NursingFawns

The pointless ocean moans on top of each conventional mathematics

2011-08-08T20:27:00.000-07:00

This is a randomly generated sentence copied from another site because I have to prove I own this blog. I think I will leave it up to confuse the people passing by.

Word Verification... ON

2009-11-20T12:37:00.000-08:00

I just cleaned up a bunch of spam comments pointing to a location on playlist.com. No, I do not want your cialis or viagra links on my blog. I have added a word verification step to the commenting process and if that does not reduce the spam then I will enable some stricter rules.

2008-11-26T12:25:00.001-08:00

RT @elijahmanor: Getting Started with the ASP.NET 3.5 Chart Control: http://ping.fm/hz0li

2008-10-22T23:03:00.001-07:00

Everyone using jQuery javascript library? Prototype still popular? http://ping.fm/qEyJk

2008-10-22T21:36:00.001-07:00

Tech Cocktail Chicago 9: Thursday, November 6th at John Barleycorn in Wrigleyville: http://techcocktail.com

2008-10-17T09:15:00.001-07:00

RT: 23 Most Incredible Photoshop Tutorials: http://ping.fm/9GK9D

2008-10-17T08:56:00.001-07:00

RT: 50 Excellent AJAX Tutorials: http://ping.fm/JUPvP

2008-10-16T10:15:00.001-07:00

RT: 28 Free File Storage Websites: http://ping.fm/s7hAQ

2008-10-16T09:05:00.001-07:00

RT: The Big Picture - Days of Autumn: http://ping.fm/SFXvg

2008-10-15T06:38:00.001-07:00

RT: Everything is better wrapped in bacon: http://ping.fm/8horH

2008-10-07T11:50:00.001-07:00

Way to be part of the problem, cramer: http://ping.fm/UgO8L

2008-10-05T20:39:00.003-07:00

Retweet: Story, Photos: Brett Favre's House For Sale For $475K http://ping.fm/YEv6K

2008-10-05T20:39:00.001-07:00

What Went Wrong With The Cubs?: http://ping.fm/fswJO

2008-09-19T07:27:00.001-07:00

Oh boy... It had to happen... The Aye-Phone: http://ping.fm/h1X1p

2008-09-19T07:18:00.001-07:00

is going out of my way to NOT talk like a pirate today. Takes all the fun out of it to do it when you are SUPPOSED to.

2008-09-18T14:46:00.001-07:00

Looking through the Web 2.0 Directory: http://ping.fm/hikZL

2008-09-11T10:48:00.001-07:00

Anyone have any good or bad comments about Spore? The TV spot for it looks very different and kind of cool.

2008-09-04T18:45:00.001-07:00

posting from my ps3...

Official Google Mac Blog: Platforms and Priorities

2008-09-02T12:42:00.000-07:00

Google's Chrome Browser is now available (for Windows). Get it here!

What about Chrome for the Mac?
Official Google Mac Blog: Platforms and Priorities

And now for something completely different...

2008-08-28T22:00:00.000-07:00

OK I added a couple pictures back in... I will finish that up another day (maybe this weekend), but I wanted to list out a couple of my social networking sites for you to check out:
Twitter
Socializr

Aaaack!

2008-08-28T21:41:00.000-07:00

Several months ago I deleted a seemingly unused bunch of pictures and immediately realized that they were pictures I was linking to from this blog. I was so disgusted with myself I couldn't bring myself to post anymore here.

I guess I should try to fix things... I have the images on my pc, its just the hassle of finding out what pics were used and where they linked in on the site.

Ack.

Deer Mounts

2007-07-24T08:03:00.000-07:00

I finally picked up my deer horns from last gun season at the taxidermy shop. I believe the set on the right was from opening morning and the set on the left was from a drive near the end of the week. That drive was where I also missed a bigger 10-point buck a minute before this 8-pointer came through.

(Sorry I deleted this pic but I have re-added it)

Fishing

2007-07-24T07:35:00.000-07:00

Wow its been a long time between posts. The annual guys fishing trip set for the week of the bass fishing opener in Wisconsin has come and gone. Here are the mugs from the attendees this year... Left to right, standing: Jason, Len, Pete, Rollie, Larry. Sitting: Tom, RePete, Garrett. Not pictured: Ron

We had some good trout fishing in the usual spots, some good largemouth bass, and we even tried out a new secret spot which provided some nice smallmouth bass.

Here is the haul from one of the days of fishing. Every morning we had a big fish fry, except for one day where we went to the local diner.

(picture re-added from accidental deletion - sorry)

Cozumel on a Whim

2007-03-19T16:26:00.000-07:00

Bonnie & I just got back from 7 days in Cozumel...

Here is our hotel. Just kidding this was an abandoned hotel next to ours that went belly-up after hurricane Wilma went through a couple years ago.

Here is a picture of our real hotel, the El Cozumeleno.

The water was really clear just about everywhere. The weather was excellent except for a little bit on two of the days where it rained. Here are some of the water activities going on all around the hotel.

Our maid Guadalupe setup this little elephant for us on the 2nd day.

Here is a shot of our hotel from the water as we were leaving on a booze cruise.

There were cruise ships going in and out of Cozumel every day. Here is the Norwegian Pearl getting ready to leave as we went by on our booze cruise boat.

Of course when you have a bunch of drunk people passing a cruise ship anything can happen...

We got some nice sunset shots after the moons were gone.

On the way back to port there were 2 guys doing tricks with fire

One day we took a jeep tour around the island of Cozumel. The first stop was snorkeling along a reef where Bonnie and I saw a bunch of cool fish and a huge eel.

The next stop was the San Gervasio Mayan ruins in the middle of Cozumel...

We were going to take a day to see the ruins of Chichen Itza or Tulum, but we decided this was enough ruins for us for one trip.

