I'm on a boat!

Well I didn't want to post until it was all working and legal.  Today the sticker went on the hull, the plate went on the trailer, and everything went in the water.  I bought a 14 foot john boat on a trailer with an older Go-Devil long tail motor, as is, not running.   After replacing all the little stuff that was past it's prime, draining the water out of the engine, putting on a new carb and wiring the trailer it seems to be trust-worthy.

Safety is the most important part, and I felt a  lot safer today wearing 1 one of the 2 brand-new life jackets that Bob and Fred gave me.  While I hope to never test them out, it was nice knowing my life isn't hanging on a $6 special orange jacket I was eyeballing the other day.

During the last few days it has started to set in that I'm going to have to learn how to back up a trailer, launch a boat, drive it at night and all sorts of other stuff.  I finally started to understand why Bob was so tense during our few boating trips last year, most of my experience with boats was during those few days last season.

Well my buddy Ken and I had the lake to ourselves today because it was pouring rain, we might have looked stupid but I was stoked for the complete lack of spectators.  After an initial cruise around Killarney we headed up a narrow channel completely choked with wild rice, total mud motor territory. This boat will cruise along in about 5 inches of whatever, but the weeds definitely slow you down which wouldn't be an issue except for the fact that top speed is a brisk walk. Lesson learned, we moved on to some really shallow water and ran along a little mud bar until we got stuck again.  It's pretty cool, we didn't even realize the prop was in the mud for the first little bit.  It's fairly easy for one person to push or pull the boat out of most situations.  We spent the rest of our afternoon getting stuck and unstuck in different kinds of mud and weeds.

While the boat is not fast, it does get around pretty good.  The under powered motor bogs down before you get into anything you won't be able to get out of.  The motor is really simple and seemingly bullet-proof, but definitely takes a lot of work to steer.  The boat feels safe, friendly and I think it has the same top speed whether it has a full hunting load or is nearly empty.  I've been told that I might pick up the pace a lot if I look into a new prop, but the funds are gone so that will have to wait.

A while back Clider took some time off from his hectic schedule to create the finest Coat of Arms any hunting team has ever had. That very crest is displayed further down the page. When the Crest was first invisioned I knew it needed some latin in the lower banner to express just what in the heck we are all about. I chose 'Feet Down Folding' as it is one of our mottos. I used the English to Latin translator from Google to plug in that term and got back the words you see there; Pedes Usque Conseres.

Not knowing at first what the words meant, Fred G. plugged them into a Latin dictionary and came up with something entirely different.

Pedes. One who walks, foot soldiers.

Usque. Whiskey

Conseres. Friend.

He goes on to say, "So my translation is 'One who hunts and drinks whiskey with friends'. "

No I'm no English major (although I did win the Academic Award for Excellence in English from stately Green Mountain College. Story for a different time.) but I never had any indication that the words meant anything like that. Is this coincindence? A chance encounter with different translation methods? An odd accident? A message from the Great Lord Heston? I just don"t know. But it is and will forever be on the offical H7HT Coat of Arms.

Being an inquisitive guy I went back to the Google translator and put the words in again to see if I had made some kind of mistake. As I typed in the first word something different came up. I realized then that if you put the words in as a phrase they come back as seen on the Crest, if you put them in individually they produce something entirely different.

Feet: Pedum.

Down: Descendit.

Folding: Plicat.

So now I realize that there can be only one reason for the fact that they were interpreted this way. Heston stepped in and saw to it that our banner had a double meaning. Not only a literal translation of the the term that defines our hunting style, feet down folding, but also a figurative one as well. We hunt and drink whiskey with friends.

GBCH

Flock U.

That's right, a college level course on decoy flocking was taught in my garage this weekend.  Fred G was in town to participate in some sporting events and see if he could beat me at my home course in golf.  He also happens to be the man with the knowledge on how to flock and Clider wanted to learn.  We gathered together bunches of decoys and adult beverages and set about flocking the heads on almost all the greenie decoys in the fleet.  The first picture shows the difference between the flocked on the left and un-flocked on the right.  You can see that the flocked decoy looks more realistic and less shiny than the other, leading more ducks to believe it's the real thing.  And you know what they say about ducks.  Fool them once shame on me, fool them twice, not necessary because they are dead.  (I believe that the the Zen Philosopher Basho once said that.)  In addition to Flock University we discussed the new rules for the upcoming season, most of which I have forgotten already, and generally had a fine time getting ready for the opener.

