2010 Ice Breaker

I awoke to 16 degrees on January 9. Young and I had a duck hunt at Trimcane and we knew it was going to be tough one. Temps had been this way for a week and we came prepared. Sledgehammer, axe, and rake. We were the only ones to arrive to hunt so we took our hole and found a really nice spot next to the levee with good cover. We cut a large hole in the ice and boy did the ducks love it. We had shooting (notice I did not say killing) all morning long with the last duck being killed around 11am. It even snowed most of the morning making it an awesome experience. We brought out 6 ducks....1 greenhead ,2 greenwing teal, 1 bluewing teal, 1 ringneck and 1 merganser. It was so cold that I had to hover over the heater to make the zipper on my coat work......but man it was heaven!

Good End to a Bad Start

I was hunting shortly before Christmas during the Primative Weapon season and at daylight had three deer running a ridge in front of me.....I wondered to myself...now what in the world has them stirred up? I found out shortly as a coyote appeared. I said to myself "You come on out here big boy and see what you get!" Sure enough he did and he found out! I reloaded and about two hours later I was looking to my right and heard a grunt to my left. I eased around and there this 8 pt stood about 50 yards away and started closing the distance....I had to shoot him right handed, but he dropped in his tracks....man that 45/70 is wicked. Anyway I sat in the stand until 10:00 making sure that a doe did not come out because I love those backstraps. Good PW kill 13 1/2" spread. Forgot my phone at home so had to drive right down Hwy 12 to Leanne's office to get a pic, then decided to take it by MA's school to get her approval, which she did.

The Thanksgiving Buck

This was truely one of those hunts that hopefully will be in my mind for a long time.....Thanksgiving morning found me in my ladderstand overlooking a crossing. 6:35am this buck stepped out and I grunted to stop him and shot him at 100 yards with my new Remington 30.06. A very nice 9 pt with a 14 1/2" spread and weighed approx 180 pounds

THIDS-Thank Goodness Its Deer Season!

There is nothing that I like better than getting ready for bow season and getting my stuff together. Even stepping out in the backyard to sling a few arrows gets my fired up! Time and bad weather has been an issue as far as getting into the woods, but hopefully with state fair being over and as the end of year draws near, I will be able to go more.

My Camo Cutie

Promise I won't kill you with pics of Mary Audrey due to this being primarily a blog about my love of hunting, fishing and being outside! The other day MA and I were in Wal-Mart just browsing and went to the sporting goods. As we strolled down the hunting aisle she started saying ummmmmmmmmmmmm!!! (Thats my girl!) My then eyes landed on this hat and of course had to get it! Another point of pride...MA has started talking...Her first word was DA DA. Her next word was MA MA and her next word was Deer! She has since added Duck and Dog, and sometimes Turkey although it sounds more like Durkey. I think she really likes saying Dog the most since everything from her formula to the TV is Dawwwg. It is even more cute because she really drags it out like a true southern belle!

My gals....

Just recently returned from the 2009 4-H Shooting Sports National Invitational and had a great time. Event more importantly I was so happy that my family could be there the whole week with me! Just wanted to share this pic of my two gals! This pic was taken at a sidewalk cafe in the Market District of Omaha. Mary Audrey is waving at a policeman on a horse that was passing by.

10 gauge pattern testing

Since my surgery, all I had time to do was watch hunting videos and wishing I was able to go! I decided to pattern test my Remington 10 gauge for turkeys. I have had this gun for about 4 years and had not even shot it. The pattern in a 10 inch circle is the best that I have ever seen out of a turkey pattern. I began at 40 yards and worked it back to 10 yards. I set a few parameters before I started. I wanted to leave the gun as is....no optics or aim points other than the ones on the gun. Also, the only choke that I would use would be the stock turkey choke that was included with the gun. Finally, I did not want to shoot any shotsize smaller than #4. I fired 3 shots and then averaged the number of pellets in a 10" circle. After pattern testing several loads, the Remington Premier Magnum 2 1/4oz performed the best. The load is centered and fairly evenly distributed. This load averaged 91 pellets at 40 yards. Gonna have to start lifting weights for next season.....the gun weighs 11 pounds unloaded.