News Break

BY CHRIS YOUNG
Those without a duck hunter in the family might think of the phrase “wait until next year” as the sole property of fans who follow struggling sports teams.

But hope springs eternal for diehard waterfowl hunters, too. No matter how disappointing the hunting may have been in the past, a new year is cause for hope and optimism.

Helping fan a hunter’s enthusiasm — or worry — are the numbers published by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service each summer concerning duck populations and habitat conditions.
During May and early June, biologists fly over the primary duck breeding grounds in the north-central United States and Canada to estimate the number of wetlands available. They also estimate the number of ducks using these areas. They’ll take those numbers into account later this summer, when meetings are held to establish season lengths and bag limits.

The Fish and Wildlife Service estimates total duck populations at 37.3 million breeding ducks, down 9 percent from last year’s estimate of 41.2 million. But this year’s number still is 11 percent above the long-term average taken from 1955 to 2007.

Ducks that improved in abundance over last year:
Green-winged teal improved slightly from 2.890 million last year to 2.980 million in 2008, an increase of 3 percent and 57 percent above the long-term average.
Redheads increased 5 percent from 1.009 to 1.056 million. That’s 66 percent above the long-term average.
Scaup, always of concern to biologists because of precipitous drops in numbers over the years, increased 8 percent from 3.452 to 3.738 million. Scaup numbers remain 27 percent below the long-term average.

How about a nice campfire?

George W. Bushisms

" For every fatal shooting, there were roughly three non-fatal shootings.

And, folks. this is unacceptable in America. It's just unacceptable.

And we're going to do something about it."

-Philadelphia, Pennsylvania; May 14 2001

Know thy enemy

The Pintail or Northern Pintail (Anas acuta) is a widely-occurring duck which breeds in the northern areas of Europe, Asia and North America. It is strongly migratory and winters south of its breeding range to the equator. Unusually for a bird with such a large range, it has no geographical subspecies if the possibly conspecific Eaton's Pintail is considered to be a separate species.
This is a fairly large duck, with a long pointed tail that gives rise to the species' English and scientific names. The male has a very distinctive brown, grey and white appearance, whereas the female has mainly light brown plumage and a shorter tail. The male's call is a mellow whistle, whereas the female quacks like a Mallard.
The Northern Pintail is a bird of open wetlands which nests on the ground, often some distance from water. It feeds by dabbling for plant food and adds small invertebrates to its diet during the nesting season. It is highly gregarious when not breeding, forming large mixed flocks with other species of duck.
This duck's population is affected by predators, parasites and avian diseases. Human activities, such as agriculture, hunting and fishing, have also had a significant impact on numbers. Nevertheless, this species' huge range and large population mean that it is not threatened globally.

My new whip.

Today the kids call it a "whip".

I guess a "car" is not that hip.

The top goes down and it is "steezin".

That means "cool" if it's pleasing.

There's nothing like a good truck.

Unfortunately this wasn't one. It's sold now so stay tuned for the "next great vehicle."

goodbye old paint!

Revisited...

with so much more meaning now.

George W. Bushisms

"I don't know whether I'm going to win or not.

I think I am.

I do know that I'm ready for the job.

And, if not, that's just the way it goes"

Des Moines, Iowa; August 21, 2000

Know thy enemy

Latin: Anas cyanoptera

Average length: M 16", F 15"

Average weight: M 0.7 lbs., F 0.8 lbs.

Description: Male cinnamon teal have a cinnamon-red head, neck, breast, and belly. They have an iridescent green speculum, which is separated from a bluish shoulder patch by a white stripe. The back, rump, uppertail coverts, and tail are a dull brown and the undertail coverts are black. They have a distinctive red eye, a black bill and yellow legs and feet. The male gives a thin whistled "peep" or "peer." Female cinnamon teal are often confused with female blue-winged teal. They have a duller blue shoulder patch, an overall rustier color, and are more heavily streaked. Female Cinnamon teal have a somewhat more guttural quacking than female blue-winged teal.

Breeding: The majority of cinnamon teal breed in the western USA near the Great Salt Lake, Malheur Basin, San Luis Valley, and Cariboo-Chilcotin parklands. They prefer small, shallow alkaline wetlands surrounded by low herbaceous cover. Nests are often located in grassy areas and island nesting is common. Female cinnamon teal lay an average of 8 to 10 eggs.