This post is also about 'ass kicking' too.  See, when Fred G. and I get together there are usually some competitive events planned.  Not because we are competitive but more in the spirit of having a winner and a loser.  This way someone is always duty bound to make drinks.  On day one Fred G. did the ass kicking.  He beat me in 18 holes of golf on my home course after not having played for some time.  He also kicked my ass in darts the night before which gave him an equalizing lead in strokes even before the golf started.  The rain on the course held off and we had a fine time at the beautiful Galena Ridge course.  You should have seen my tee shot on #5, it was enthralling.

Day two was Bob D's turn to kick some ass.  We picked up Clider and went to shoot sporting clays down on the Palouse.  Clider and I were tied going into the last station but he eeked out a victory as we both bested Fred's score.  Sporting clays are also a great way to prepare for the shooting opportunities that will be presenting themselves in just 2 1/2 short weeks.  Later that night I also schooled him in Ducey and I think I won at adult beverages too.  On day three the rain prevented any further competitions so we learned about the subtle differences between 'good' zombies and 'bad' zombies by watching Brad Pitt save the world.

Now it's back to work and time to start preparing for the 2013 season opener.  Maybe if you are very lucky Clider will tell you about his boat.  Then again.....

So What?!

1. THE ODDS

Remember, a person's odds of winning the jackpot are 1 in 175 million. That's how many combinations are possible with the game's five white balls and one red ball. In this case, there have been 11 drawings since August 10 without a winner.

2. BIG JACKPOTS

A major revamp in January 2012 increased the cost of a Powerball ticket from $1 to $2. It also led to larger jackpots in smaller amounts of time. Of the top 10 Powerball jackpots of all time, nearly half have been recorded after the game change.

3. CONSOLATION PRIZE

Since the revamp, a secondary $1 million prize has made some losers happy anyway. More than 730 people have won $1 million, and more than 120 people have won $2 million through the Power Play option.

4. WHY WAIT FOR THE HYPE?

There's technically no need to wait for a larger jackpot. Whether the jackpot is $40 million or $400 million, your odds of winning the top prize are the same. Whether you buy 1 ticket or 10 tickets, your odds are pretty much the same. A higher jackpot just means there's a higher chance there will be more than one winning ticket.

5. SOMEONE IS GOING TO WIN

The chance of a person's combination being selected remains astronomically high, though the chance that some set of six numbers will be selected is 1. That means even though your chances of winning are slim, the chances that someone else will win are high. Ronald Wasserstein, executive director of the American Statistical Association, said that's what makes people think it could be them. When it's probably not.

6. AGAIN, YOU'RE NOT GOING TO WIN

Remember, you're probably not going to win. Wasserstein said it's hard for people to grasp how small their chances actually are, since no one can really see 175 million of anything. Wasserstein tries to break it down. Take 175 million one-dollar bills and lay them out. Pick one lucky dollar bill that will win you all $175 million. You can line up those dollar bills twice along the edges of the continental United States. Or you can cover 380 football fields. Imagine picking the one lucky dollar bill from those fields, and that's your chance of winning the Powerball jackpot on a single ticket.

My boat, bad. His boat, good.

They say the happiest 2 days in life are the day you buy a boat and the day you sell that boat.  Well, I was not happy yesterday as I watched the boat pull away from the cabin on the back of some other guy’s truck. In fact I felt a twinge of remorse for having to sell it.  All the hard work stripping the aluminum and the metal of the trailer, laying down the primer coat and the painting of the custom camouflage with my old pal Fred G. just driving away.  The trials and tribulations of the Hiawatha motor from which I learned to never buy a motor from the 1940’s.  The summertime trips on the river with my sweetie.  And the days of terror on pitch black mornings with a full load of gear heading out into the unknown.  And how about the time Clider, Peat and I  battled fierce winds and waves over the bow on Anderson . Oh yes, the terror.

The two young guys that came to pick up the boat told me they were planning to use it for fishing and I asked them to at least try to shoot a duck or two from the boat someday.  Then I grabbed the title from the Communist I purchased it from,  (Idaho requires no title so it was still from the last owner) and noticed something odd.  Yesterday was March 6, 2013.  Clider and I went to buy the boat from the Commie on March 6, 2012.  I was a boat owner for exactly one year.  Coincidence?  I think not.