This iguana was posing so nice on these ruins I just had to take his picture.

Next stop was the casa Antigua tequila museum...

Thank god they had a pee pee station there.

They grow agave plants to make tequila, but I guess instead of using the leaves they use a big pieapple looking thing that grows from the plant. I think they said it takes like 10 years before a plant is ready to be harvested for tequila. We got a lengthy overview of authentic tequila and the process by which it is made. Patron and Sauza were dismissed as not being real tequila. Don Julio Reposado I believe is still safe as a real tequila though.

The highlight of the museum was the end where they had the tequila samples. They had approximately 9 or 10 different types of tequila including regular, orange, cinnamen, ambrosia, vanilla, some blue kind which tasted like candy. We tried a shot of just about each kind, and some we had seconds on.

The next stop on our jeep tour was the East side of the island where there no hotels...

and... Still More Gadget

2007-03-08T23:50:00.000-08:00

More Gadget

2007-03-08T23:48:00.000-08:00

Gadget

2007-03-08T23:43:00.000-08:00

Ice Fishing - The Party's Over

2007-03-08T23:17:00.000-08:00

Wait a minute, Kurt's holding a case of beer... this can't be a loading-up-to-leave picture, it must be a loading-to-go-to-the-lake-for-fishing picture from one of the other days. Oh well.

Hey, I think we have less than we came with. Actually I picked up 2 coolers full of venison from the local meat processor. He made me some goodies from one of the deer I shot over gun-hunting. Venison pepper sticks, venison polish sausage, venison bacon, venison breakfast sausage, venison italian sausage for pizza and such.

The smoker's traveled by themselves so they could suck lung rockets all the way up and back

The day we left they got 6-8 inches of snow. Figures... just in time for us to drive home in it

The snow made for some nice scenery shots though.

Pics From Ice Fishing - Day 2

2007-03-08T22:16:00.000-08:00

We got the tip-ups out and then stood around and had a couple beers.

There were some remnants of a fire where we were setup so Paul started building a fire of his own. Eventually everyone joined in with the process until we had a pretty good fire blasting. It gave us something to do while waiting for the tip-ups to pop, and gave us somewhere to stand if we got cold.

We all learned what we were supposed to be doing from Geoff as he was the one who had (by far) the most ice-fishing experience in the group. We dubbed him our guide, even though he had never fished anywhere in this area in his life. We just wanted someone to blame when we didn't catch anything. Luckily we did catch a couple and everyone had a good time. We are going to try and make this a yearly event and next time we might even get enough for one of us to eat a meal.

A storm came blowing in over the lake, but Geoff and Paul had picked our location carefully so we were sheltered from the wind.

Good Times...

Drying out the wood before we can burn it

That fire building was hard work

Yes, I'm positive the ice can support the truck... Well, pretty sure anyway

I smell walleye in the air... they're close, very close

I know you're down there you walleyes

I knew it!
Finally we caught one... now lets get out of here and get a burger.

Pics From Ice Fishing - Day 1

2007-03-01T22:45:00.000-08:00

Last weekend Steve, Kurt, Paul, Geoff, and I went to Iron River, Wi for some extreme ice fishing. Here are the pics... we had a lot of beer, a bunch of snow, some good food, a little gambling, and even a couple fish.

Here is the cabin.

The view of the lake from the cabin. We fished on this lake all day Friday.

Jeff went to town with his power auger, putting in about 20 holes in about 2 minutes. I think he covered the whole lake.

All setup... now what?

Checking the tip-ups.

I'm goin' fishin' baby!

I got my pole and my pillow...

...and my stool. I'm all set.

This might be the only fish we get on...

Wait... we have a bite.

Feels like it could be a big one...

Watch out, here it comes. Don't break the line...

It seemed bigger when I was pulling it out.

OK maybe not. Back in the hole for you baby. We're gonna wait for the bigger fish.

Now we gotta get the hook out.

How could something so small swallow the hook so far down?

Let's forget this and go eat dinner. One way or another we're having a fish fry tonight Jack!

End of day one pictures...
We ate at one of the best fish-fry joints around, then visited the not-so-local casino. 30 minutes to get there turned into about an hour and a half. After dropping most of his money in about the first 10 minutes we were there, Paul pulled a straight flush in 3-hand poker and raked in a couple hundred dollars. We made him buy drinks the next night.

Stay tuned for the pictures from day 2...

Trinity's Own ASPCA Site (Squidoo Lens)

2007-02-08T11:36:00.000-08:00

Our dog Trinity now has her own site.

In addition to pictures and information about her, she lists her favorite Amazon & eBay products, books, calendars, links and more. You can interact with her product list and add or re-order products as you see fit.

Anything purchased through her site directly benefits the ASPCA so check it out.

Skype Me

2006-11-20T00:12:00.000-08:00

If you have Skype on your pc, you can now call me on my Skype account (jpkoppli). I don't think I know anyone else who uses this, but give it a shot... it's free after all.

www.Skype.com

Deer Gun Hunting - Opening

2006-11-19T23:22:00.000-08:00

We had one of our best
opening weekends ever this year... Kirk shot a 10 point buck and I shot an 8 pointer opening morning. Opening day in the evening Larry shot a 6 pointer and Mark shot a spike. Somehow I don't have pictures of the 6 or the spike, but here are the 10 (hanging) and my 8 laying on my new hitch rack. :-)

My story: aound 10-something opening morning I saw a doe walking through the woods about 60 yards from my stand and angling away from me to the North East. I scoped it and confirmed it had no horns. I saw what I thought was a fawn out of the corner of my eye following the doe about 15 yards behind her. I scoped the fawn to double-check, and realized that it was actually a buck with decent horns. It started to trot after the doe, also angling away from me. I shot at the buck and it immediately dropped low and wheeled around running about 10 yards back the way it had come and stopped. The doe ran back to the buck and they both started walking away from me to the North West this time. The buck didn't seem to be hurt so I sighted in on it through the brush and tried to shoot again but my next shell had not gone into the chamber. I manually worked the next shell from the clip into the chamber and sighted in again on the buck... now about 65 yards out in some heavy brush. I shot again and heard a lot of commotion but could only see the legs of one deer through the brush. I wasn't sure if it was the buck or doe I was seeing so I waited, hoping it would come back into my line of site. It never did so after about 10 minutes I got out of my stand and went over to the area where I saw the buck lying there on its side. Apparently the first shot had only grazed off some hair on its back, and the second shot was directly through both lungs dropping it on the spot. The first shot should have been the easier shot, but luckily I got a chance to take a second shot or I would not have got him.

