The Hunting Times

I stopped by the Hispanic grocery store tonight on my way home.  I bought 3.5# of jalapenos for $2.47.  And these are LARGE jalapenos. So tonight I cut them in half and removed the seeds and all the white pith inside.  I washed them.  I then stuffed them with cream cheese - about half way full, which is my preference.  If you get them too full, then they are too rich for my taste. Then I cut some duck snack sticks in half and laid them in the cream cheese.  Then I wrapped them in bacon.  After I placed them on the cookie sheet, I sprinkled McCormick's Southwest Maple seasoning on them.  That right there, that's the difference between a good popper and a GREAT popper. So tomorrow, after I get home from the office, I will put two cookie sheets of poppers in the oven at about 250 degrees F.  It will take somewhere between 90 and 120 minutes to bake.  I bake them until the bacon is done - not too crispy but not too limp either. My...

I was at the airport this morning (not really the airport, but Lilly's facility next to the airport).  After my meeting, I was driving back to corporate (downtown Indy), and I see this pick-up truck on I-70 heading East. They have either been out west somewhere or Kentucky.  Those are the only places I know where you can hunt elk - and those are most certainly two elk racks in the back of that truck. The truck is entirely skinned up in woodland camo.  The large cooler on the back kept me from determining what state they are from.  Doesn't matter really.  They had a great trip!

You know, there is a lot of good information out there on the 'internets.'  But not everything is there, and not all of it is useful.  I am guilty of some of both of those as well... My Ferris IS 2000Z had an intermittent problem with the blades not wanting to engage.  You could pull the PTO switch and nothing.  Jiggle it a bit or move it and sometimes the blades would come on.  Well, this past Sunday afternoon, it decided not only that it would not come on, but that it would send a signal that the blades WERE on so the mower would not start. I hit the Google to find out what part I should buy.  Amazon was very helpful; not only did they show pictures, but offered technical guidance on what switch to buy.  That bit was easy.  I picked two-day shipping and the part arrived in the mail Tuesday.  $17 and some change.  No worries. So, to change a PTO or blade switch on a Ferris mower, or specifically a Ferris IS 2000Z, you lift up the ...

It use ta was that August 15 was special each year.  That is the start of hunting season - Squirrel hunting opens in Indiana on August 15.  Back in the day, when I could, I would go out with Grandpa to the woods and sit hoping to catch us some squirrels.  When Grandpa was not available, I would go solo - sometimes before school started, but for sure on the week-ends. Now it seems that life has gotten in the way of Squirrel season.  Yes, I do enjoy eating squirrels.  No, I do not enjoy cleaning them.  In fact I have stated before that I would rather clean two deer than one squirrel. All that notwithstanding, RePhil and I took to the woods to try and find us some tree rats this past Tuesday night (Sept 20).  We both ended up working late and did not get out until about 6 pm.  Driving to the woods we saw two squirrels in town.  Now even though I had my suppressed .22 (yes, you can legally hunt with suppressors in Indiana) we decided NOT to s...

The question is:  how long will it take a metal pipe to deteriorate if it is buried 5 feet underground in Indiana soil? That's right.  Our supply line from the well to the house has a hole in it.  Mind you it's not a huge leak, thankfully.  It is however bubbling up from 5 feet underground.  Of course it must be below the frost line so it won't freeze.  But 5 feet seems a bit excessive to me.  I had to lay on the ground and get my head into the hole so I could reach the line. Once confirmed, I have called in the professionals.  Hopefully they will make it out tomorrow (Tuesday). And the most fortunate thing is that since it is a small pin hole, we still have water in the house.  That's about the only good news we got.  We'll see how much that will cost us.  Nothing that money can't fix. Sending a Shout Out to my huntin' buddy Cousin Shane.  He had back surgery and is laid up.  About the only enjoyment he gets is r...