Migrating and Wintering: Nearly all cinnamon teal winter in Mexico and Central America. During migration the Great Salt Lake marshes and the Central Valley of California are important staging areas. Cinnamon teal are commonly sighted in the midwestern and eastern USA, and are often associated with a flock of blue-winged teal, most likely attaching themselves to the flock on their mutual breeding grounds. Cinnamon teal are common winter visitors to Central America; resident (two endemic subspecies) and occasional winter visitor in Colombia and Venezuela. They are common and widespread in the Andes from central Peru southwards, and in southern Chile and most of Argentina. (Scott and Carbonell, 1986)

Population: A. c. cyanoptera (SE Neotropics) 25,000-100,000; A. c. orinomus (SW Neotropics) 10,000-100,000; A. c. septentrianalium (Central America) 300,000; A.c. tropica (Low Colombia) <10,000;>

Food habits: Cinnamon teal dabble on aquatic plants in shallow water areas, especially rush seeds, pondweed seeds and leaves, and salt grass seeds. They also feed on animal food, especially aquatic insects and mollusks.

A call for caution.

Let's say you were painting the garage on the neighbors side of the house. Now, your sides of the garage would be free of all debris and obstructions because that's the way a yard should be. But your neighbor may have things like piles of concrete and fencing piled up next to your garage, not the way things should be. When climbing a ladder to get up to the highest point of which to paint you should be aware of unseen debris under the legs of that ladder, because if they move under the leg of the ladder it's gong to fall.

This picture illustrates what could happen if the ladder becomes unstable and you fall about 5 feet into a pile of concrete. In my case this lovely bruise took about three days to show up completely. The bigger pain comes from the giant hematoma on my shin and the scratch running the length of my arm. Don't worry, I'm going to be just fine.

So remember, for Heston's sake be careful when painting in your neighbors yard.

Is it time?

Almost cut my hair

It happened just the other day

It's gettin' kind of long

I could've said it was in my way

But I didn't and I wonder why

I feel like letting my freak flag fly

And I feel like I owe it, to someone

Must be because I had the flu for Christmas

And I'm not feeling up to par

It increases my paranoia

Like looking in my mirror and seeing a police car

Well I'm not giving in an inch to fear

cause I've promised myself this year

I feel like I owe it, to someone

When I finally get myself together

I'm gonna get down in that sunny southern weather

And I'm goin' to find a space inside to laugh,

Separate the wheat from the chaffI feel

...Like I owe it, to someone, yeah

Stay tuned.....

This is Chucker.

Chucker is going to be playing golf tomorrow.

Will he have the low score?

Will he wear the Yellow Vest?

These are questions we can't know the answer to yet but there is one thing we know.

"*&%$#@+(&" will be muttered several times.

Fishin'

The mighty Deschutes was the setting for the first ever fishing trip for the three most active members of the HOY7 hunting team. It started with a 8am pickup and a 3 hour drive to the Warm Springs Indian Reservation in North-Central Oregon. We put in and floated the river while stopping along the way to fish different spots. Andy "10 for 10" V. was patient and helpful in teaching me the basics of nymphing with my left handed fly rod. Fred G. (pictured here) was already an expert.

Later in the afternoon we set up camp along the river and settled in for some fine wikki and a rousing game of shooting the cans with the BB gun, a perennial favorite. After a few issues with modern technology we dined on a fine dinner prepared over an open, one match fire. More BB gun action revealed that three headlamps are required to shoot in the dark and only Andy shot 10 for 10. (as far as he knows)

The next morning we set out on the remaining float of our 9 mile trip. I was feeling particularly special and really enjoyed my breakfast of small bites of day old bread. We fished a few more spots and Andy caught 2 fish of which I was unable to get a picture to show here. All in all a great way to spend a couple of days.

Stay tuned.....

H7HT members will compete for the biggest fish this weekend. Tom Foolery will be in attendance so don't forget to check back and see who wins.