As for Kirk's story: I'm not sure, but I think the deer saw him and took off running, and before Kirk could shoot it ran into a tree and broke its neck, dropping dead on the spot... or something like that. He can post a comment and correct me if thats not what happened.

Larry had his come in following a doe and some fawns, and Mark shot his through the shoulders as it was running across a field.

We are waiting for Pete to shoot a fork buck and complete the string (10, 8, 6, 4, 2).

Rollo Family Goose Hunt

2006-11-03T21:47:00.000-08:00

Subject: Goose huntin
Author: Rollo WunderDog (aka Big Rat)

It was a glorious cloudy weekend. Most people hope for a warm sunny weekend, but goose hunters prefer the cold cloudy snowy blustery days..
Pete Stromme accompanied Rollie Ruby and Reid Thomas on a goose hunting weekend near the Horicon marsh. Rollie's brother Tom Thomas lives in the town of Brownsville in the heart of goose country. The brothers have hunted geese together for close to 40years. Tom is an excellent goose caller, His old Ken Martin goose call sounds sweet to the honkers looking for a place to sit down and have a free meal.
October 22 was an overcast day with hints of snow in the air and on the ground from the previous nights white-out. The geese were flying early; you could hear them as we put out our spread of outlaw decoys. We placed three dozen decoys in a corn field that was picked two days earlier. We headed for cover in a fence line and waited. It was a short waitThe geese spotted the decoys and made a beeline like grandmas to a garage sale. From the time we set up, until we quit hunting, there was only one five minute span when there were not geese over the decoys. We filled all our tags, and just watched as flock after flock would stack up and try to land. Tom was more of an air traffic controller, than a caller. I will remember this hunt with a few memorable hunts that stand out in the last 40 years. Tom's wife Jane had a big part in our hunt being successful. Not only did she feed the ravenous hunters, while managing to sneak a day of hunting on Saturday, but was the designated church goer, and prayed for a good hunt on Sunday. The geese were definitely coming in on a wing and a prayer.

Bowhunting... Finally

2006-11-03T21:46:00.000-08:00

I finally got out bowhunting for the first time this year... and its almost gun-hunting already. I had one doe come in last Saturday and there was a fawn in front of my stand Sunday when I got there. Those are the only 2 dear I had around me the whole weekend.

Larry did not get a buck he shot a couple days earlier, and Mark did get a doe Saturday on stand. Pete saw 14 deer from his stand Saturday, but no shots at any bucks. He saw none on Sunday.

We did see a bunch on the drive home Sunday night... all around the road, and one really nice buck. That figures. anyway sorry for the no pictures but I didn't take my camera.

Duran Duran

2006-11-03T21:39:00.000-08:00

I got my wife Duran Duran tickets for the inaugural show at the Sears Centre in Barrington a week ago Thursday. We had seats on the floor 18 rows back. I had never been a huge fan but they were great. She had a good time & the facility was nice except for too few women's bathrooms she thought. Be prepared for $10 parking even though they don't mention it on their website... thats a whole other story.

Lake Geneva

2006-10-15T16:07:00.000-07:00

Bonnie and the dog and I went up to Lake Geneva today to see the fall colors. It was a little overcast so the colors were not as great as they could have been, but we had a good time. Trinity got to meet some cows and we walked around a little by the lake.

Marshfield High School Hall of Fame

2006-10-11T19:51:00.000-07:00

On a happier note, last weekend my dad was inducted into the Marshfield Senior High School's Hall of Fame. This is where student athletes who made a great impact in their athletic careers at the high school and beyond are being honored. One coach each year is also honored along with the athletes. My dad was the coach for this year and being the inaugural year of the Hall of Fame, it is quite an honor to be the first coach selected out of all coaches in the history of the school. There was a nice dinner and ceremony where all honorees were given an introduction on their merits and accomplishments, they received a nice engraved plaque, and they gave a short acceptance speech.

While we were in town for the event on Saturday, we stayed at my brothers and got a chance to hang out with the kids...

My Grandfather's Funeral

2006-10-11T19:41:00.000-07:00

September 29th, 2006 my grandfather passed away. He was staying in the Veteran's home in Panama City, Florida. I went down for a week with my brother for the visitation and funeral service. Everything was very nice and seemed to go very smoothly. It was nice to see the relatives again. I hope my grandmother will be OK after this. Love you Gramps.

I took some pictures of the flower arrangements on the day of the funeral so those of you who could not attend can see how everything looked. When I get down there again, I will take some pictures of the area where he is resting. It is on the edge of a woods and I understand that many times deer come out to graze in the cemetary. I think he would like that.

Dinner at Kaminari

2006-10-11T19:36:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for a while, but just to catch up... a couple weeks ago we had a really great dinner at a little japanese sushi place called Kaminari. I don't want to give away any secret spots, but it is very, very good. Check it out...

Homecoming 2006

2006-09-23T23:56:00.000-07:00

I was thinking about hanging around and having some food with the parents and kids after pictures, but Tina said. "Cya later..."

