Merry Christmas

From the Passinthru Outdoors crew and Family.

 Merry Christmas!

Hope you enjoy these Christmas themed funnies as much as we do.

Let em Go and they will Grow

Let 'em go and they will grow

There is nothing wrong with keeping some fish for a meal but practicing catch and release will help ensure that there are fish for the next person and future generations as well. Check out the Tips for better Catch and Release fishing for more information.

This little guy will hopefully live to fight many years.

 Check out http://www.greenfishmovement.com/scripts/default.asp

“This is my photo submission for the GreenFish and Outdoor Blogger Network Photo Contest“

Kids day in the Goose Blind

Over the Thanksgiving holiday we had a chance to take the kids out for a goose hunt.  Busch Pilot,  Bubba and his two sons James and Jared, my son Brendan,  my Daughter Kaleigh and of course me all made the early morning trek to the farm with hopes of cupped and committed honkers dancing in our heads.

Hero Shot - The smiles are the best reward

The kids were eager to help with building our blind, which would be located at the end of a hedgerow, and then setting out 3 dozen Big Foot full bodies and 2 dozen shells which would hopefully pull the geese in for some up close and personal shooting.  We construct the blind every morning we hunt this farm so we have it down to a science and could probably whip it out in mere minutes, but we wanted the kids to have a hand in every aspect of the hunt so they were banging in stakes, hanging the burlap and stacking up the corn stalks and I must say they made a great little blind.  The wind was blowing from all directions and was supposed to be coming out of the Northwest so we set the spread hoping that would be the case.

Yes Jared is standing up - had to have him raise his hand

It was just starting to get light as we were settling into the blind and started giving the kids some safety and shooting instructions and we were greeted with a flock of turkeys yelping always as they were getting ready to fly down for their roosts.  All this turkey talk was helping with the kids paying attention, but we ran them through a test run to give them an idea of what was going to happen.  You know the drill, keep your heads down, don't move, ready, take em.  The test run ran smooth so all we needed now was some geese to cooperate.





It wasn't long before we had geese in the air, but they were on a mission to go somewhere other then to our field so we just kept watching flock after flock off in the distance.  I was beginning to worry, but that worry was washed away as a flock of geese broke over the tree line and were keyed in on our spread.  Busch Pilot and Bubba worked their magic on the calls, while I manned the video camera.  The geese flew right over the  hedgerow and our blind, made a loop out over the field and turned to line up for a run at our spread.  They were cupped and committed and started to land but they flaired off short of the spread and headed out.  We tried to get them turned around but they just headed out.  We were not sure what they saw, but we would be keeping an eye on that.  The next flock to work the spread did almost the same thing and were committed to the spread at the end of the blind and they too flaired just short of the landing, but Busch Pilot called the shot and our first goose was down.  Busch Pilot and I decided to move some decoys around and clear out more of a spot in front of the blind to see if it made a difference and most certainly did as the next flocks to visit did exactly what we wanted them to do.

Bubba and James being good retrievers

We had a single come in next that got folded by both Jared and James who shot at the exact same time.  There was plenty of hoots and laughs after that one.  Then another flock that the kids dropped two from, but one got up and started heading out so Brendan went to put it down but he had forgotten to reload so as we watched the goose head down the field, bubba and James headed after it.  The goosed crashed into the trees and was recovered by James.  We had another flock just touching down a mere feet from the blind and Busch Pilot called the shot and the kids stood up I think they were in shock at how close they were because only one was dropped from that bunch.  It was about 10am so we decided to pack it up and head home.

Don't tell Bubba's wife, but we stole her Golden Goose!

You can get a college kid to do just about anything.

We worked him hard.

It's tiring being a goose hunter.

Each of the kids got a goose and learned plenty about goose hunting.  They had lots of laughs and seemed to enjoy every minute of it.  I know Busch Pilot, Bubba and Myself sure enjoyed it and we couldn't stop smiling or laughing.  Hope to get them all out there again over the Christmas holiday.  There is nothing I enjoy more then Sharing the Passion with kids, especially my own.

