Opening Presents

I finally have some pictures downloaded and ready to post from Christmas Day.








Tina is trying out her snow board helmet, goggles, and attitude...








Trinity is modeling her new winter coat.

NFL Hall of Shame

Here are 3 NFL players that I do not respect and have made my NFL Hall of Shame, either because of on-field or off-field activities... nugshots courtesy of The Smoking Gun:

Latest and greatest loser - Michael Irvin was arrested by Texas cops in November 2005 and charged with misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia after Plano police pulled him over for speeding and found a multi-colored pipe with marijuana residue inside a Versace sunglass case tucked underneath the driver's seat of his 2005 Mercedes Benz. The 39-year-old former Dallas Cowboy wide receiver was booked into the city jail where he posed for his mug shot before posting bond. Irvin told officers that the drug equipment was his brothers, but then later told the Associated Press he was helping a friend kick the habit and he had taken his friend's drug paraphernalia and thats why it was in his car. Right...

Irvin's rap sheet includes a 1996 no contest plea to felony cocaine possession and an August 2000 marijuana bust, though that pot charge was later dropped. This guy should have been suspended from football a long time ago. ESPN suspended Irvin for one week for failing to inform them of the arrest. Wow, that sends a message... NOT.

Irvin, a semifinalist this year for the NFL Hall of Fame, should not only be removed from any and all commentator positions, he should also be denied entry to the Hall of Fame.


Receiver Randy Moss was arrested by Minneapolis police in September 2002 while playing for the Minnesota Vikings and charged with careless driving and failure to obey a traffic officer. The athlete was popped after allegedly driving his car into a traffic agent. Class act...


Deion Sanders was arrested in June 1996 by Florida cops and charged with misdemeanor trespassing. Lee County Port Authority Police caught Sanders, who played for the Dallas Cowboys at the time, fishing on a lake owned by the Southwest Florida International Airport. The 28-year-old defensive back had ignored "no trespassing" and "no fishing" signs posted on the property as well as an earlier law enforcement warning to stay away from the lake.

Didn't Get What You Wanted for Christmas?

I got my wife a new black 4GB Ipod Nano for Christmas.

Check out the Ipod Nano specs on Apple's website here.

Click this link to get yours: http://ipodnanos.freepay.com/?r=24012828.

Enjoy!

Merry Christmas!

Welcome Visitors From Ethiopia and Chile

Our ClustrMap shows recent visits from people in Ethiopia, Africa and Chile, South America. I wonder what drew them to our site... probably a typo when they entered a URL in the address bar of the browser. :-)

This seems popular now...

My Elf Name Is...

Stubby Stocking Stuffer

What's Your Elf Name?

The Office Christmas Party

Art of Grilling

Why do we hunt? To grill and then eat of course. An international art for all men, the art of grilling is not as simple as it may seem. Just watch the video here for proof.

Ding Fries are Done

Thank you Steve for sending us this intellectually stimulating link.

Packers lose big, so do I

The Packers were just embarrased on Monday Night Football against the Ravens. Brett Favre got me only 3 points for my Fantasy team which was about 7 short of the 10 points I needed to win the first round of my play-offs. I may have gotten enough, but they put in the rookie at the end of the 3rd quarter and its hard to score points with your guy on the bench. Oh well, there's always next year.

At least it looks like the Vikings will not make the play-offs either. They could have made it with the streak they were on, but I'm glad to see them choke again. Who was that idiot on ESPN radio Sunday night who said that he thought Mike Tice should be the coach of the year because of the turn-around he has the team on? There would be nothing to turn around from if it wasn't for Tice. Lake Minnetonka would never have happened if he didn't have total lack of control and lack of respect from his team... and then he does nothing to reprimand any of the players involved? Come on... The Vikings have had no authority figure for as many years as I can remember. There is never any discipline so the players all act like asses. The best thing Mike Tice ever did for the Vikings was to get rid of Randy Moss, but that was only after putting up with his BS for many years... hit a meter maid, no problem; play only when you want to, no problem; alligator arms on anything across the middle, no problem. If Moss was on any other team and he says he only plays hard when he feels like it, that coach puts him on the bench. Not in Minnesota. I like what they did in Philadelphia with T.O. You have to have boundaries and when they are crossed, you have to have consequences... even, or especially, for super-stars. Nice job. Maybe Mike Tice and the Viking organization will learn something from Andy Reid and the Eagles there.

Ice Fishing Trial and Error

Well I finally made it ice fishing on Sunday. I didn't know what I was doing, but I found a nice guy working at the bait shop. He set me up with a dozen northern shiners, treble hooks, and leaders. I setup 2 tip-ups out in front of the cabin on a weed bed along a drop-off from 5 to 15 feet.

From G.A.T. Guns Sporting Goods shop I had my minnows in a bubble box (aerated insulated bucket); I was using 2 Frabill (sp?) tip-ups (8 inch, insulated to cover the hole and eliminate freeze-over) with 100 feet of 20 pound tip-up line (50 feet on each tip-up; I had a 6 inch ice auger which worked very slick; an extendable handle ice skimmer; and some waterproof cold-weather gloves.