Rollo and RePete Go Cat Hunting

2006-07-25T21:02:00.000-07:00

Hey... 2 posts in the same month again. We are on a roll.

Speaking of Roll-o, Pete and Rollo went cat hunting / fishing today. The walleyes and bass in the photo are 18 inches. Rollo says the Channel cats wore him out, but they will be mighty tasty after he runs them through his smoker.

At the Cabin

2006-07-07T20:06:00.000-07:00

OK, this once a month posting has got to stop. I really need to get more updates out... I think I've said that before.

Here's a picture of a doe I took this afternoon close to the White River. She posed for a couple of minutes until I had taken about 20 pictures. We had just come down a road where we saw the tiniest fawn cross and re-cross in front of us. Of course by the time we got up by it to take a picture it wouldn't come back out in view. We thought it was a fox at first because it was soooo small, and the coloring is pretty much the same this time of year.

Here's a picture of Pete fishing a bridge on the same road where we saw the fawn.

2006-06-22T22:12:00.000-07:00

To keep the entertainment level up to acceptable standards on this blog, here is a really big beer ad that I think is awesome:
http://www.bigad.com.au

Enjoy!

Finally...

2006-06-22T21:41:00.000-07:00

...back to updating this thing. Not much to write & no pics. Lets see, what have I missed putting up here...?

Rollie & Reed sent in some trout fishing pics but his fish was almost an inch bigger than mine so he doesn't get posted. Just kidding, I will get them up here shortly I hope.

I had a work convention in Chicago at the Sheraton. Right on the river, blocks from Navy Pier. Good time. We hit Buddy Guys Legends one night and then a really cool place I cant remember the name of right now. Oh well, it was cool & you should go there.

The Relay for Life Cancer Walk was Fathers Day weekend and I had to miss it this year due to a family camping trip. I feel bad about that, but you cant do everything all the time. It just doesnt work out.

The camping trip was great, but too short. We stayed at a nice place by the Wisconsin Dells. Golf cart madness ensued as usual, but none flipped over and only one broke down... busted leaf spring or something. We got in a marathon game of partners bocce ball & it only rained for about an hour one of the 3 days we were there.

I also missed the guys fishing week up at the cabin. Rollo sent me an update from the cabin that fishing was great. Sorry I missed that.

This week Bonnie is in Vegas for a work convention and some playtime. She will be back tomorrow & then its time for a visit to Summerfest next weekend. Cant wait for that. We are staying in Milwaukee Sat the 1st at an as-of-yet-undetermined hotel.

I will touch base again soon with more details and pics of all of the above and more. Stay tuned... really.

-Jason

Rollo the Wunderdog and His Turkey

2006-05-08T21:52:00.000-07:00

Rollie sent me some pics of the turkey he got along with his hunting journal entry. Way to go Rollie.

Jason,
Copy of my turkey journal:

Wed. April 26, first morning 3rd season. 32degrees, cloudless, light
wind, no moon, Perfect.

Pete S. and I went listening Tues. We had realized a group of 10
toms we were watching had moved a half mile, but were huntable. Another
spot had a bird that was hit or miss. The third spot, where we shot our
birds last year, had only one tom. We knew this lowd mouthed bird from
last year, but he had been hunted hard for two seasons. We argued all
the way home and made a decision to hunt the hit or mis bird because
there were other set-ups close. By morning I was convinced to hunt the
bird from last year. We knew where he roosted,and I had come up with a
plan.

We went in early, 4:20. We knew right where he roosted, and entered the
woods downfield 150yds. We sat down and waited for a gobble. Ten min.
later he started. He was where we heard him Monday. We moved into the
woods 60 yds. to be even with the tom. I did a very short tree yelp. We
waited as he relentlessly gobbled. Hens started getting out of the trees
around us.
Because I had yelped, they knew I wasn't a hen on the ground close to
them, and they flew away from the tom. Maybe a dozen birds got down.
There were still a few hens with the tom. I was about to call when a
hen called behind me; she and her friend flew away from the tom. He was
getting pissed because the hens wern't coming. He moved deeper into the woods gobbling every few seconds; then he shut up. I knew he was looking. He moved 80 yards
back toward the field silently, then gobbled. I did a short yelp trying
to keep him out of the field and in range to my left. At this point Pete
saw him and pointed with one finger. I got ready, but had no view in
that direction.

Pete was 8ft to my left. The old tom was doing the spit & drum, while
strutting with an ocasionable thunder gobble. I took the safety off and
put my head down on the stock. I saw a dark patch in the only small
opening I had between the oalks. A blue head appeared looking right at
me sillouheted against a huge dark fan. My mind said two things, "10
gauge, heavy shot." I fired. I got up and stumbled forward with the gun
on safe. I knew my time to trip was near. I was yelling to Pete, "Go get
him! Go get him!" Pete knew enough to stay away from a stumbling
disabled man with a 10gauge.
The bird was down. It made one last attempt to escape running and
flapping, but Pete tackled it risking life, nads and limb.

We tagged the tom admiring the sharp spurs and nice thick beard. We
shook hands, thanked God for the nice day and the job he did with the
hens. Pete took the bird back to where I shot. I took 75 steps to get
there. I have never taken a shot that long. It was the only shot I would
have gotten. The next time the tom would have been free of trees, Pete
would have been too close to the shot. Confidence in the gun, the heavy
shot, and patterning gave me the confidence to take the shot.

If this is the last bird I ever shoot, it would be fitting. The
scouting, set up, calling (lack of calling), were all perfect. I would
have been content not killing this bird, only outsmarting him. This bird
took everything I've learned in all my years of turkey hunting.