Muzzle Loader Camp 2011

What a difference a year makes.  Last year we had great cold and clear weather and a full meat tree, while this year we had warm weather for two days along with Rain and fog and a damn near empty meat tree. 

This is our annual after Thanksgiving Muzzle Loader hunt down in the Delaware Water Gap area of New Jersey and it is always greeted with great anticipation and excitement.  Much of this excitement and anticipation is the fact that we have almost 30 miles of state and federal land to hunt and with that much land to hunt you never know what is going to happen.  The trip starts out early on Sunday as members of our Connecticut crew pile into the trucks and head south to our camp which is a cabin at the Mohegan Outdoor Center where we meet up with friends and family from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and New York. 

Once our gear is unloaded in our rooms, some guys will sit around telling stories, others tart preparing some snacks and dinner while the rest will usually take to the woods for a last minute scouting trip.  Once it gets dark, it is time for a great dinner and then time to prepare out packs and lunches for the next day's hunt.  Of course a little night cap is always in order to help fight through the restless night that we all face.

Wake up Monday was 4am and about 4:05am, someone heads out side to see what the weather is like and the report was not good.  It was already in the 50s and temps were expected to get to the mid 60s.  The first of the crew that are hunting off the mountain head out at 5am and the rest of us are out the door by 5:30am.  It was a short hike to my perch for the morning, same spot that i shot my 8 pointer last year.  I was all snuggled in and anxiously awaiting shooting light a good 25 minutes before it arrived.  As the sun started to rise I was already greeted with bugs buzzing around me.  This was not going to be good.  Pennsylvania has their deer season opener on the same day and this usually makes for plenty of shots heard through the morning, but this morning things were usually quiet.  I should have known then that this was going to be one of those trips.  Few deer were sighted that morning, of course none by me.  Chuck scored a nice 5 little 5 pointer and we joked about this being the big buck pin winner, little did we know it would end up to be not only the pin winner, but the only deer taken in two days.  Some of us met back at the cabin for lunch and after getting Chuck's deer to the check station and hung up on the meat pole, we headed off the mountain to meet up with the rest of the crew so we could make a push or two.  We setup for our long pond push which seldom lets us down, but it did on this day.  As one of our standers was walking in he jumped a lone doe and took a shoot and missed.  That would be the only deer seen on this drive.  By the end of this driver, most of use were soaked and picking thorns out of our clothes and body so with about an hour left many of us just head back to camp to get an early shower.  Chuck, James and Myself decided to butcher Chuck's buck and get it in a cooler as temps were not excepted to drop below the high 40s.  We had a good dinner, some more laughs and a night cap and then off to bed.

Tuesday morning's weather report was warm and damp.  According the to radar we had about 4 hours before it started raining so out the door we headed.  The rain started around 8:30am but it was light and mostly a mist, but the fog was heavy at times and visibility was down to 40 yards at times.  About 10:30 the chatter on the radio was to head back to the cabin because according to the radar, the skies were about to open up.  Well, some of us didn't make it back in time and we got soaked.  It looked like the rain was going to hold on through the majority of the afternoon so guys started to head home.  Busch Pilot and James decided to do a little walk about and ran into nothing but black bears.  We decided to pack it in and head back to CT around 3pm. 

We had one deer to show for the trip and only two shots taken in two days which is a far cry from our usual trips.  The weather didn't cooperate, most of the hunters that stayed through the mid day heat or rain, sat tight and so did the deer.  In terms of deer, camp was a letdown, but as always we had good food and lots of laughs with family and friends and that is truly what makes camp so special.

Beau's Buck - A Fitting Tribute for Man's Best Friend

My Beloved Beau

This is more than a posts about a successful deer hunt and more of a tribute to my 14 year old German Shorthair Pointer Beau (Zacharia's Brown Sugar).  Over the past few months Beau had been showing signs of his age and potential health issues.  He was having trouble with his hips and had a few episodes that mimicked seizures and we knew the day would come where we would have to make a tough decision involving our beloved dog.  The day my family dreaded  came this past week and Beau was put to rest in a very peaceful and loving manner.

