more weeks, so with our stands up and trails cleaned out, we enjoy the 4-wheeler paths for the last time until we are ready to hunt

All this week, the surrounding fields will have the corn harvested and with the cooler temps, and the full moon, Rut should be in full swing

Summertime

2009-08-19T20:25:00.000-07:00

Only 3 weeks left till school starts, but we are still havin fun

Ranger Runs

2009-07-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

It seems that the bugs have been removed from the Ford Ranger I have been showing in some past posts
Have a look

Here is his second run

And I had to share this Mercedes

And a sand drag car

Only in America !

Firemens Parade

2009-06-22T22:13:00.000-07:00

Thought I would share our pride

More Mud

2009-06-09T17:18:00.000-07:00

Some pic's and video of the mud races last weekend

Still Got A few Bugs

2009-06-03T16:45:00.000-07:00

A fuel system problem kept us from having a good run, but it looks like that is the last problem to work out.
Have a look............

Little Brothers Beast

2009-05-27T11:41:00.000-07:00

A few post's back, I told you about my brothers beast truck that he has built for the mud bogs we have around here
Well, the Ford Ranger went from this......

To this.
This past Saturday, he took it to a bog to test it out and get a feel for how it would do.
Unfortunately, the pit was not dug for speed, and it had no decent launch area in the entrance, so the hole was just for flat out digging
Here is his first attempt with 33' Super Swampers

Here with 36' TSL Swamper Boggers

And with his cut tires

He is making some modifications now, and should have all the bugs worked out before the next race this Saturday.
From what we have heard, the pit at the next event is a fast one so I hope he has some better luck next weekend

What Major League

2009-05-19T18:33:00.000-07:00

Now this is baseball to me. A sunny afternoon, my cooler with some root beer iced down, and my sons team ready to play

I would trade the best box seats behind home plate, or any seats behind the dugout of any majors game to be right there on the third base line watching my boy

One of the best parts of summer. If I could bring my grill, I would never leave, but when I do.....

We just go jump in the river.

Yeah, we know, its not summertime yet officially, but it has been warm around here

Even the dog wanted to cool off some

Happy Memorial Day

Back In The Day

2009-03-31T22:29:00.001-07:00

Back in the day I used to hit any mud bog within a 100 mile radius of my house.
I had some good trucks and some bad, but I was not looking to be a big winner, I just wanted to get in the slop and root it up

My younger brother has taken up the mud racing now, and the big thing to do around here is to use a mini truck with a big motor

He took his ranger and put it on a full size Ford truck frame

Bolted in a 460 ci motor, and had a really lightweight truck with plenty of horsepower. He hopes to have all the bugs worked out in the next few weeks to make his first run of the year

The mud season has already started here, so he went to his original mud truck this past weekend just for fun

As for me, I have taken on the task of stripping out an old 5th wheel camper so we can fabricate a bigger, stronger trailer to haul his Ford Ranger beast around on

It is my contribution to the team I guess, and it gives me something to do

You can check his pics and story of the truck build here

http://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/displaygallery.php?userid=9303

Spring Training ( kinda )

2009-03-26T11:59:00.000-07:00

After more than a week of warm dry days here, T ball practice started today with light wind and 40 degree temps, and rain moving in.

Despite the cold, the kids got in a good practice, they got to run the basses and burn off a little energy

And they got the chance to hit the ball a few times.
They have 4 weeks of practices before the first game, so I now have plans for my Wednesday afternoons, and Saturday mornings, I can't wait

2009-03-13T06:15:00.000-07:00

In just a matter of a few day's, we go from this,

To this.

It has been in the mid to upper 60's for the last few days. Walking around in short sleeves, and driving with the windows down. But this morning we wake up to some snowfall again.

Oh well, it is not sticking, and it mostly melts when it hits the ground. The little tease of warm weather had me out in the shed looking over my fishing rods and checking my baits.Here where I live on the Potomac in the Northern Neck, just above the Chesapeake Bay, Many people are preparing for the migration of the Rockfish that come in around late April to early June.