Motor on old boat of mine, motor on.

No Anchovies Please!!!

Tryin' not to think about it.

I have been doing my best to avoid thinking about the upcoming season.  Each year I get all twisted with anticipation thinking about how I will be 'The Expert' and how I will win both first duck and first Greenie. I start to count days and prepare gear.  New catalogs and magazines show up in the mailbox.  I think about searching Google Earth for new spots, building blinds, decoy strategies and even do stupid things like buy a boat.  Not this year!
It's been colder in the mornings.
I see leafs changing.
Football starts this week.
How in the name of Heston am I supposed to ignore all this?  So this morning I get up and check the computer box for mail and to see if there is any money in my bank account (there isn't) and try not to think about it.  I sing, 'Tryin' not to think about it' then I wonder just what the heck happened to the J Giles Band.  So being as I'm sitting right in front of the computer box I find out, and in the process of finding out I come across this video.  Instantly it's 1983 and I'm listening to WPLR and lo and behold, I'm not thinking about hunting.  Hope it works for you too.

Soon..

I finally called fish and game, Idaho, October 12th.

Remember the rusty old truck?

8 cans of Krylon later......

Great info, even though we are already the Best.

http://www.ducks.org/hunting/duck-calling/7-deadly-duck-calling-mistakes?poe=duckcallingRHS

Feet Down Folding

Bob said we need a crest....

  

Bob D. Silver Mt. 2012-2013 season

"Wait He's Smoking!!" Fun Part II

Did you used to smoke?

It was good, huh?

Greenies

Peat likes hunting even more than I do,  I feel that I have certain obligations to him.  He is a good dog due to training, which is something that happens everyday with every interaction.  I realized that in order for Peat to be a good bird dog he needs real practice with real birds, often.  This lead to a bit of a dilemma at first.

You see, Bob prefers to shoot exclusively at mallards, and most of the time he will skip on other species.  At first I thought this was the way for me, but it soon became apparent that neither Peat or I were going to get any better at hunting or retrieving unless we both got some real practice.  I decided to start hunting any ducks that committed to my spread regardless of species, and Peat started getting markedly better at dealing with birds.  On slow days I started taking walks through the sloughs to break up the monotony of empty an sky, occasionally I would jump shoot some of the divers that hang out in these smaller waters.  Throughout the winter my shooting got better and Peat's retrieving skills got way better.

I talked to Bob and he liked this idea enough to put in a post awhile back.  I would like to base the expert title for next year on just the number of drake mallards harvested, minus any NRs of course.  I realize this would have to be unanimous, but last seasons greenie numbers were close. Thoughts?

Non-Retrieves

This is a long overdue post.  As you may know I won the coveted title of Expert for 2013, however I won another thing that I am not proud of, most non-retrieves.  The polls showed me tied up with Bob last year, but I never accounted for closing day.

It was right at first light and I was hunting on the river with Peat, all of the traffic I had seen in the last week was moving up and down the river so that's where I went.  A pair of buffel head dropped in on my decoys and set their wings, well within shooting distance.  I pulled up and shot, the bird dropped and then dove, he came up across the river and then dove again, we spent a lot of the morning and part of the afternoon looking for that bird.  It was right at first light and of course I spent most of the morning fly trying to locate him.  After a long look I came back to a quiet sky and low hopes for the last day of the season.

The day ended up panning out well with a couple more birds right before I packed it in for the season, but I brought my tally of lost birds to 5 for the season.  I put in a lot of hiking this year looking for those birds, Peat put in a lot of swimming.  Some were bad choices due to a lack of experience(opening day), some were because I took shoots that I knew better than to take, and two were due to birds diving and never coming up.  Peat brought in several hard retrieves that no doubt saved a few more from being on that list, and Bob chased one down in the boat for me.

I spent around 25 days hunting last season and everyday was full of lessons.  I learned a lot from each of those birds and I like to think that I won't make those same mistakes again..  We agreed that whomever had the most NRs last season would send in a donation to DU for $2 per bird for the collective total.  I sent that check today and hopefully it will be my last check for that reason.

Dust Devil

As I was going down the road I saw this strange cloud, I saw men working

out there and thought it was from a machine they were using.  

Closer I see  a dust devil touched down right next to them.

See Anything You Like?

On my last trip I found this out in the middle of nowhere.  

Note the cows roaming and loafing within the yard.

Yea I'm Pissed!