Everything worked well, except I never got a bite all afternoon. I moved the tip-ups a couple of times, and a few of the times the minnows came up with weeds on them so I reduced the amount of line I put them out with. Still no bites. Oh well, I learned a lot and hopefully I can get out a couple more times before the fishing season is over or the ice melts, whichever comes first.

Bowhunting Last Hurrah

I just finished up my last gasp at bowhunting for the year. Saturday I saw 2 yearling does, 3 buck fawns, and 2 shootable does (1 average, 1 big). No bucks so I didn't take any shots. Jerod saw 7 does and fawns also; Pete saw 4 with one being a fork buck, but he didn't get a shot.

Sunday I only saw 2 of the same buck fawns, so I finished the year with no deer. Jerod saw a couple of fawns also; Pete saw 3 but nothing came close enough for a shot.

I did get some more candid photos so of course I will share them with the world:
No wakey... me need sleepy...

Master baiter Jr.

The trail to South Rye Stand

The view from Mary's Stand

Somethings not right here...maybe if I zoom in...

Ah ha... I knew it!

Getting ready. It's only about 3 degrees out!

A pre-hunt fashion show... looking good.

Useful Dog Stuff

OK, time to add some more useful content for you, our valued reader. :-)
Here are some items we are using for our dog that may be useful to others.
Dog Training Collar:
We use a Tritronics Sport 80M G2. This training collar is awesome and if you are looking for a good training aid for both general training and overcoming distractions, this is it. It is made of Lexan material, rechargeable, 1/2 mile range, 12 levels of momentary and 6 levels of continuous stimulation, and it comes with a non-stimulation tone on the remote dial as well. We also recommend the online dealer where we got ours from - Gun Dog Supply. They were actually cheaper than our local dealer and shipping was free!

Dog Door:
The Patio Pacific Door with Endura Flap. This is what we are installing at our house. It seems like one of the very best out there; a little more pricey than some of the others, but it does have a 30 day money back guarantee. We were also considering this one, and this one before we made our final decision. Here are some other links on how to measure your dog to get a properly sized door: measure1, measure2.

Hello Iceland...

Wow, first we get hits from Bombay, India and now Reykjavik, Iceland! It also looks like a few visitors from the West coast, East coast, and the usual suspects from the Midwest. We have a few from Central Europe and even one lost soul from Canada. Welcome one and all. Here's some pics for our Northern friends...

Hello Bombay

I see on our ClustrMap that we have had at least one visitor from Bombay, India to our humble site. Welcome, and sorry for all the pictures of dead deer. :-)

Speaking of maps, put a pin in our Frappr map.

Ice Fishing

Just to be well-rounded and to actually post some items pertaining to what this blog is supposed to be about: Hunting, fishing, camping, biking, hiking, etc...

Here are a couple of ice-fishing links:
IceShanty.com
Everything you need to know about ice fishing
National Ice Fishing Association
IceFishing.com

Hunting?

How is everyone's hunting going this year? I have 1 weekend left for some late season bowhunting. I'm keeping my fingers crossed as I have not been seeing many bucks this year. I just found a new sporting goods store in Dundee, IL called G.A.T. Guns (GAT = Guns Archery Tackle). They have tons of guns, a pretty good archery shop upstairs, an indoor archery and pistol range. I had to pick up some new arrows as my few remaining Beman Hunter's are pretty beat up. I ended up getting a half-dozen carbon arrows to get me through next weekend. Apparently they don't make my Beman Hunter arrows anymore, but they do make Beman Hunter ICS (Internal Component System?) arrows. I ended up going with some Easton ST Axis carbon arrows. I took them with vanes so I could get them right away but I will probably bring them back to get feathers put on at a later date, and get them exactly fitted to my draw length as they may be a little longer than necessary. Here is the GAT Guns website: www.gatguns.com.

Fun in the Navy

Jay sent some pictures of himself getting pepper sprayed. Apparently to get authorized to carry pepper spray on your rounds you have to get sprayed yourself and then actually be able to do some things like blocking dummies and such... He said it was very painful... I can imagine.

He said it was almost as bad later on when he took a shower as it activated the pepper spray all over again.

True facts about Chuck Norris

I love these...

-Chuck Norris' tears cure cancer. Too bad he has never cried.

-Chuck Norris sold his soul to the devil for his rugged good looks and unparalleled martial arts ability. Shortly after the transaction was finalized, Chuck roundhouse kicked the devil in the face and took his soul back. The devil, who appreciates irony, couldn't stay mad and admitted he should have seen it coming. They now play poker every second Wednesday of the month.

-Chuck Norris does not sleep. He waits.

-Chuck Norris built a time machine and went back in time to stop the JFK assassination. As Oswald shot, Chuck met all three bullets with his beard, deflecting them. JFK's head exploded out of sheer amazement.

-Chuck Norris is currently suing NBC, claiming Law and Order are trademarked names for his left and right legs.