The ads are out for charters as well for the early run that has already started in the mouth of the bay, and word has it that some big fish are being caught.

As for me, I have my own boat, so I wait until the fish get into the Potomac near Westmoreland State Park and troll for them as they continue towards the 301 Bridge. I give it about another 2 weeks and I will take the boat down and put in at Colonial Beach for a trip to St. Clements Island and back up to the 301 bridge for a look see.

Snow !

2009-01-28T12:06:00.000-08:00

We finally got some snow here, and some ice too, but it did not keep us from going out to have some fun. We lost one old pine tree, but other than that, I was glad to see a little snow

Thought It Was Funny

2009-01-16T18:34:00.001-08:00

Well, I am laughing

The Last Of Them For This Season

2009-01-13T05:30:00.000-08:00

My Colt in the snow, We did get day with some snow

My Bobby with a spike

My brother Allen. His first year down in a long time, but he is hooked now

Nick and his mouse award winning doe. He finally got one with a slug

Our hunt club. It was a post office about a hundred years ago, but a landmark for us now

More Deer Season Pics

2009-01-08T19:14:00.000-08:00

Here is a couple of the beagles after a drive. Only 2 here because the dogs got split on 2 different deer, and these 2 and another were on the first one shot. The third beagle heard the other dogs and went to them so we could not catch him

From left clockwise, my son Jesse, My son Colt, Jason, Big Paul, Ryan, Eric, and my oldest son Bobby gutting a doe

My uncle Jr. and his best friend Babygirl. He has been a member of the hunt club for over 50 years

From left clockwise my son Bobby, Nick, and Ryan. The doe in the middle was shot by Nick with a slug. I do not know how the eye fell out, Maybe he is a good shot

The guys down in the powerline road gutting out another one. I have a few more, so for those of you looking for your pic's, check back in a couple days.

Deer Season

2008-11-24T10:31:00.000-08:00

Just a few pics of our day deer hunting. That's a dog box in the back of my truck

We hunt with beagles. Here is a pic of the boy's walking the dogs into the woods. One of the guy's saw 3 deer cross the wheat field, so they are going to try to get the dogs on the trail

We got a couple last Saturday

Here is big Jay and his massive spike buck

And the boy's at the end of the day skinning out. My son is the one on the left

Sarah Palin Comes To Town

2008-10-27T22:09:00.000-07:00

I got some great pics at the Palin rally in Fredericksburg today. Just wanted to share. You can read more about it at http://wwwdidimisssomething.blogspot.com/

FREAKIN SNAKES !

2008-10-13T18:34:00.000-07:00

My brother and I put up a tree stand last night, and I mean last night. We had a gathering at my uncle's Sunday, and afterwards he came by my house at around 8:00 and we marched through the woods with my 2 young sons in tow and assembled and attached his tree stand for next Saturday's bow hunt. I wanted to go out there today and get some pic's of the spot he picked out, but when my boy's and me got close to the stand, a snake dropped off the ladder. I HATE SNAKES ! so armed with only my camera, I decided to go back to the house and grab a shovel.

Off again, back to the stand, and before we could get into the trail, here comes the snake. I thought it would be a good idea if I got the boys back into the house and handle the situation. I got them to the front door and heard my wife scream because he had followed me to the door. That was all I needed, it was on now

I got him to the edge of the grass put him out of my misery

After I got a good look at it, I found it was some kind of pine snake or something, supposedly harmless, but how harmless can it be if it could cause me to break my leg running from it, or staring my brother in the face when he climbed up into his stand with his flashlight in his mouth and they met eye to eye ?

I will try to get some pics on Tuesday

The Best Part Of Football

2008-10-08T22:18:00.000-07:00

Sitting back on the bleachers with some coffee, enjoying the cool fall air

Watching your little boy cheer for your team, and the 20-0 win was pretty good too

But catching your son before he heads to the locker room to tell him GREAT JOB.....