Beau was our second GSP and our second hunting dog and had a tough job of replacing our previous GSP Zak. Beau did not ask for this challenge but he was the only pup that was accepted for the job by my daughter.  My Daughter Kaliegh was only 14 months old, while my son Brendan was 6 when we lost Zak and we began our mission to find a new hunting partner.  I had promised Brendan we would get a dog that looked exactly like Zak who was a solid liver with a small white patch on his chest but it was a promise I had no intention of breaking, but I did.  We made a trip to Quail Ridge Kennels which was in our home town to look at a littler of puppies and this litter had 4 solid liver pups.  All 10 puppies where in a large pen and we would take the liver pups out one at a time to visit with.  When the pups came up to my daughter she cried at every single one even if they just walked by her and of course my son loved everyone of them.  This was not going as I had planned.  As we continued to discuss each pup and look them over, one pup in the pen kept catching my eye.  This pup would just be sitting in the pen quiet and still just looking up at us at all the other puppies were going crazy jumping, yipping and knocking each other over.  I reached down and took this puppy out and put him on the floor and my son was first to object but I convinced him to be patient and watch the pup.  The puppy came over to all of us and when he went to my daughter, she didn't cry but instead smiled and put her hand out for the puppy.  We continued to watch this pup has he worked his way around the garage with his noise going like made and I couldn't figure out what he was looking for until he stopped, jumped up on his hind legs and sitting 3 feet above him was the puppies food bowl.  I was so impressed with his nose that I started to seriously consider this pup as an option to become our new family member.  Of course I had to convince my son that even though he didn't look exactly like Zak like I promised he could still become a great hunting partner and family member.  After some conversation and few tears, Brendan agreed that he was the one and we put a collar on him and said goodbye and told him we would be back in two weeks to pick him up.

Never far from a comfortable couch or bed

The day came to pick our new pup up, so the family piled into the van and headed up to the kennel to welcome our new friend into our family.  We got to the kennel, took care of the paper work and fought over who was going to carry our new pup to the van.  We had discussed names prior to this trip and continued as we made our way home in the van.  This pup was white with large liver colored spots that looked like marbles blending together and marbles was about to stick, when my son said how about BEAU.  We asked why Beau and he said it meant beautiful in French.  I wasn't sure and had to look it up and sure enough he was right.  We all agreed that he was beautiful and it fit my single syllable requirement and our new pup was officially named BEAU!  We continued our ride home and during that ride poor Beau got sick which almost caused Brendan to get sick.  We had figured he was just nervous and had probably eaten not long ago so we never gave it another thought.  Little did I know that his incredible nose and that ride home would define who Beau was for the past 14 years.

My Daughter and Son with Beau

Beau's nose proved I made the right decision as we began hunting him, but it also caused problems as he became the biggest trash hound I ever met.  He could sniff out the smallest piece of food and had the drive and determination to get it as well.  He learned to open up the garbage cans, shop in the bags from the store or sniff out chocolate in the kids Xmas stockings.  He loved treats of all kinds, that he could find a bag of horse treats in my neighbor's garage or smell the sweet scent of burgers cooking on the grill next door.  Beau would visit the neighbors and had them highly trained to take care of his request for treats and he was vocal about it as well.  As frustrating as this would be for me sometimes, the neighbors loved it and thought it was cute.

The sickness in the van on that ride home turned into a full blown desire for Beau to avoid riding in the car or truck at all costs.  Now this caused many a problems for me as it would usually take me 30 minuted to gather him up and get him in his travel kennel for a trip to the field.  Sure, it was funny at first especially when I would catch him, lift him up and try to put him in the kennel only to have him put those long legs of his up against the kennel making it impossible for one person to do.  This went on no matter if I used the kennel or let him ride on the seat.  All you had to do to get him in his outdoor kennel or in the house was to ask him if he wanted to go for a ride.  Normally after a hunt he was wore out and it was easier to get him back in the vehicle for the ride home.