A recent letter I sent Cabela's about their flagrant use of trees and energy with all their catalogs and their "Limited Fall Edition"

 

 Not a question but a complaint.  Just received my 2013 limited fall hard bound edition.  All I could say is what the hell!  Thanks for spending all that money on something I have to throw away now.  I could only imagine how much money this doorstop cost.  Why not just send me a gift card for what it cost so I could spend it at your store? "A Thank You to a very special customer" would be better said than a 3 pound book. Seriously, the 8-10 catalogs you send all year are not enough?  You should be sending catalogs via email anyway.  For a company that was on the verge of going out of business I don't see this as a very smart business decision.  I love Cabelas and would like to see them around for a long time, but who ever came up with this idea should be fired. It seems to me that your company should be helping the environment, after all it is an "outdoor" store.  On that note, how would I be able to cancel my mailed catalogs and just receive them electronically?

I know the person or persons that should receive this will not, but I feel better getting it off my chest.  Thanks for listening.

Duck Numbers Remain Strong Breeding Population Survey estimates 45.6 million ducks; Water conditions right for excellent duck production

BISMARCK, N.D. — North America’s spring duck population is down slightly from record levels, but pond counts are up 24 percent over last year, according to the 2013 Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey released today.
The survey, which has been conducted annually since 1955 by the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service and the Canadian Wildlife service, puts the breeding duck population at 45.6 million, the second-highest level ever recorded.
“We started with high numbers of breeding ducks, and we have great water in the right places for renesting and duckling survival,” said Frank Rohwer, president of Delta Waterfowl. “Duck production should be excellent.”
Of the 10 species cited in the survey index, only American wigeon and canvasbacks showed an increase from 2012. Wigeon breeding numbers sit at 2.64 million, up 23 percent from 2012 and 2 percent above the long-term average for the species. Canvasbacks showed a modest increase of 4 percent, with the population estimated at 787,000, well above the threshold to have an open season.
“Wigeon, a species which had many folks concerned about a long term decline have now increased two years in a row,” said Joel Brice, vice president of conservation for Delta Waterfowl. “It is nice to see canvasbacks back to near record populations.”
Mallards were at 10.37 million, down 2 percent, but still 36 percent higher than the long-term average. Despite the overall decline, mallards increased locally in the Eastern Dakotas, Southern Manitoba and Southern Saskatchewan.
Northern pintails came in at 3.34 million, a decrease of 4 percent overall. However, pintail numbers increased in southern Saskatchewan and Alberta, a reflection of improved May pond count numbers. Pintails remain 17 percent below the long-term average.

Both blue-winged teal and green-winged teal populations dropped from record levels of 2012. Bluewings are estimated at 7.73 million, a 16 percent decline. However, bluewings are still 60 percent above the long-term average. Greenwings declined 12 percent to 3.05 million, but like bluewings, remain at historically high levels — 51 percent above the long-term average.

Strong Production Expected
May pond counts, an index of wetlands across the survey area, were tallied at 6.89 million, a significant and important 24 percent increase over 2012.
“We started with good water, and it got better with rains in May,” Rohwer said. “All research shows that renesting effort and duckling survival are tied to good water conditions.”
May ponds were up 59 percent in the Eastern Dakotas, 44 percent in Southern Manitoba, 40 percent in Southern Alberta and 6 percent in Southern Saskatchewan.
“Southern Saskatchewan and the Eastern Dakotas are the holy grail for prairie duck production as they hold a very high number of breeding ducks,” Brice said. “This year, duck numbers and wetland conditions are excellent in both places.”
“A number of our staff were concerned in April about the late spring, delayed nesting and a poor frost seal which resulted in poorer than normal run off. However, then the rains came. These rains helped recharge and sustain the small, temporary wetlands that drive duck production. The presence of these wetlands will drive the renesting rate and significantly improve duckling survival.”
Renesting rates are important because many areas of the breeding grounds have poor hatching rates. In drier years, such as 2012, hens that lose a first nest to predators are far less likely to make a new nest and lay more eggs.
“Last year, wetland conditions eroded over the course of the breeding season which is very common, this year conditions improved markedly with spring early summer rains,” Rohwer said. “Our field crews in North Dakota and Manitoba have found renesting ducks, including a gadwall still laying eggs just this week.”
Good production translates into a lot of young ducks.
“Young ducks are far more likely to decoy and respond to calling,” Rohwer said.