That's priceless

Fall Festival

2008-10-05T17:27:00.000-07:00

On The Pier Today

2008-09-18T18:27:00.001-07:00

The pier at the beach was a little dead today when my brother and I went out to catch some fish. The wind was blowing and the water was rough, but it was worth it to be out of the house for a little while.

It was about 75 degrees, and sunny, so you could not ask for more than that. We fished the bottom with Carolina rigs and bloodworm's, and because of the rough water, we had to use 1oz and 3 oz weights.

We pulled a few spot and croakers, but the surprise of the day for me, was the rock fish I pulled in. In this area, you don't expect to see rock fish come back in until around mid October. I have seen them in September before, but they were in the 15 lbs range. When the late season gets going, they run 25 lbs and up.

Tree Stand Spots

2008-09-16T23:35:00.000-07:00

He's out there
So is she, and I have been watching for months where they go and where they hang out

I have been watching the woods, and the soybean field to find where they travel the most

I have found all the openings they use to get in and out of the field

I know where the rub lines are, and know from these that there are several bucks that travel from the pines and into the field to eat. They are starting to establish some territory.

I found some deep tracks that tell me there are some heavy deer in here. The ground is fairly dry, and the deeper the track, the heavier the buck

My brother checks in here from time to time to see what I am up to, This pic is for him. I took it on the path that he wants to set up his tree stand. Karl and his friend will start hunting here first with compound bows. After that, black powder season comes in. The last mud bog of the season is coming up, and I am sure that when it is done, I will see him and the guy's every weekend

Hannah Stoped By

2008-09-08T11:59:00.001-07:00

Hannah came through my area this weekend. As usual, when some kind of storm is heading our way, everyone stocks up on milk and bread and toilet paper. We saw the clouds and felt the wind Friday evening

All morning we waited for the worst, but just had some light rain and wind. I rode out to the beach and saw where the water was up a little.

The worst of it dropped down on us at around 2:00 pm on Saturday

Some of the private piers were underwater, and the road that follows Monroe Bay was flooded.

During the worst of it, we drove out to the boardwalk. We watched it sway, and tried to stand on the beach to feel the force of the wind. Luckily we were not hit bad. Let's all hope Florida makes it through the one heading to them

Growing Pains

2008-09-02T19:54:00.000-07:00

It's that time again, school has started today where I live, and and the air is full of the smells of new school clothes, backpacks, and bus exhaust. The sounds of the kids yelling about where their new shoes are, the bus rounding the corner, the squeaks of the springs and brakes, and then the worst sound of all. The sound of mommy sniffling, and her voice cracking as she says " be careful baby, Mommy will be here when you get back " Our 5 year old started kindergarten today, and this marks his first journey into the outside world. As a dad with 2 older boy's, I have been there before, but it never gets any easier to let them go. It only took a few minutes to console mom, and little brother who was left at home all alone, but they bounced back, and went on with their day. Mommy did return to the bus stop 15 minutes early for his return home, and teared up when the bus rounded the corner 10 minutes late. After a few hugs, and a ride back down our long dirt driveway, life returned to normal. Thank God for kid's, I wouldn't miss a minute of them.
.

Those *%$@# Raccoons !

2008-08-26T11:25:00.000-07:00

I have had minimal problems this year with rabbits and deer in my garden. I do live back in the woods, way off the paved road, and surrounded by corn and soybean fields. I expect some intrusion from the local wildlife, but this morning, some of them pissed me off

I had been nursing a few cantaloupes, and knew that this morning was going to be the day to enjoy them. I went out to pick them and .........