This is the third bird I've taken since doing my latest cancer
treatment.
Pete S. and Bruce F. have made this possible. Pete and I scout
and hunt together. He is my partner and student of turkey hunting. Pete
helps me carry my Doc H. amount of gear and my 10gauge Otto. Yes, I
call it Otto. He carried the last two birds out. Bruce carried the one
before that. Hunting and fishing keep me going, and keep my mind on the
prize. Hunting and fishing with friends and family. This is the best
quality time. My friends in the Nursing Fawns are my best friends. I
know if I die on the stream, or in the woods; they will think long and
hard before gutting me before they drag me out.
Rollie

Opening of Trout Fishing, part deux...

2006-05-08T21:07:00.000-07:00

Continued from part I ...

We cleaned the trout and headed back to Mark and Pattis as they were having a cook-out and we would also have a better place to sleep. The food was great, and we got a lot of world problems solved as well. We found out Kirk is giving an alternative lifestyle speech at the local church. Way to go Kirk.

...and Joe did his Ray Charles impression with Petes poker er... driving glasses. Joes singing is much better than his physical impression of an old black man. We did manage to get in a doubles bocce ball game by the headlights of the Honda... Jerod and Katie against Katies boyfriend and I. Personally I like playing in the daylight better, but you have to do what you have to do.

I got home on Monday (tonight) and made the trout for dinner. That big boy came out great after I made it on the grill in a foil pan with oil, butter, salt, pepper and lemon juice. Gotta go to bed now and get caught up on my sleep. Nighty night.

Opening of Trout Fishing

2006-05-08T20:17:00.000-07:00

We tried something different this year and setup camp at a campground next to one of our favorite trout streams. Friday night at Mark and Pattis house, Saturday night at the campground. No tent as we were going to sleep in the vehicles.

As we were setting up, re-Pete drove in. He had just finished fishing and had his limit (give or take). Finally we got fishing on Saturday; got our limit; had dinner back at camp... trout, beans, and potatoes all washed down with Point Amber and a New Glarus Brewery sampler pack... Spotted Cow, Fat Squirrel, Uff-da, and about 5 other kinds. We had a bocce ball tournament which was quite a shoot-out. Jerod pulled out to an early 8-0 lead, but I came back and won with a 21-10 whooping.

Jerod opted to sleep in the Honda, Pete and I tried to sleep in the Tahoe, but the initial arrangement had our feet higher than our heads and when Pete tried to switch around he became all frazzled and decided to sleep sitting up in his own vehicle in the driver seat. That left the whole floor of the Tahoe for me, which was great except I got very cold and did not sleep too well. Pete did not sleep much in his vehicle either, so next year we bring the camper. I seem to remember somebody wanting the camper in the first place this year... hmmm.

We slept so bad that we got up and had breakfast, then packed up camp as we already knew we were not going to be sleeping like that again. We did some heavy duty fishing, getting our limits at one spot, then decided to try an area we had not fished before. It was a big, deep, lawn-chair, bobber-type hole that we usually do not fish but we gave it a shot. I caught a small one below the hole, then a 10 inch brook trout in the hole. Jerod had gone up stream to check things out and came back saying everything looked pretty bad upstream. He started fishing just above the big hole I was working on. All of a sudden I had a big one on so I yelled to Jerod and he cam over and helped me get it up on the bank. Jerod said the hook was barely in the lip, and when it got up on the bank, the hook fell out completely. That was close... turned out to be an 18.25 inch brown trout. I believe it is actually the largest trout I have ever caught.

Click here to see the real-size image

Try A Few More Easter Pics...

2006-04-18T04:56:00.000-07:00

Hopefully things will go a little faster this morning...
Or not... It looks like 4 pictures bombed out, but just loading two worked OK.

Oh well, here is Jed the Blue Bandito trying to escape, and Tina and Laura on the horses (Tina only fell of four times).

As Promised, More Easter Pics

2006-04-17T23:53:00.000-07:00

man o man... I just tried uploading 5 images and had to cancel it out after 40 minutes of waiting. I then tried just these two and it still took over ten minutes to upload. I don't know if its my pc or this website, but thats it for now. Too late and I'm too tired to wait for more to get loaded.

Easter in Wisconsin

2006-04-16T21:01:00.000-07:00

Hey, another post already...

Bonnie, Tina, Trinity & I drove up to J & L's Friday afternoon in our new Tahoe. That was a nice ride and we were even able to put Trinity's crate in for her to snooze on the way up.

Trinity and their puppy, Maverick hit it off pretty quick and became best buddies over the weekend. We had chicken on the grill Friday, Mexican on Saturday, and a great Easter brunch on Sunday.

Too soon we had to hit the road again, but here are a few pictures of the weekend:

I have to get to bed, but I will try to get more pictures up over the next few days...

WoW

2006-04-02T21:18:00.000-07:00

The title was going to be, Wow - No Posts for a Month. I wrote the Wow and thought instead of the reason why I have not posted anything for a month. WoW - World of Warcraft in other words for the rest of the world. This is where I have been spending my free time... trying to explore the World of Warcraft so my character can get more experience and increase his level to take on bigger badder bad guys which in turn will let him explore more of the World of Warcraft. Very addicting, but very amazing... the virtual world and seemingly endless supply of the game's characters, animals, quests, armor, weapons, scenery, etc, etc, etc. Try it if you dare. I will see you in WoW, in the Malfurion realm. Human warrior for the alliance, Meghadorn over and out.

T-Shirts Anyone?

2006-02-26T21:15:00.000-08:00

I think I'm going to make a couple of T-Shirts up with our puppy on them. Anyone want some let me know. This is the image I am going to use...

I should have thought about it before Valentines Day. I could have Photoshop'd in a box of chocolates or flowers in her mouth. Oh well, whats coming up now... St. Patricks Day... don't know what I could do with that. Maybe Easter, she could be carrying an Easter basket or something.