Looks comfortable to me

Beau liked his comfort and he was strong willed and determined to get his way.  If that meant you had to sit on the floor while he laid his long lanky body across the couch, so be it.  Try to push him out of his spot was useless, even if he got up he was coming back to take you on in a battle of will which he always won.  Even just a few months ago, by son now 20 would be hanging off his bed while Beau commanded the majority of the space and covers.  Normally Beau would sleep on my bed every night where we would even share a pillow a time or two.  When it was time to get up, he would work his way around the rooms to find a warm body to curl up against and then when everyone was up and moving he would find even the smallest sliver of sunshine to lay in.


Last week Beau had another episode and even though I wasn't ready to let him go I knew it was time.  My wife was the rock here making me realize it and finding a way to do so that allowed Beau to be comfortable and peaceful.  Knowing that Beau always got worked up when in the car and at the vet, my wife did not want his last memories to have him in panic mode so she contacted Kristen Klie, DVM from Final journey LLC to inquire about her in home services.  We schedule an appointment for  a Friday afternoon giving everyone plenty of time to enjoy Beau and say goodbye.  My wife and I were with him to the end as he laid comfortably on the couch and in my wife's arms.  Beau was comfortable the entire time and it was the most peaceful experience I had ever witnessed.  Dr Klie made our tough and painful decision very respectful. compassionate and loving and I am thankful that we found her.

The last time I ever let my wife dress Beau in a costume

So where does the buck come into this story?  Well our firearms deer hunting season was underway and with everything going on I had zero ambition to be in the woods, I was in no mood to take an animals life knowing what I had to do and did.  I was emotionally drained and hadn't slept in days so Friday night I had planned to sleep in and skip the first Saturday of deer season.  But my well laid plans Saturday went the same way they did just over 14 years ago.  I threw them out the window and adjusted.  I was up as the first hint of sunrise started to peak out letting my lab Hannah out to do her business and when she was done we sat together on the couch and all I could think about was Beau.  I started to relive some of those hunting trips Beau and I had been on and I thought to myself that on a very cool crisp fall morning like it was this morning, Beau would want me to be in the place that brings me the most peace and that was the woods.  So I hurried about getting dressed and decided to hunt just down the street from my house where Beau had worked to put pheasant on the table.

I had to come to know every single inch of this small piece of state land over the past 16 years and I knew where most guys would be hunting and where the deer would be headed so I decided to slip in along the swamp and try to cut them off.  I was late to the woods as it was 15 minutes after sunrise, but found the forest floor very quiet allowing me to sneak down to the edge of the swamp and to slowly still hunt my way around it.  I had heard 3 shots on the far side of the swamp which was  definitely a sign of deer and  and that I made the right choice.  The cloud cover kept the sun hidden  but just before 8am it started to fight through the clouds providing that wonderful warmth that Beau loved so much.  As I stood against a tree enjoying that warmth I couldn't help but think about Beau and how much I missed him and hopped he was out in the woods enjoying the peaceful fall morning.

Beau's Buck - State Land 6 Pointer

I had realized at that moment that my wife had no idea where I was so I took out my phone and sent her a text message and as I reached to put my phone away and looked up, there was a deer coming my way at a nice clam pace.  I quickly knelt down and got my Remington 11-87 to the ready, the same gun used to shoot pheasants over Beau but this time I had the slug barrel on and my scope attached.  The deer continued to move closer and would eventually pass behind two large trees and stepping out into the opening for a clean 30 yard shot, or so I thought.  Once behind the trees, the deer disappeared and never stepped out.  I knew what was happening as the wind was swirling all over the place and that buck knew something was up.  I peaked over the gun to see his back end slowing backing up so I quickly shifted for a shot on the other side of the tree which offered little room for error thanks to the brush and smaller trees against the swamp.  The buck took two steps and turned to walk away the way he had just come as I settled the crosshairs on his chest and the Remington sent a Brenneke slug his way.  The slug connected and the buck dropped in his tracks.  Normally I would be so excited and grinning from ear to ear and sometimes even letting out a loud whoop, instead I calmly walked over to the buck, knelt down and as I rubbed his winter coat, I looked up and thanked Beau for such a wonderful gift.  The buck was a small 6 pointer and only weighed 107 pounds dressed, but he is by far my most memorable deer I ever harvested and will truly have a place in my heart and mind for ever.