While the rest of America celebrates Labor Day by taking a day off and putting most everything on sale, nine of us got together to hunt what is becoming the ever-elusive dove. The day started at 67 degrees with a slight breeze and hardly any clouds.  We posted up three groups of three at Burkhaulter's farm.  We set out our decoys and awaited the flurry of doves - that never came. Kruger had previously mowed a picked wheat field.  The doves were crossing, and although we got some shots, we ended up with only twelve birds. That didn't stop us from laughing, telling lies, and drinking some brewskis. Krueger's dog Riley earned her keep by locating several birds. We're not sure the doves have migrated down yet as it has not been cold enough.  We are not seeing many. Davey, Michael, and Riley posted up for doves. The picked and mowed wheat field we posted up on today. What a pose my kids have made.  They look like toy soldiers, or like t...

So you would think that it would be more difficult to break a Galaxy 6 Active...I mean, its protected from water, and dirt, and has an awesome case.  That's all good....UNLESS....a piece of painted tile art loses its hanger from the back and drops from the wall onto the phone, corner first! The tile itself turned out with just a little nick in the bottom.  Falling from about 8 feet to the counter and then on the floor - it's pretty sturdy.  However, falling four feet to the counter where my phone sits and hitting the glass on the corner does a 100% total destruction on the phone. Note the crack on the middle right.  Will not even turn on! Mama took it pretty well.  She said at least no one got hurt.  We had a herd of people here for dove hunting and it fell between everyone.  Lucky there. I went to town and bought the iPhone 6s Plus.  I think the last iPhone I had was the 4 when I switched to Android.  I have gone back to the D...

What a fine country morning to be out hunting the mourning dove.  It was 60 F, wet from dew, and mostly sunny with little white cotton-ball clouds.  B-E-A-utiful.  You've seen mourning doves, sitting on power lines or in dead trees.  They are also called Turtle Doves.  And it is said that there are more shots fired on that specie than any other in North America. My morning started at 5:40.  I rolled out to prepare venison gravy and some biscuits.  Most everyone else showed up right at 7 am, which was our designated eating time.  Of course the Snellenbargers showed up at 7:20.  We ate without them. We gathered up guns, licences, HIP numbers, plugs, and ammo.  Then we headed out at 7:40.  Upon the first shot, one of our art tiles from Mexico lost its glued-on holder and fell off the wall.  It landed vertically on the sink before changing directions and landing directly on my cell phone.  The tile?  Just a small chip...

I am posting this in reverse order, the second half first, so that when you go to read them, you will see the first half first.  Makes sense to me. So we ended up with thirteen hunters but barely a bird a piece.  They were just not flying.  We posed for pictures right before lunch, and then after lunch.  I took more pictures than I am posting.  I want this blog to actually load up for you... Looks like poor Kathy has a drinking problem! Zach has a problem for sure.  Could be the beer, could be the chair. The Gang and our haul.  Slim pickins... Eric, Zach, and Tony relaxing after a lunch of rabbit stew. Most of the Seager / Martin clan. Kathy is done hunting.  Will and Sandy never went hunting. Nick is in my chair.  Can you see him?

Dove season opened in Indiana yesterday, Thursday, 01 SEP 2016.  It was a cooler day, mostly overcast with only a slight breeze.  I think it was about 65 F when we finally hit the woods at 5:30 pm.  Of course you cannot go to the woods without liquid refreshments - you might die from dehydration!  So before we went out, we hydrated ourselves with some Dos Equis and the keg RePhil has in his garage.  I'm not sure what brand of beer it was - but it was my favorite - free and cold! Here's RePhil taking it straight from the tap. As you can see, we have not even changed out of our work clothes at this point. Gotta get hydrated quickly! Davey could not join us as he had a funeral to attend.  Krueger was invited but had other plans already.  So it was just me and RePhil doin' what we could to drain that keg. We walked W from RePhil's house and set up our decoys.  We had 2 Mojo's (moving) and one wind-driven deke.  We also had about ...