Trinity is sleeping on the futon behind me while I am writing this. She must be having a dream because she is half-barking, half-wimpering in her sleep. Sometimes her legs start moving around like she is really running fast in her dream. All she can do is dream about running now because she has a broken toe with a splint and a bunch of bandaging wrapped around it. The bandage is pink and matches her collar so even though she can't run very well at least she looks good.

Phillippines Sunset

2006-02-25T14:59:00.000-08:00

Jayson has been stationed off the coast of the Phillippines, as his ship is providing a base for aid operations to the area. They have supplies and helicopters going in and out. I believe it was for the mud-slide disasters they have had.

He sent me a picture of a sunset from the ship taken a day or two ago... but I think they are like 12 hours ahead of us so I guess it could be setting RIGHT NOW! :-)

Nozzle

2006-02-22T22:25:00.000-08:00

Kyle Walker is in a band called Nozzle. We watched them a few weeks ago in their 1st round Bandemonium playoff at Durty Nellies in Palatine. I think their next show is Fri. March 3rd. Come on out and vote!

Jayson's Blog on MySpace

2006-02-22T21:41:00.000-08:00

Jayson has a blog on MySpace for anyone who would like to check it out. Unfortunately you have to be a member of MySpace to leave comments for him (unlike this cool blogger site where anyone can leave me a comment)... :-)

Anyway, check it out here for exciting info on Navy life in Japan.

Tina has one too, but it is insanely 15 year-old girlish and it kind of gave me a headache. :-)

Albino Fawn Found in Texas

2006-02-21T22:25:00.000-08:00

There was a strange story around this... I wasn't sure what was true or not, so I checked it out with our friends at the Urban Legends site and they verify that though the pictures appear real, there are several versions of the story floating around. You can check out the myth analysis of the email here if you are so inclined.

Thanks Jay for sending these pics over.

I found a few cool video clips for your viewing pleasure

2006-02-14T23:05:00.000-08:00

Like a little Jackie Chan looking for a job:

My wife works out...

2006-02-14T22:56:00.000-08:00

This is why I don't work out:

Like John Mayer?

2006-02-14T22:39:00.000-08:00

...then you'll like this:

COOL BEANS

2006-02-14T22:14:00.000-08:00

I found this really cool site: PANDORA. It is a free site that creates a custom radio station for you on the fly, based on a song or artist that you enter. You choose something that you know you like and it will pick another song that it thinks you will like based on your entry. It will continue to pick songs for you, which you can skip or add to a favorites list. You can fine-tune what songs it chooses for you by giving the song a thumbs up or thumbs down. Very cool! Check it out.

The Pandora site also mentions some cool devices you can use to play their songs (or other streaming audio or static songs of various formats from your pc) through your stereo or send to other parts of your house. The SqueezeBox has got to be the coolest!

Happy Valentines Day!

2006-02-14T06:04:00.000-08:00

If you still need to get your flowers, teddy bear, chocolate... whatever, your time is running out.

LA Cops Fight Car Chases With GPS Devices

2006-02-09T11:16:00.000-08:00

By Laurie Sullivan Courtesy of TechWeb News

The Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) will become the first law enforcement agency to outfit cars with a device that propels and sticks a Global Positioning System (GPS) onto a fleeing car.

The department will mount the StarChase LLC device in the grill of some squad cars in the fall. "Officers in the car would control a green laser light, similar to an aiming device that fixes on your target," said LAPD Lieutenant Paul Vernon on Friday. "A small dart-like device is propelled from the officer's car."

The LAPD is hopeful the GPS device will reduce the number of high-speed car chases through the city. The department conducted more than 600 vehicle pursuits in 2005, up from 581 in the prior year, said Vernon.

Rather than engage in a high-speed chase that is dangerous for the public and police, an officer can trigger the GPS tracking device from their car. The officer also will have a remote unit, about the size of a device that unlocks a car, when they're outside the patrol car.

Each StarChase unit can fire two GPS tracking devices in case the first one misses or does not stick to the vehicle. The GPS device consists of a battery and a radio transmitter embedded in an epoxy compound. The tag affixes to the suspect's vehicle and transmits its location via satellite to police headquarters where it is superimposed over a map displayed on a computer.

The GPS tag activates at impact. It transmits the car's exact position via a wireless modem. An encrypted cellular backbone delivers continuous position updates to the StarChase server that pushes location-based information to authorized users through a password-protected Web portal.

The delay between the transmission and the refresh-picture rate from the Web server is about two to three seconds. The system uses data transmission encryption to ensure security. StarChase said the platform is approved by the National Security Agency.

The LAPD expects trails to last between four and six months. The technology is still in development. A few questions remain. For example, it's not clear the optimal distance a patrol car must follow behind a vehicle in pursuit. Vernon said it's probably "similar distance an officer would be in most gun fights, which is fairly close, about 21 feet."

The GPS device is one of three new technologies the department will deploy. Others include a small Taser gun and a new crime analysis lab.

Speeding Ticket Got You Down?

2006-02-05T13:02:00.000-08:00

"Fighting the Typical Radar ticket" article from the National Motorists Association is a must-read:

http://www.motorists.org/issues/tickets/build_a_case.html

Tired of high long distance bills?

2006-02-05T12:44:00.000-08:00

We are reselling VOIP (Internet phone service) with some great deals available only through the resell process.

We can get you setup with any of the favorite VOIP providers:
Vonage, Packet8, SunRocket, Lingo, etc.

We can also get great deals on high-speed Internet (Covad, Comcast, Qwest, DSL.NET, Internap, Speakeasy, etc)

Cellular service (T-Mobile, Cingular, Verizon, Nextel, Sprint, etc)

Regular Long Distance phone service, Dial-up Internet access, etc.

Check it out here!