I remember the day we brought you home and how you made the hurt go away. You brought so much laughter and love into our family and no matter how bad a day we had you were there to love and comfort us and make everything good again. We spent time chasing pheasants in the field and curled up together on the couch. We shared breakfast with each other as well as the same pillow some nights. 14 years makes for loads of memories and even though I was not ready to let you go, I could not stand to see you hurting. I am sure that you will find the fields full of birds , the bed as comfy as clouds and the treat bowl never ending. I love you Beau and miss you more then words can describe. I will never forget you.

Happy Thanksgiving

Thanksgiving is by far my favorite holiday.  Thanksgiving means that our Connecticut firearms deer season has been underway for a week now and knowing I have a few days off from work to get out in the woods would make anyone smile.  I love the traditional turkey dinner, but I crave a leftover turkey sandwich with my grandmothers stuffing on a fresh hard roll so much I would give up the dinner just to eat leftovers.  Thanksgiving also means that we are off to New Jersey for our annual Muzzle Loader deer camp.  12-16 guys in cabin on the top of a mountain with two full days of chasing whitetails around the woods.  Does life get any better than that?  Well 5 days of muzzle loader camp would make it better but we don't set the regulations.

I know I have so much to be thankful for this holiday season and I hope and pray that my followers do as well.  I hope everyone has a safe and happy Thanksgiving holiday and that you find time to share your passion with someone.  I know I will!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Nov. 21st Goose Hunt Report

The Admiral retrieving a goose - Good Boy!!

 
The goose season reopened in our zone yesterday and even with gun season for deer in full swing we knew we just had to hit the  farm for some shooting, especially seeing we only got two hunts in prior to the close of the first split.

The usual characters made the early morning trip to the farm on an overcast, windy but usually warm morning.  Everyone has a job to do when we get there and the trucks are barely to a stop as we jump out and get to business of unloading the decoys and building a blind.  We had 3 dozen full bodies and 2 dozen shells for this mornings hunt which is about 4 dozen too many as far as Busch Pilot is concerned.  His philosophy is the more we put out the more we have to pick up and he reminds us as we are loading up the trucks the day before and about 5 times during setup but we just ignore him.

Hero shot with a 5 man limit

With all the work done we hunkered down in the blind thinking it was going to take a while for the geese to move seeing it was overcast and windy, but we caught a flock of geese that surprised us as they flew over the far side of the field and wanted nothing to do with our spread.  Then we had a single come over the trees already committed to the spread.  We think it is the same single we've seen on the last two outings that we couldn't convince in.  This day she committed and we let Busch Pilot and Damon do the shooting with Bubba backing them up and it was a good thing Bubba was backing them up, trust me.  It didn't take long after that  when a flock was coming right down the field and committed to the decoys early as we got all excited thinking we could knock a limit out of these 25 birds only to end up producing one for the pile.  Man were we rusty.  The next flock came in and we dropped a couple more, but still our shooting was off, but it improved on the next to volleys and we had a a 5 man limit and it was only 7:34am.   The birds kept coming so we frantically hurried about the task of  tearing the blind down and getting  the spread picked up and  out of the field so the birds could just pile in hopefully making for a good hunt on Friday.

Damon's showing off his bling!

These geese wanted in and we were obviously on the X and could have left our calls at home, but we used them just to give the geese a fighting chance.  Damon got his first band which was a special treat, especially seeing he just started goose hunting this year.  The bird was banded in CT back in 2008 and obviously sticks around the area.

As usual, time in the blind, however short, was filled with lots of laughs and good times with friends as we share the passion.