This is what I found. The raccoons had picked them last night and took them under some honeysuckle to have a feast

If you can see it, they scooped out all the flesh, and all that was left was the rhine. They took 3 melons, and I found the remains of a squash. I think it's time to take the 22 out of the cabinet. Tonight I will prepare

I will let Super Hank out of the pen tonight. He is my squirrel/deer/rabbit/attack dog. A true Hank of all trades, remover of cats from the trash cans, snake chaser, outdoor alarm system, and friend. The dog can read my mind, and knows what the target of the day is. I will give him first shot to rid me of my melon snatchers, until then, I am off to Hall's for some store bought melons

More Mud Bogin

2008-08-24T18:12:00.000-07:00

Here are some clips of my brother and our friends at the last Mud Bog. These are just some local guys that build heir trucks in the backyard. No sponsors, and all built by hand

Garden Update

2008-08-19T00:11:00.000-07:00

I am so impressed with my cherry tomato's, They are still producing and have many green ones budding

These are two of my early girls. They get planted after the first frost, and usually produce until the heat gets them in late July. I played a trick on them and gave them shade since mid June, and they are still putting out tomatoes

My green peppers got off to a slow start, but I used seeds, and not seedlings to grow them. When they did start, they shot up fast, about 3 1/2 feet tall and peppers sprouted everywhere. I had to use some bean stakes and tie them because they were so top heavy. I'm glad they started, because green peppers around here are about $2 dollars each

My watermelons are doing great. I have started using my drip hose around the base of the plant so they will expand and be super juicy.

And finally, my cantaloupes are starting to skin over and swell. I have 4 vining plants, and about 8 melons on each vine. I have a drip hose around the base of these as well, and you can tell the difference when you slice it open.

Hope you guys are having a great garden this year !

Family Reunion Day

2008-08-16T23:42:00.001-07:00

We had our family reunion today at my younger brothers house. There were 5 generations of family in attendance.

Our family tradition is everyone brings a covered side, or desert

For the main course, we had steamed crabs, and pork BBQ

I don't care who you are, there is nothing better than family

My brother has a pool at his house, so the kids were occupied

I was introduced to a game called Redneck Horseshoes

It's a game where you toss 2 rubber balls connected with a foot of string at a post with 3 levels

I watched, but did not play. I'm not even sure how they scored

I did enjoy watching the kids in the cannonball contest

They did the scoring like the Olympics. They had medals, and some little prizes for them

Great day today, and a birthday party/BBQ on Sunday. Not a bad weekend

A Time Out Today

2008-08-15T18:55:00.000-07:00

I took a time out today and went outside to watch my boys ride the trails on their 4 wheeler. I thought I'd share some of what I saw

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While I was out there, I looked around my tree stand spot. This is the back end of a soy bean field that is behind my house. As you can imagine. there are many deer around my home, and all I will need to do is walk about 400 yards from my door to get a shot. My older son is coming down in a few days, an I am going to get him to put the deck and ladder against the tree now so everything out there will be used to seeing it

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Drowning Some Worms

2008-08-13T17:35:00.000-07:00

It's never a bad day when you get to fish, or hang out at the beach and swim. We combine both, and had a great afternoon. There was an east wind, and as superstition has it, the fish will not bite. We did manage to get a few spot and hardhead. I let the boys pull in some small ones, and then they went swimming.

I wadded out a little to get past the rocks, but did not catch anything worth keeping

I gave up after a while because my back started to hurt. I was content to watch the boys swim for a while

If you have read my profile, you know that I had been in a rear end accident back in May, and with the back pain, and nerve damage to my neck and hands, I cant do to much anymore. Thursday the 14, is doctor day. We are hoping that they find a way to fix me. This pic is what it looks like when a chevy car hits a Ranger pickup at a stoplight. He admitted to be going 55 in a 45 when he hit me. I am glad my foot was on the brake.

Mud Bog

2008-08-08T13:56:00.000-07:00

I got a few video's from the mud bog at our county fair this past weekend. The first is my little brother in his F-150. This is pretty much a stock truck, he has removed the independent front axle and installed a solid front. It has headers and exhaust, and the original motor. Can't beat a FORD !

This is one of of our friends trucks that ran later on. The bog went into the night, and I heard he was only one of a few that made a full run. Just thought I'd share

Gephyrophobia ??