Grizzly is a fake!

2006-01-27T12:08:00.000-08:00

OK, I am said to say that the grizzly is just a fake. We have uncovered the truth here: Fake Grizzly.

Hogzilla

2006-01-27T11:49:00.000-08:00

As soon as I published the images of the grizzly, someone sent me a picture of Hogzilla. This is supposed to be a 12 foot long, 1,000 pound feral pig: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hogzilla. National Geographic exhumed the pig and determined it to actually have been 8 foot, 800 pounds which is still a dang big pig.

Worlds Largest Grizzly

2006-01-27T11:38:00.000-08:00

The following pictures are of a guy who works for The US Forest Service in Alaska and his trophy bear. He was out deer hunting last week when a large grizzly bear charged him from about 50 yards away. The guy unloaded his 7mm Mag Semi-automatic rifle into the bear and it dropped a few feet
from him. The big bear was still alive so he reloaded and shot it several times in the head. The bear was just over one thousand six hundred pounds. It stood 12' 6" high at the shoulder, 14' to the top of his head. It's the largest grizzly bear ever recorded in the world. Of course, the Alaska Fish and Wildlife Commission did not let him keep it as a trophy, but the bear will be stuffed and mounted, and placed on display at the Anchorage airport (to remind tourist's of the risks involved when in the wild).

Based on the contents of the bears stomach, the Fish and Wildlife Commission established the bear had killed at least two humans in the past 72 hours. His last meal was an unlucky nature buff. The US Forest Service, backtracking from where the bear had originated, found the hiker's 38-caliber pistol emptied. Not far from the pistol was the remains of the hiker. The other body has not been found. Although the hiker fired six shots and managed to hit the grizzly with four shots (they ultimately
found four 38 caliber slugs along with twelve 7mm slugs inside the bear's dead body) it only wounded the bear and probably angered it. The bear killed the hiker an estimated two days prior to the bear's own death by the gun of the Forest Service worker.

Think about this - If you are an average size man; You would be level with the bear's belly button when he stood upright, the bear would look you in the eye when it walked on all fours! To give additional perspective, consider that this particular bear, standing on its hind legs, could walk up to an average single story house and look over the roof, or walk up to a two story house and look in the bedroom windows.
The moral of the story, concealed carry won't help with a bear. If you can conceal it, it's not big enough.Gee that sounds familiar.

...thanks to Rollie for this story...

5 Rules for a Happy Life

2006-01-26T08:54:00.000-08:00

1. It's important to have a woman who helps at home, who cooks from time to time, cleans up and has a job.

2. It's important to have a woman who can make you laugh.

3. It's important to have a woman who you can trust and who doesn't lie to you.

4. It's important to have a woman who is good in bed and who likes to be with you.

5. It's very, very important that these four women don't know each other

- compliments of Rollie

Trinity in the Snow

2006-01-21T14:53:00.000-08:00

Trinity sure loves to play in the snow...
Bonnie and I shoveled the driveway for an hour or so and Trinity sat in the house and watched us through the door. She was a good girl so Bonnie played catch with her in the backyard afterwards. I think she could run all day and not get tired of playing catch and jumping around in the powder.

Links

2006-01-20T13:00:00.000-08:00

Osama and Pals on Friendstr

The Oracle of Starbucks
(my personality type came up as: asshat)

Lowest Gas Prices in: Illinois, Wisconsin, Minnesota.

This will give you a headache for sure...

Who is Virtual Stan?

wow. Must be how they play basketball in France.

I could watch this all day long. Click the rectangle to change the music. Gotta love it with the Benny Hill music.

Celebrating the Monobrow.

Celebrate and pray pray to the web gods.

Create your own Quaker Man message here. Ha-ha!

...thats all for now. Should be enough to keep you busy for a few minutes...

The IVR Cheat Sheet™

2006-01-20T08:13:00.000-08:00

Paul English who is the CTO and cofounder of the travel-search site Kayak.com and a former vice president at Intuit. He has compiled a list of the buttons you need to push when you enter various companies' voicemail systems to actually reach a human person. He has a list of several hundred companies and government agencies sorted by type of business. The company phone number and web address is also provided.

http://paulenglish.com/ivr/

(I think Virgin Mobile is the winner for most steps to reach a human)

Interesting Human Trivia

2006-01-18T15:48:00.000-08:00

More money is spent each year on alcohol and cigarettes than on Life insurance.

It was the custom in Ancient Rome for the men to place their right hand on their testicles when taking an oath. The modern term 'testimony' is derived from this tradition.

In 1849, David Atchison became President of the United States for just one day, and he spent most of the day sleeping.

The active ingredient in Chinese Bird's nest soup is saliva.

The childrens' nursery rhyme 'Ring-a-Ring-a-Roses' actually refers to the Black Death which killed about 30 million people in the fourteenth-century.

It is a criminal offence to drive around in a dirty car in Russia.

The car manufacturer Henry Ford was awarded Hitler's Grand Cross of the Supreme Order of the German Eagle. Henry Ford was the inventor of the assembly line, and Hitler used this knowledge of the assembly line to speed up production, and to create better and interchangeable products.

St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, was not Irish.

See more here...

Bucks of -- the Badger --

2006-01-18T15:13:00.000-08:00

Thrill of bowhunting Wisconsin whitetails in post-war ghost town is atypical
By James Card
Special to ESPNOutdoors.com

BARABOO, Wis. — The Badger Army Ammunition Plant has long been a legendary place for bowhunters in the know. Imagine a small, American suburb that has a few whitetail deer sneaking through the backyards; it's a common scene throughout the United States. Now imagine if the same suburb were abandoned — a ghost town, if you will — for a few decades. Weeds, prairie grasses, brush, thickets and saplings grow thick from neglect and deer would wander the overgrown streets of cracked concrete.

