Venison for dinner!

Sunday we put meat on the table without firing a shot!

Late sunday afternoon we left the club and stopped at a friends on the way home. He offered us a chance at hunting his private woods. Ealier in the day he had shot a big doe, and was done for the day. Earlier in the day his cousin had shot at another small doe. She ran off and he couldn't find her. As we left the woods we found her. I had a doe tag for that zone so we tagged her and put what we could in the freezer. 3/4 of her was still good so we've got about 15lbs of sausage, 3 big roasts, and the backstraps in the freezer. Having the tenderloins for dinner tonight with wild rice and yams.

We also have her hide and the hide from my friends doe. As soon as they are tanned they will become a possibles bag to replace my old one. With what's left I will try and get Pelenaka to sew into a pair of mittens for the sidekick. If there is enough left after that we will make some moccasins. From past experience though I know that even though a hide looks big, once you start cutting it's alot smaller than you think.

Woods

Where I belong, in the woods

Today was opening day of firearm deer season here in western NY. My first opener since 1987. Wow didn't realize it had been over 20 years until I typed it. Oh, I've hunted deer. But, due to job and time constraints it just hasn't happened except here and there. This year I just happened to have a weeks vacation coming and the ability to take time off at just the right time.

Today wasn't a great day in the woods. But, there is no such thing as a bad day in the woods.

It was also my stepdaughters first deer opener. It could have been a real letdown for her. She's a trooper though and made the best of it. Being her first time out I made araingments to hunt one of my gun clubs. I figured it would be a more controlled situation and safer for her. However I didn't know just how many people hunted the clubs lands. I knew they had enough people for some serious drives. I've been on deer drives and don't in particular care for them. I picked us a spot down in the gorge of Oatka creek. I knew the drive would be above us on top and we wouldn't be in the line of fire. I'll tell you this when the shooting up there started I knew what being a dad felt like. Right off the bat I moved DD to the down range side of a big beech tree. While we weren't in the direct line of fire I sure do know what the wrong end of a shooting gallery sounds like. Now the place we were hunting is under management and is antlerless only. If I shot the first doe she was done hunting, due to her status as a junior hunter. So, she was told the first deer was hers and I'd be her backup shot. BTW, we were both shooting traditional sidelock muzzleloaders with cloth patched round balls. Well that drive did send us a doe, a big one. She came down the hill saw us move and froze. Then she did that jump and turn 180 degrees thing that only a deer can do. There she is ears and nose twitching trying to figure out what we were. I waited for what seemed like an eternity. DD didn't shoot. Well that doe did that crouch she was going to jump, as she started to rise I let fly with a .50 cal ball and missed. Then I heard the "what the?" from my daughters tree. It seems she was just getting her sights settled when I shot. I broke my word that the first shot was hers. That pains me to no end. I could only think her gun misfired, not that due to a different angle she couldn't tell whether the deer had antlers or not.

She forgave me though. trouble is forgiving myself.

As it turns out it was just as well. As we left we stopped at the clubs rifle range to empty the guns. Well hers didn't go off. Several months ago I picked up an old kentucky replica from the 70's. Poorly built from a kit it had ignition problems. With quite a bit of tinkering I thought I had the gun shooting well enough to hunt with. The plan was to hunt with it, then after hunting season rebuild it into something nice. Turns out I got it working good when it was warm and dry. Put it in the misty damp air at 40 degrees and all it's old problems return.

Tomorrow the sidekick will be carrying a single shot 20 gauge with slugs. I will be carrying my kentuckian replica that shoots cloverleafs all day long at 50 yards.

Tonight we eat spagetti and meatballs from the store.

Maybe to morrow we eat liver and onions from the woods.

Lets hope at least.

Not blogging much lately.

As my loyal followers have probably noticed I haven't been around much.

It's been a busy summer.

Our church started a community garden and I signed up for a plot. Then rather than let weeds take over the unclaimed plot next door, I took a second plot.

Before that our computer picked up a virus I couldn't get off of it. So we bought a laptop and cell phones. Then dumped the phone company.

Right now we're stuck with a library wireless connection. It's free, but, the libraries summer hours and my work hours don't leave me alot of opportunities to get online.

I tried a wireless broadband card from Cricket as it would be the cheapest route without having to have a contract. Well it stank to say the least. Monday, I'm returning it. It made my virus ridden desk top on DSL seem quick. I'd guess the wireless card was somewhere around half as fast as a dial up connection. On top of that we couldn't get the wireless router to work as long as it was on the computer. The whole idea was portable, and the wireless for when we were out of thier service area.

Maybe around the time the snow flies I can get Pelenaka to lighten up on her hatred of the cable company. If I can maybe there will be road runner in my future. Until then I'll have to sneak around the libraries hours.

Woods

Cutlery for the budget minded backwoodsman

Not long ago Scoutinlife posted about his idea for the perfect knife. Well here is mine. It wasn't easy to find. Took about 20 years of looking as a matter of fact. A thick, stiff 4" plain carbon steel blade in almost the shape advocated by the great outdoorsman Nessmuck. Stacked leather washer handle that fits the hand perfect. It was aquired as part of the great tool caper last summer. I almost missed it in the bottom of a box of junk. Covered in rust from the basement flood it survived. One afternoon last fall I took to cleaning it up. At the time I was skeptical. I proceeded on faith just because it felt soo good in my hand. Well the rust cleaned up leaving a brown/blue patina behind. It quickly took an edge that would shave the hair off my arm. At this point all it has dressed out is a homestead raised bunny and a steak dinner. Not a makers mark on it anywhere, however the sheath is marked "Made in England".

