2011-2012 Totals

The Totals

Fred G.
Misc: 9
Greenie:3
Total: 12

Bob DaFolder
Misc: 3
Greenie: 1.5
Total: 4.5

Cliffy V.
Misc: 6
Greenie: 3
Total: 9


Greenie
Shots taken at me and missed: 42

Props To All My Peeps

Just want to give a shout out to all my peeps who have been giving me the love for earning the 2011-2012   Expert title, thanks.  The picture show has been awesome, thanks.  I would like at this time to thank some of the sponsors for whom this would not have been at all possible.  First and foremost I would like to thank the Jameson Whiskey company, without their support this year would not have been as successful as it was.  My gun was loaded and was I.  Benelli firearms for their awesome firepower.  Black Cloud ammo, without you the ducks would have never rained down.  SouthWest airlines, for getting me to and from the great state of Idaho safely.  Without that trip I may have never secured the title of Expert.  Last but not least Hodgman wader company, you kept me dry all year.  Thank you  everyone, we'll see all of you next season where I hope I can make all of you proud and retain the Expert title.  

You say goodbye, I say hello.

We certainly have had our good times together. Quality time at the fuel pump filling not one but two tanks. Maxing out at 65mph in 5th going down hill. Sliding recklessly over the center divider even with 4 wheel engaged on those snowy roads. And let's not forget those trips to see our friends at Reccos Auto Repair time and time again for little things like new clutches and computer brains. Yes indeed, they have been heady good times, but now it's time to say goodbye.

It's with a sad heart that I put you, ole' Big Betty, up on 'The List' last week. At first I asked merely for a trade of reasonable proportions. Maybe something that didn't have a clanging transmission that seems to be ready to fall out of your 195K mile frame. How about something that gets more than 9mpg on the highway, or maybe a trade that doesn't invoke panic to drive over the pass. All I received in return was the ever popular 2nd party title and the unregistered bucket. And then there's the 150 mile drive on my part to see your grainy photo of a trade. Phooey!

But then salvation! Some guy from Montana with a supercharged 5.0 from an F150 Lightning he wrecked and who wants to drop a new tranny into your tired frame. His kids are begging him for a cool looking lifted truck to pull the family boat with, not the old wimpy truck they have now. This is the kind of thing you are great at! Looking cool, looking mean, looking GOOD! I think you two will make a great pair. Plus, he's bringing cash money to help ease my pain. I'll miss you ole' Big Betty.

Hello Duck Hunting Boat!
I think we will get along just fine. As Mitch once said, "You can just forget about that other one cause now you got this fine looking jewel sitting right here by you." Ain't that the truth. That's the plain truth.
So now the search begins for the perfect duck boat. Let's forget about the fact that I have nothing to pull you with. Time alone will take care of that. I'm even selling off some old stuff I don't need to put money into the kitty for you. Willy has even put his mini RV up for sale to kick in some dollars for you, knowing full well how good his dog Peat will look sitting on your bow riding off into the morning darkness in search of ducks. I can't wait to meet you. We are going to be good friends. Good friends.



GBCH

Even More Random

Fred G's first day on the Deschutes! Look at that Marmot wading jacket and all that slack in the line! Talk about a dead drift... HA! "Me Fred, me hunt trout".

Kinda Random, eh?

2011/2012 random hunting pic..take 2

2011/2012 random hunting pic..take 1

Crazy Andy.....where is he now?

I don't know if you read or saw the movie "Eat, Prey, Love", but it was set in the island of Bali ( which was really impressive). Ubud, which is in the center of the island has really friendly people and everything from the artwork and dance to the Hindu culture is really intertwined with daily life....still very geniune. Surprising, considering the amount of tourist they recieve. however.....It seems that "Eat, prey, love", has drawn more tourists to the town.

In the movie, there was a yogi-master guy who played himself. Before he would charge 100,000 rupiah (10 dollars) to sit with him for readings or whatever the term is. Now, I hear he charges 1,000,000 rupiah per person...and the line waiting to see him each morning is long....winding around looking to have a seat with him.

Today Ira and I are taking a boat to the second island....it drops us off about 10am and picks us up at 3:30. That island is the smaller Gili Meno. There is even a smaller island called Gili Air....each island lets you feel more and more like Robinson Crusoe....

Were taking snorkling gear and there looks like there is a small lake in the middle of the island also....should be interesting. This is the last full day here, then I'm heading back to Ubud. I hadn't planned to, but since it is so nice.....I will spend my last day and half there before heading back to Thailand.

I'm back in Bangkok for a day before traveling up to the northeast part of Thailand and then hopefully over the border to Laos. From there I'm not sure yet....I have to do a little more research to see if I can go inland from there or down the Mekong for a few days to a village called Luang Prabang. I have been there before and it really is a cool little town.....very relaxed and a world heritage site.

I have attached a photo from Gili Meno the second island out of three in the Gilis......we did a day trip there....really beautiful.

I'm not sure if I told you this already, but when I arrived back in Ubud....and returned to the same homestay...the mom was really surprised to see me again. The had just finished a ceremony for one of the children. She made me a dish of the leftovers.....fresh roasted pig and rice and vegtables.....really nice. They took me to the airport as well.....really nice family.

I flew from Bangkok to Chang Rai this morning. I had a nice day traveling around Bangkok yesterday...going to a few markets. There are canals all around Bangkok with boats that the locals use to avoid the terrible traffic. They cost very little....50 cents or less. There a great window to see how locals live along the canals as well as the people who travel on them. There are plastic tarps on the side of the boats and passengers raise them up when boats pass-by.....to avoid the spray from the wake.