-Chuck Norris once ate three 72 oz. steaks in one hour. He spent the first 45 minutes having sex with his waitress.

-Chuck Norris's girlfriend once asked him how much wood a woodchuck could chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood. He then shouted, "HOW DARE YOU RHYME IN THE PRESENCE OF CHUCK NORRIS!" and ripped out her throat. Holding his girlfriend's bloody throat in his hand he bellowed, "Don't fuck with Chuck!" Two years and five months later he realized the irony of this statement and laughed so hard that anyone within a hundred mile radius of the blast went deaf.

-Filming on location for Walker: Texas Ranger, Chuck Norris brought a stillborn baby lamb back to life by giving it a prolonged beard rub. Shortly after the farm animal sprang back to life and a crowd had gathered, Chuck Norris roundhouse kicked the animal, breaking its neck, to remind the crew once more that Chuck giveth, and the good Chuck, he taketh away.

-The chief export of Chuck Norris is pain.

-To prove it isn't that big of a deal to beat cancer. Chuck Norris smoked 15 cartons of cigarettes a day for 2 years and aquired 7 different kinds of cancer only to rid them from his body by flexing for 30 minutes. Beat that, Lance Armstrong.

-Chuck Norris was the fourth Wiseman. He brought baby Jesus the gift of "beard". Jesus wore it proudly to his dying day. The other Wisemen, jealous of Jesus' obvious gift favoritism, used their combined influence to have Chuck omitted from the Bible. Shortly after all three died of roundhouse kick related deaths.

-If you can see Chuck Norris, he can see you. If you can't see Chuck Norris you may be only seconds away from death.

-Rather than being birthed like a normal child, Chuck Norris instead decided to punch his way out of his mother's womb. Shortly thereafter he grew a beard.

-There are no disabled people. Only people who have met Chuck Norris

-Chuck Norris doesn't read books. He stares them down until he gets the information he wants.

-Chuck Norris can make a woman climax by simply pointing at her and saying "booya".

-Chuck Norris can mathematically make two wrongs equal a right.

-Chuck Norris is not hung like a horse... horses are hung like Chuck Norris.

-When Chuck Norris's wife burned the turkey one Thanksgiving, Chuck said, "Don't worry about it honey," and went into his backyard. He came back five minutes later with a live turkey, ate it whole, and when he threw it up a few seconds later it was fully cooked and came with cranberry sauce. When his wife asked him how he had done it, he gave her a roundhouse kick to the face and said, "Never question Chuck Norris."

-The quickest way to a man's heart is with Chuck Norris's fist.

-Chuck Norris appeared in the "Street Fighter II" video game, but was removed by Beta Testers because every button caused him to do a roundhouse kick. When asked bout this "glitch," Norris replied, "That's no glitch."

-Chuck Norris died ten years ago, but the Grim Reaper can't get up the courage to tell him.

-Chuck Norris won 'Jumanji' without ever saying the word. He simply beat the living shit out of everything that was thrown at him, and the game forfeited.

-Similar to a Russian Nesting Doll, if you were to break Chuck Norris open you would find another Chuck Norris inside, only smaller and angrier

-It was once believed that Chuck Norris actually lost a fight to a pirate, but that is a lie, created by Chuck Norris himself to lure more pirates to him. Pirates never were very smart.

-When Chuck Norris plays Oregon Trail his family does not die from cholera or dysentery, but rather roundhouse kicks to the face. He also requires no wagon, since he carries the oxen, axels, and buffalo meat on his back. He always makes it to Oregon before you.

-Chuck Norris frequently signs up for beginner karate classes, just so he can "accidentally" beat the shit out of little kids.

-Jesus's Birthday isn't December 25 but Chuck Norris once sent him a birthday card for that day, Jesus was too scared to tell Chuck the truth. Thats why we celebrate Christmas.

-After much debate, President Truman decided to drop the atomic bomb on Hiroshima rather than the alternative of sending Chuck Norris. His reasoning? It was more "humane".

Packers

Its a sad Monday... the Packers lost to the Bears yesterday and all the retread Bears pseudo-fans are coming out of the woodwork to gloat. I think they are the same people who hadn't watched a White Sox game all year and suddenly the bandwagon isn't big enough to hold them all. Its amazing how a winning team suddenly has 10 times more lifelong, die-hard fans than they did when they were losing.

I didn't expect the Packers to win, they have half of their best players on IR. I did expect a good, close game & thats what we got. A good pass or two at the end & the Packers go ahead and get the win... a bad pass that gets picked off & the Bears get the points & the win. The Packers get close enough to win in all their games this year, but they just don't have the experience or the playmakers on the field to finish out a game like they should. I think with a healthy team next year they will be right back on top & we may even get a top draft pick out of the deal now.

Here is a Packer-fan pick-me-up:

Elmer Fudd

Be vewy vewy quiet... I'm hunting deews. hu huh huh.

This is Katie. She was helping on some deer hunting drives. Her last name is not listed to protect her family from embarrassment.

Thanks to her brother for sending this to us from a camera phone.