The poor mans tomahawk is a gun show find. Having aquired my flintlock, I felt the need to have a hawk to go with it. At the same gunshow I found this carpenter's hatchet head in a box of junky knives. Priced at $3.00 I saw potential in it. A trip to work got me a handle meant for a big 24oz framing hammer for another $3.00. Less than an hour to fit them together and I had a poor mans hawk. Soon I will grind off the remains of the claws from it's backside. It's already seen plenty of use sharpening home made tomato stakes and splitting kindling. It too took a fine edge and has become a favorite. $6.00 sure beats the cost of a replica. They usually start around $25.00 for cruddy ones and go quite high in price.

Lets see your favorites!

The sad state of the American male!

Time for a rant. I warned you way back in the beginning of this blog I wouldn't always be Mr nice guy.

Sorry if some are offended, but, I need to say it!

Keep in mind this is partially tongue in cheek.

Several days ago I had the opportunity to over hear a conversation between three men. Well two talked and the third just sat there and nodded. It seems guy #1 (using the term guy loosely here) was tired of hearing his wife complain about the cost of their lawn service. Which was just over $100 a month and included snow plowing in winter. Guy #2 said the cost of a mower was too much to justify doing it yourself. The cost of a tractor alone was over $1500. Guy #1 replied that their fathers mowed the same size lots with push mowers and they cost about what one months of the service does. The problem for guy #1 was he couldn't figure out how to mow along the fence. Guy 2 mentioned a string trimmer. Guy 1 replied that string trimmer scared him and just mowing his city lot was getting too complicated. It all scared guy 2, that's why he pays a service.

Yes people, scared and complicated were their words, not mine. We wonder why our country is failing. Yet, how can we manufacture products and have a strong economy when most of our population is afraid of basic objects. A task as simple as cutting grass is viewed as complicated? If the crap ever does really hit the fan bad, we are in deep doo doo. I don't have time to be changing these guys diapers for them.

My advice for those guys!

Turn off the TV idiot box. Get away from your computer. Make your wife do her own pedicure.
Get a mower and mow your lawn. Let the grass grow a little next to the fence, the guy next door is too busy giving his wife a pedicure to care. Break the mower, get grease and oil under your pretty nails and fix it. Next you'll want to change the oil in the car, do it! Before you know it, you'll know what those thing hanging there are, reach down and grab them.

The only thing I think you're really afraid of is something called testosterone. Stop eating so much soy, go get yourself a proper piece of meat for dinner and you might have some more of it! It's really not that scary of a thing.

Sign this one.
Woods, the unreformed male!

Thinking and eating outside the box

Here's a post about one of my favorite things, Eating! Like every red blooded American male I love cooking on the barbeque. Well we just gave away our grill. We found a better way. Actually I should give Pelenaka her due and tell you it was her discovery. Several years ago my darling wife decided the frugal thing to do was to can our food on a wood stove. So, we went shopping and found an old laundry stove in the weeds out behind a antique shop. Spent a bit over $100.00 to get it. We (well mostly she) have used it for three years now for food preservation and it does an excellent job. It also runs for almost free, something that can't be said for our vintage electric stove. A trip around the nieghborhood with a wagon after a wind storm yields plenty of free firewood. Maple mostly, with the occasional piece of walnut, oak or cherry thrown in.

Well here is the big discovery. Maple and cherry twigs and sticks beat briquets or lump charcoal all day long. For one thing they are free rather than costing $5.00 for a 10 pound bag. Second they don't require expensive starter either. A strip of brown paper bag or news paper is all it takes. One of those square black grills with the round holes meant for veggies or seafood replaces the wire grill. Pictured above is yours truly roasting hot dogs and goat chops. The goat was the last of a young buck purchased from a friend last spring for $40.00. It lasted so long because I'm the only one that will eat it. The girls had hots and burgers. The jar in the background with the red lid is my home made hot/barbeque sauce. The sauce might just become a source of income. I took a bottle to work and stuck it in the fridge. I had it once. Today one of my coworkers asked when I was bringing in more. The bottle was in the fridge almost empty. The store bought equivilent cost almost four bucks for a ten ounce bottle. It costs me three to make half a gallon of it. Maybe I'll start charging my coworkers for hot sauce.

You may recognize that bit of white to my right under the tarp in the picture, as a old fashioned claw foot tub. Yup! You guessed it. In the summer when the girls go to Texas to visit dad, we turn off the hot water heater and bathe behind a screen in the back yard. We just use the old stove for what it was designed to do, heating water. Sure beats having a gas bill!

Last month our expensive new fangled front load washing machine broke. I have a strange feeling one of these days, I'm going to come home and find my wife boiling the clothes on top of this stove. Imagine that!

Woods

I'm a rocklock man!

It's now official. A rock makes my gun go bang. Last weeks gun show turned up this Traditions flintlock PA rifle. This wasn't my first choice. I really wanted a .45 caliber to save on lead and powder expenses. This .50 caliber gun came along at a price I couldn't refuse. Actually I missed a 20 yr old unfired Navy Arms KY rifle for half the money by minutes. It was a .45 too. That seller was parting out his brothers estate at bargain basement prices. By the time I got there though all his flintlocks were gone. I am happy with what I have though. I've found a complete set of spare lock parts for less than $30.00. That includes two mainsprings and two frizzens. This gun isn't likely to end up out of action in my lifetime. There is only one problem. This gun is 5 inches longer than my gunsafe is tall! That's OK, I've been looking for an excuse to go safe shopping! If I like this gun at the range, I may just have to scrounge up the smallbore version too.

It was pointed out to me today, that I'm not posting often enough for one of my fans. Be patient my friends, a couple minor health issues have been keeping me off line. I should be back in a few weeks.