I guess that there was a bombing not too far away from my travels yesterday. There was a story that an Iranian tried throwing a bomb.......but the bomb ended up blowing both his legs off.....and the limbs ended up in a school yard....they have caught most of the people involved. I flew out this morning expecting serious security, but it seemed normal.

I'm close to the border of Laos now...just a few hours away. I will take a local bus to the crossing tomorrow. From there I was thinking of taking a boat down the Mekong for a few days, but decided to head inland to the northern part of Laos instead.......it seems to get relatively few tourists and is really beautiful.

I still have about 2 weeks to explore...taking my time to hopefully get off the touristy stuff. Chang Rai, where I'm at now is very relaxed and easy going. When I checked into the guesthouse here the lady gave me back way too much money by accident. I walked back and looked down at the money and she realized immediatly what she had done...and gave me a wai...the bow with her palms clasped together.....and thanked me.....good karma I feel...

Hmmmmm.

Spending the day today talking myself out of a rescue Toller. You see, there's a Toller mix over in Spokane and she looks to be a beautiful dog. Problem is, well the problems are on many levels. For openers I want a puppy so I can be the one to teach it my habits, good or bad, and so that it can learn to leave our chunky and terrified kitty alone. Then the issue of working all the time and not knowing what we would do with a dog while we are gone during the day. Can't really leave it outside tied to a tree can I? What about food and vet costs? I need money for a new bathroom and maybe a vacation for Heston's sake, dogs eat money and poop, well, poop. Why did someone get rid of this dog? Is she a terror, a biter, a basket case? And what if the dog is gun shy or won't retrieve? Maybe won't play ball? See all these questions.

But then again.......

Sweet Smell Of Victory

Well it was the sweet smell of something after the Giants win over the Patriots.  The looser, Maggie, lost the bet of a 30 minute foot massage after a paraffin dip.  Here she is rubbing the feet right after the big win.  She also had to make cocktails during the massage.  Go Blue!

Post Game Gumby

I found Gumby the next morning surrounded by 

peanut shells face down in a pile of his own vomit.

The win over the Patriots seemed to be too much.

Superb!

Big thanks to all the Giants fans that have supported me through this tough season, especially all those that have contributed to my wikki cabinet this year.

Fred G, thanks for the Knob Creek and Woodford Reserve.
Cliffy, for the Crown Royal and more Knob Creek.
And of course Angela, for the impending Kettle One.

Of course none of this would be possible without the exceptionally questionable play of the N.Y. Giants. Their ability to win while looking like they are always about to lose has made all this happen. Go Eli! You are my favorite sideline mouth-breather.

Hi Nanny.

Skiing! Better than hunting? I think not.

But still pretty darn cool. You can see my cabin from the valley photo, looks great eh?

The new whip.

Behold the new Volvo that is now parked in the driveway of the DaFolder cabin. This is the 1998 Volvo V70 XC. It has all wheel drive and lots of skittles mashed into the carpet under the seat cushions. It also happens to be the newest addition to the fleet here in Idaho.* Don't worry, Big Betty is safe from Craigslist for the time being and will continue as the vehicle of choice for trips to the dump and forays into the wilderness. It will not however, consume mass quantities of petroleum on a daily basis freeing me to spend more money on important things like say, Oatmeal Creme Pies.
Welcome to the team new Volvo!

Are You Ready?

For Some Football?

Apple Cider Brined Duck

Apple cider brined duck smoked on the Big Green Egg with
 mesquite and pear wood, ready for the Super Bowl

Over night in brine

  

On the grill

3 1/2 hours later

Day Nineteen, The End

We knew going into the last day it was going to be interesting.  Cliffy only being down one duck, water up and the possibility of having a third hunter with us who could possibly change the scheme of things with one pull of the trigger.  Well, thank Heston the latter is a pussy and needed some beauty sleep on the last day of hunting, the last day.  So that only left two things to contend with, Cliffy possibly tying or exceeding me in the duck count and of course the water.  Of course the last day of the year always falls on a Sauvies day, so naturally we decide to go out to the Old Spot and try to find a dry spot on the point and a place where we could shoot a duck and actually retrieve it even if we were to need the assistance of TJ.  

Yo Fred G. save some for me!

Knowledge and math.  Five plus three equals eight, it's at 12 now last time we hunted the point with a lot of water it was at about eight so now it's 4 feet over the time we were out there standing in water, so with the knowledge we have of the area we are going to be able to find the perfect spot, you get the picture.  We wade out in waist high water and find an ankle high oasis, sure the water is up but we find the further we move towards the center of the point it's really only three feet flooded!  The Best. Throw the blocks out not once but twice, this is where the controversy comes in, and I make an awesome blind.  

Ducks are flying everywhere!  Mallards and Pintails.  Showers of rain on and off with a little wind, the weather is perfect.  A set of Mallards come in from the left gear down and I fold, splash lands right in front of the blind, easy peasy.  I break my season high, I am psyched Cliffy is not.  Here comes the controversy.  Cliffy normally sits on the left hand side, this set came in perfectly from the left hand side.  After throwing out the blocks the first time I didn't like the set up, so I moved my blocks and told Cliffy to move his and while he was moving his I built the blind and put myself on the left hand side.  Honestly I didn't know we had assigned seating.  Sorry.  Then another set comes in from the left, you get the picture, BAM! I fold the green heads woman.  More words are exchanged he's even making up rules now!  If they come in from here blah blah blah blah............  Ask him about the set that came in from the right full gear down, the vision of the green heads with its gear down silhouetted with morning sun will forever be engrained in my mind, a true vision of beauty.  We had ducks circling our spread all morning I think with more cover we would have had more shots.  The last day turned out to be the best day, sure I shot two ducks to set a high bar, but that was not the reason it was the best.