2008-08-06T02:31:00.000-07:00

Everyone has fears. Little things that make your skin crawl, cover your eyes, and run screaming. But sometimes you cannot get away from the " impending doom " that lies before you, and you either face it head on, or enter the fetal position. The word gephyrophobia is the scientific word for fear of bridges, and my significant other suffers from this affliction. That being said, I had a Doctors appointment today, and to get there, we had to cross this bridge. I have been across it many times before, but she has only been across a few. As we approach, you can see her slide down into the seat a little at a time. It is not the height of the bridge, or the feeling of a swaying motion she thinks she feels. It is the fact that it is only a 2 lane bridge with only concrete barriers protecting you from going into the water. A single vehicle crossing this bridge is fine, but this is a heavily traveled road with many big trucks coming from the opposite direction. Not only are they very close when they pass, but the wind they produce as they go by will shake our car violently. This is the root of her fear, I believe, and the cause of her sitting in the floorboard. It's not the fact that I enjoy her phobia, or feel the need to make fun of it, but it does amuse me when we finally cross over and she regains her composure, and then hits my arm and says "shut up" before I say a word.

braggin time

2008-08-05T01:07:00.000-07:00

Not to much happening today, so I thought I would brag on my garden. My boy's and I really love these Sugarbaby watermelons. I put these in in late May because of all the rain we were having around here. This one, and a couple more will be good to eat by this weekend

Here is one of my regular watermelons. These babies showed up about a week ago. I planted these late too, but I don't think it hurt them

I have been getting some squash, but only a couple at a time, They are growing all over the place now. If you take a close look, you can see the soil I am in is not the best. It has a lot of sand. I had been tilling in some good topsoil, trying to mix it in. I also tilled in some manure and a few oyster shells. It seems to be working good. Have fun everybody !

Beachy weekend

2008-08-04T00:36:00.000-07:00

All the kids, except for our youngest, were scattered out among grandparents this weekend. So with one little boy in the house for a couple days, We thought that we could have a little quiet time together. Well, it didn't last long because my wife decided that we were going to babysit our niece for a few days. I thought it was a good idea, because she is only 3, and still needs a lot of attention, unlike our 2 boys who are very independent. We are only 5 minutes from the beach, and decided that we would take the little girl to the water and see how she would react. Last summer, she would have nothing to do with the water or sand.

Well as you can see, it was a whole new ballgame this year. She eased into the water a little, and then splashed and played with the sand. We were a little surprised, but when she saw her cousin jumping in the water, she had to give it a try.

The mud bog at the fair was Sunday. I could not run because of my auto accident, but my brother and my friends went and ran. I am hoping to get the pics together soon and will post them. I hope everyone had a great weekend, and got outside for a little while.

Late night crabbin'

2008-07-31T18:45:00.000-07:00

As I said in yesterday's post, I went crabbin' down at the pier near my house. The crab season here has been slow, and everyone I know, even commercial crabbers are having a hard time finding crabs. I happened to check the Coast Guard buoy close to where I live on the web, and saw that the water temp had increased 6 degrees since the last time I checked. Everyone around here had been predicting mid August for when the crabs would start to show due to the warmer weather, so I figured, what the heck ? My sons and I set up some poles fishing the bottom for croakers, and started baiting our crab baskets.

I use both crab pots, and crab baskets for crabbing, but in this post, I will be explaining the baskets. It is basically a collapsible wire net basket with a drawstring, and a baited hook in the center. You can use old fish heads, or chicken necks for bait. Attach the bait to the suspended hook, and lower the basket into the water like in the first pic. I use lightweight nylon cord that floats, so when the basket is on the bottom, the line will float. Keep a little tension on the cord, and wrap around the pier rail. Make sure to crab in shallow water, around 5' to 8' has worked good for me. Then all you do is wait for the cord to start shaking!