The deer slip in and out of shabby buildings with broken windows and others bed down on sun-warmed cement patios of dilapidated houses. That accurately describes Badger Army Ammunition Plant in Baraboo, Wis...

Read more here.

If you are going...
Archery hunting at the Badger Army Ammunition Plant is based on a lottery system. Traditionally, about 1,000 hunters apply for 900 permits. Applications can be found at the Badger Web site. If you are a successful applicant you will receive a permit to hunt for a three-day weekend. The hunts are scheduled throughout the fall hunting season. There is an "Earn-a-Buck" program in place, wherein hunters must harvest an antlerless deer before pursuing a buck at the Badger.

The hunting areas are divided into five zones so hunters are more spread out and have a more enjoyable hunt. Hunters are only allowed to hunt in their given zone. Hunters are provided with maps that detail their zones, routes in and out, restricted areas and assigned parking areas. All hunters must abide by state hunting regulations. Treestands are permitted must be removed after each hunt.

Badger Army Ammunition Plant is in a chronic wasting disease management zone; game personnel there work with state officials monitor the herd. To date no chronic wasting disease has been detected.

Blaupunkt Pimp my Ride

2006-01-17T22:26:00.000-08:00

Numa Numa Everywhere

2006-01-17T22:02:00.000-08:00

Numa Numa Everywhere
...or here

Time for some funny...

2006-01-17T21:34:00.000-08:00

Matrix Ping Pong

NFL 2006 Regular Season Opponents Announced

2006-01-16T20:30:00.000-08:00

Green Bay Opponents:
Home: Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, Arizona, St. Louis, New England, N.Y. Jets, New Orleans
Away: Chicago, Detroit, Minnesota, San Francisco, Seattle, Buffalo, Miami, Philadelphia

Chicago Opponents:
Home: Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota, San Francisco, Seattle, Buffalo, Miami, Tampa Bay
Away: Detroit, Green Bay, Minnesota, Arizona, St. Louis, New England, N.Y. Jets, N.Y. Giants

Viqueens Opponents:
Home: Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, Arizona, St. Louis, New England, N.Y. Jets, Carolina
Away: Chicago, Detroit, Green Bay, San Francisco, Seattle, Buffalo, Miami, Washington

NFL Divisional Playoffs

2006-01-16T19:57:00.000-08:00

Well the weekend results are in:

Washington 10
Seattle 20

New England 13
Denver 27

Pittsburgh 21
Indianapolis 18

Carolina 29
Chicago 21

Some very exciting football, and a few upsets. Since Green Bay is out I don't really care who beats who... I would normally root for Chicago but it will be nice to not have to listen to all the yahoos here who have been trying to talk trash just because Chicago has one decent year. I know they have been waiting a long, long time to get a decent team on the field, so I cut them a little slack... but only enough to hang themselves with once Green Bay has all their players healthy next year and gets back to spanking their division rivals.

Volleyball Tourney Today

2006-01-14T17:36:00.000-08:00

Tina had a volleyball tournament today. She won her 1st match in a tie-breaker and lost the next couple. I took a few pics and all came out pretty bad. I guess its hard to get the focus right when you are shooting through a volleyball net. Here is a pic that she hates, so I will post it and see if she notices...:

Badgers Finish 15th in Polls

2006-01-10T13:10:00.000-08:00

MADISON, Wis. - The 2005 Wisconsin football team was ranked 15th in both the final USA Today Coaches and Associated Press polls released following the Bowl Championship Series title game between Texas and Southern California Wednesday night.

It marks the Badgers’ highest finish in those polls since 1999 when UW was fourth in both rankings.

Wisconsin, 10-3 overall after its 24-10 upset victory over then-No. 7 Auburn in the 2006 Capital One Bowl, finished in the top 25 of the coaches and A.P. polls for the sixth time under former head coach Barry Alvarez. Alvarez’s Badgers also ended up in the top 25 in 1993, 1998, 1999, 2000 and 2004. Ironically, Auburn was 14th in both the coaches and A.P. final polls for this season.

UW also finished in the top 20 of the BCS rankings this season (the Badgers were 19th) for the third time under Alvarez.

Source: Wisconsin Athletic Communications
1/5/2006 8:08:14 AM

Our 2nd Christmas...

2006-01-03T22:30:00.000-08:00

OK, these pictures are finally up. Now I should go to bed. Maybe I will come back later and add some text here... :-)

Jay & Anna New Years Eve

2006-01-03T22:16:00.000-08:00

Jay...

Anna...

Jay & Anna...

Pictures taken at her parent's house, then they took the train downtown to a party at Navy Pier.

Opening Presents

2005-12-28T06:22:00.000-08:00

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

2005-12-27T11:57:00.000-08:00

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?

2005-12-26T12:23:00.000-08:00

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!

2005-12-25T22:55:00.000-08:00

Welcome Visitors From Ethiopia and Chile

2005-12-25T22:46:00.000-08:00

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...

2005-12-22T21:42:00.000-08:00

My Elf Name Is...

Stubby Stocking Stuffer

What's Your Elf Name?

The Office Christmas Party

2005-12-21T09:36:00.000-08:00

Art of Grilling

2005-12-20T15:20:00.000-08:00

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

2005-12-20T09:02:00.000-08:00

Thank you Steve for sending us this intellectually stimulating link.

Packers lose big, so do I

2005-12-19T23:03:00.000-08:00

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

2005-12-19T22:49:00.000-08:00

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

2005-12-19T21:45:00.000-08:00

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

2005-12-16T12:14:00.000-08:00

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...

2005-12-16T11:58:00.000-08:00

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

2005-12-13T15:21:00.000-08:00

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

2005-12-12T13:46:00.000-08:00

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?

2005-12-12T12:50:00.000-08:00

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.