Lore Day Nine 2007

Ever wake up in the morning and say "It's Going To Be A GREAT Day!'? That was day nine. Lisa is sick and so was I. You see my folks were out visiting from Connecticut for the holidays, they come out to visit at least 2-3 times a year that makes me feel pretty special. Anyway today is a Wednesday hunt, so last night I took the night off from work and spent it with my Dad and a man named Chucker at the local Eagles club playing Texas No-Limit Poker. What a glorious night it was, knowing that Lisa was in the hospital and that Bob would be driving us in the Volvo I decided to part take in a little holiday cheer should I say, I was hanging with Mr. Jack Daniels until about 1:30 in the a.m. I won 420 dollars by the way. Being a Sauvies day Bob will be picking me up at 4 a.m which means I would have to wake up at 3:30, you do the math. Needles to say I felt pretty special. After a few instances with "a greasy pork sandwich served in a dirty ash tray" we pull up to the non-reservation line. Did I mention that last week was turkey day? I cooked a lovely braised rabbit served over fresh egg noodles. Well as we pull around the corner we noticed there are not a lot of cars in line, as a matter of fact there are no cars in line, because of the holiday the hunt days were upped by one day. Remember how special I feel. Well we decide to drive out to Twin Falls which is a good hour away. We get to Twin Falls which has only one good aspect to it, the walk in is only 7 minutes. I think we have only seen I duck up to this point and I folded it, remember the beautiful wood duck last year? I nap. Wake up. Feel better. Scare off the only other two ducks we have ever seen there. Drink some. Pack up and decide for the unprecedented 3 stop hunting day, we decide to stop at the Old New Spot. We get out to a really nice blind out on the point of a small island, have some drink and some lunch. Big mistake. I take about a 2 mile hike down a slough and poke my head out the other side of a burm. About a dozen red heads and they are big. I raise my Benelli Super Black Eagle they take off, I lower my gun, not knowing whether or not I would be able to retrieve the three ducks I would have folded I decided not to pull the trigger. (That one was for you grampa Clyde) Besides they flew down the slough about 200 yards towards the blind we have set up, so I decide to keep pushing them towards the blind and I know Bob will fold one of them for sure. As I am pushing them I come across the biggest greenie I have ever seen, he was with his woman. I again jump them and I have the greenie in my bead. Again, grampa Clyde was with me, I was uncertain that I could retrieve. 10 dollars through my finger never felt so bad but so good at the same time. So remember we had lunch and some drink before my two mile adventure? I keep pressing these birds up the slough towards are blind, and finally over our blind. Nothing. Not even a call. Nothing. I get back to the blind and the man is asleep. .

Word Out From The Old Side.

Fred G.

Married?

Would You Trust This Man with Your Daughter?

God Bless.

See this movie, I did, it's a mind scrambler!

Farewell Old Friend.

Luminaries Attend Heston's Funeral
By BOB THOMAS – 4 days ago
LOS ANGELES (AP) — Charlton Heston, one of the last lions of Old Hollywood, was remembered at his funeral Saturday as devoutly religious and patriotic — a man who was an imposing figure both in his politics and on the big screen.
Heston died April 5 at age 84 in his Beverly Hills home with his wife, Lydia, at his side following a battle with Alzheimer's disease. The service was held at the Episcopal Parish of St. Matthews, a church in a wooded canyon above Pacific Palisades.
"Charlton sat every Sunday morning right there," said Rev. Michael Scott Seiler, pointing to a front pew in the modernist wooden church shaped with seats arranged in a half moon.
About 300 people attended the funeral, including family members, politicians and actors.
A frail Nancy Reagan entered the church on the arm of Tom Selleck. Following the nearly two-hour ceremony, Reagan left with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger. Other notables from Heston's Hollywood history included Olivia DeHavilland, Keith Carradine, Pat Boone, Oliver Stone and Rob Reiner.
The first part of the ceremony was devoted to memories of Heston. His daughter, Holly Heston Rochell, recalled her father's love of poetry and recited the words of Shakespeare and Tennyson. Her brother, Fraser Clarke Heston, reminisced about his father's prowess on his tennis court, where he played every Sunday with friends.
He talked about his father's devotion to America and said he "loved his country."
"I never knew a finer man; I will never know a finer man," he said.
His father was cremated, and the family had a small ceremony before the funeral, he said.
Heston was one of the biggest box-office draws of the 1950s, '60s and '70s, often playing legendary leaders or ordinary men thrown into heroic struggles. Some of his notable roles included Marc Antony in "Julius Caesar" and "Antony and Cleopatra"; Michelangelo in "The Agony and the Ecstasy"; John the Baptist in "The Greatest Story Ever Told"; and an astronaut on a topsy-turvy world where simians rule in "Planet of the Apes."
In recent years, Heston became better known for his conservative politics and position on gun rights as head of the National Rifle Association. Heston also campaigned for Republican presidential and congressional candidates and against affirmative action.
Near the end of his five-year tenure as NRA president in 2002, Heston disclosed he had symptoms consistent with Alzheimer's disease. Heston told his fellow NRA members when he stepped down that his time in office was "quite a ride. ... I loved every minute of it."
Heston was born Charles Carter in a Chicago suburb on Oct. 4, 1923. He grew up in the Michigan wilderness and after serving in the Army during World War II began acting.
After acting in two independent films by a college classmate, Heston was put under contract by producer Hal B. Wallis ("Casablanca"). He was later cast as the circus manager in "The Greatest Show on Earth" and then as Moses in "The Ten Commandments."
Heston followed with several other films before "Ben-Hur" elevated him to the top of Hollywood's A-list.
Michael Levine, who was Heston's publicist for 20 years and attended the service, said he was struck by how many people attended from both sides of the political aisle. He attributed this to Heston's "virtue and character."
"It was a beautiful service," he said.

Saint Heston!

I'm too sad to comment at this time. Everyone please observe a moment of silence.