Once you see the cord moving, you pull it up out of the water in a quick, steady motion. The outside ring rises up first, creating a net, and traps the crabs. Using this method, and fishing 4 baskets at a time, I can catch around a bushell in about an hour. Last night it took about 3 hours, but that was OK, because we also caught 9 croakers, and around here, crabs are selling for $100 bucks a bushell green, and $125 bucks + for cooked. Lets see, $1.50 for chicken necks= a bushell of crabs. That's a good deal for me ! I got out of the house, caught some fish, and got a bushell of crabs for cheap. If you want to try this on your own, you can get the baskets at any fishing supply or sporting goods store. Even the Wall-Mart here sells them. They go for about $5 bucks each, and last for years. I still have some that are 8 or 9 years old that I use. Well, that was my night. I had fun, and got to hang out with my boy's. If you have a good crabbin tip, leave me a post, because you learn something new everyday !!

Before I go..........

2008-07-30T20:14:00.000-07:00

Some fishing funnies I like..................

I'm goin crabbin on the pier, so no post from me tonight : )

What about a spincast ?

2008-07-29T18:59:00.000-07:00

When fishing from shore, I prefer to use a closed face reel. I have about 20 of the Zebco 808s that I wouldn't trade for anything. Recently at a yard sale I had stopped by had a lot of old fishing gear for sale. A lot of 202s, and some old poles. I would never buy an old used pole, but I saw a newer Penn spincast reel that caught my attention. I got it home and pulled it apart to clean it up some . I put some 30lbs test on it, and attached it on a spare med/heavy rod I had. This morning, we decided to go after some croakers and spot off the pier. The spincast was not my first choice of setups, but after I had 4 lines out, I decided to give it a cast. I attached a Carolina rig, and a 4oz weight, and put on some bloodworm's. My first few casts were not my finest, and I had a hard time positioning where I wanted the bait. After about 5 attempts, I had the hand of it, and got it close enough to where I wanted the bait. The moment of truth for me was when I unexpectedly hooked a catfish. He landed himself, swallowing the hook, and yanked the drag letting me know he was on. I initially snatched the rod, and all it would do was bend. I thought I had a late rockfish, or maybe a skate because I did not expect a catfish in the shallow water where, I had the bait The drag feature worked great, and allowed me to play the fish until it tired out. When I got it to the pier, I saw I had about a 14lbs cat. Nowhere near the record of 68 lbs in my area, but still a lot of fun. I continued using the Penn setup the rest of the morning, and took one of my 808s out of rotation. I am planning a trip to Gander Mountain this weekend, so I think I will give the spincast reels a closer look.

Stormy day

2008-07-27T20:42:00.000-07:00

Stormy weather today where I live, so no fishing. Oh well, at least there is a good race today, or so I thought. Tire problems killed the race today. It had to be run under several cautions and slowed the race to a crawl, in my opinion. The drivers did not run hard at all, and this is a "roll the dice" kind of race. I have seen the race run to extremes before, but today it seemed that everyone was driving with their fingers crossed. If nothing else, it was a good time to tie some trot lines. If you don't know what they are, they are used to to fish multiple baits at once. I use 300' sections, weighted at the ends, with a float about 6' from the weight. I tie chicken necks about every 6' to 8' feet, because I crab . They can be used for catfishing, but I would rather reel one of those in with my pole. I have not had a chance to go crabbing all season, but with the weather, rain, and cooler water temps, the crabs around here have not started to hit yet. Many of the commercial guys I talk to think the crabbing will not get good until mid August. My 300' of trot line can get me about a bushell and a half in about an hour, but many of my friends that have started crabbing tell me that 2 or 3 hours of work is only bringing in about half a bushel. I say, hurry up August ! My lines are ready and baited, and in the freezer. When I am ready for them, I will pull them out the day before and drop them in an empty cooler to thaw.

I'm so NOT sorry !

2008-07-26T19:40:00.000-07:00

Uh-oh! I didn't mean to offend ! Really ! Well, maybe I did. But I will not be ashamed because I like big muddy trucks. I will not be ashamed because I am barefoot. I will not be ashamed that I hunt and fish. I say this right up front because someone in one of my groups at a networking site I belong to told me to " come out of the woods, we have food stores now ". I know we have food stores. I go to Wall-Mart on a regular basis to get my freezer bags to put my game and fish in to store in the freezer. I was also told that " participating in a useless sport like mudboggin is a waste of resources and destructive to the earth ". I quickly removed them from my friends list, and decided not to leave them any type of response. I am proud of who I am, and proud of my boy's, who hunt and fish and love the mud just as much as me. That being said, Sunday is approaching. I have decided to do some fishing on the beach. I have between 5 and 500 rod and reel combo's because where I live I can saltwater and freshwater fish. I am planning on saltwater fishing. I have 4 poles, 8' heavy action with some 808 Zebco reels on them ready to go. I strung them fresh this year with 30lbs test, and tied them with new swivels and Carolina rigs. In case you do not know what that type of rig is, it's basically a swivel attached to about 3 feet of wire, and a swivel at the bottom for the weight. It generally has 2, and sometimes 3 connection points to attach your leader and hook. I am using this rig because the water temp here is about 72 degrees, and I want to fish the bottom. I am going after some spot and some hardheads. If you don't know what they are, read tomorrow and I will post picks. Have a great Sunday, and GET OUTSIDE !!!

Mud bog 101 part 1

2008-07-25T23:23:00.000-07:00

I live in an area that still has the good old county fair. It's full of livestock, crafts, carnival rides, all the new tractors and attachments, and best of all, the country and bluegrass bands that give the concerts for free every night. I have been a fan of the fair since I was a little kid. I had entered goats and vegetables to tried and win ribbons and trophies. I had a calf one year, but it didn't work out to good. When I was younger, back in the 70's, the biggest attractions were the demolition derby's and the old dirt circle track races. When the 80's rolled in, the dirt track was full of weeds, and that part of the fair was forgotten. In 1983, My then small town had groups of 4X4 guys that had branched off from each other and had organized trail rides, and late night diggin trips that allowed braggin rights and tall tales of super trucks that could go through bottomless pits and climb tree's. To this day, I'm not sure who brought about the idea, but one of the 4X4 clubs obtained the permission, insurance, and equipment to dig a pit and start the mud bogs. I have been to a lot of mud bogs, I mean, I have been attending and participating in them for over 20 years. And I have never seen the same type of pit. Different soils in different locations make up some of the difference, but everyone has their own idea of how a pit is to be laid out. Some construct a downward sloping pit at the entrance, that slopes back up at the exit. Some construct pits that have a few " speedbumps in them. Some build them shallow to ensure a full pull if you get good wheel speed from the start. The bogs in my area is a friends and family kind of crowd, and in the pits, everyone will lend a hand to change tires, tighten lugs, add some water to the radiator, and such. Our next bog is in a week, and I am ready to go now. Since I will be discussing this topic in the future, I thought this post would make for a good primer. Untill next time, GET OUTSIDE !!

I'm from the country

2008-07-24T17:54:00.000-07:00

I feel sorry for those that are stranded in an urban setting. I am so thankfull that my all my family were country people, and I am glad that my boys can live in a place where they are not fenced in. I fish, I hunt, and I live for the outdoors. Am I the barefoot hilbilly you might be picturing in your mind right now ? Could be, but it's what I enjoy. Today,around my house it was an awsome day. Sunny skies and not to hot. A day that you could go out and do stuff and not sweat to death. We rode the 4 wheeler around the trails, and picked some stuff from the garden. I even walked down the dirt driveway and picked a few blackberries. While walking around the yard, I noticed it's time to cut the grass. I'm pretty good at keeping the grass cut, not like most who could lose the mower in the weeds. I think tomorrow after I cut the grass, I will try to get out and catch some fish, and pull some of the cucumbers out of the garden for dinner. Untill next time...