Connecticut Youth Day Deer Hunt Success

I wish I was reporting on my daughter's deer hunting success but she is down in Florida spending some time with Mickey and friends and enjoying the warm weather.  I think 10 days without power was too much for my wife and daughter so they are soaking up the sun and fun while I hold down the fort.  Don't feel bad for me as I will heading down to NJ in a few weeks for our annual Muzzle loader camp - woods and cold over sun and sand.  I'll take it every time.

Connecticut offers many youth hunter training days where it allows licensed youth hunters to get a jump on their season and get a little hunting in without the crowds of the regular season.  All youth hunters are required to be licensed, which means passing a hunter education course and to be accompanied by a licensed adult.  Only the youth hunter is allowed to hunt while the adult is there to mentor and teach.  I am a huge fan of these youth training days and have been taking advantage of them with my kids and their friends for 8 season now and these days are by far the best thing for the future of hunting.  There are those that complain about them as not being fair to let the kids out before the rest of us and for them I say in my best Sargent Hulka (Stripes) voice - "Lighten up Francis!"

Tired, cold, and ready for some lunch.

Connecticut offers 2 youth deer hunt days on the 2 Saturdays before the start of gun season.  I was fortunate enough to take my daughter out on the first one.  We were still battling power outages from the storm Alfred but we got our gear together anyway and made the best of it.  I decided to hunt state land that day and thanks to the storm damage, I was unable to get to my first spot, so we turned the truck around and headed to a spot closer to home.  IT was a cold day and I didn't think we would last long be we made it until about 11:30.  We had plenty of fresh sign, especially around the tree tops that fell in the storm.  It was like a lunch line of track around them.  We also found a few fresh scrapes that could have been made overnight seeing we had a really bright moon that night.  Even though we didn't see any deer, we had some laughs and enjoyed ourselves.  My daughter was playing with an acorn and wanted to taste it and of course her trying to get it apart was worth a few laughs but when I told her she was a knuckle head and she turned to me with a wide grin with acorn between her fingers and said "No, I'm a nut!" I just lost it and knew it was time to go take a walk because if there was anything around us it was sure to run with all that laughter.


Bubba's son James aka Little Bubba, was also out hunting that morning and they too were met with a uneventful morning but that would change for Little Bubba during the second youth hunting day.  Bubba's youngest just turned 12 days prior to the second youth day and was finally able to hunt.  So Busch Pilot and Bubba took both James and Jared out for a morning hunt to a piece of private land we hunt.  James had a nice buck come bounding off the hill but when he tried to move into position the buck spooked and ran towards hos brother Jared.  The buck stayed low so Jared never got a look at it.  As Busch Pilot put it, "well at least we saved Jim from a taxidermy bill.".    That was the only deer around that morning.  On the way home they had seen many deer out feeding in the grass fields so Bubba decided that for the afternoon hunt they would hunt over a grass field on a different piece of property.

Little Bubba with his buck 2011 CT Youth Deer hunt

Jared decided that hunting once a day was enough for him so he stayed home and Bubba and James headed up the road for an evening hunt.  The blind of choice this evening consisted of sitting under a old flatbed truck.  Now don't laugh until you try it.  This flatbed has served purpose as a blind on many occasions very successfully I might add.  Well with about 30 minutes of light left James said he say a deer in the brush across the field and lost it.  about 15 minutes later it was out in in the open in a small field just off the big grass field.  Bubba wanted to get it on film so he hurried to get the video camera on and as soon as the camera was on and the buck in few he gave James the okay to shoot and before he could finish getting the words out of his mouth the 30-30 barked and the spike buck dropped in it's tracks.  The shot was on the video but it happens really fast.  My favorite line from the video was "your brother is not going to be happy!", but even if Jared was a little disappointed he was still happy and willing helped with the skinning later that night.   This was James' second buck and he shot his first last year during a youth hunt that you can read about HERE.

Here is a short video clip of Little Bubba's hunt.  Remember it happens quick.




The smiles on the kids faces make everything right in the world and with the sport of hunting.  There is something about taking a youngster out in the woods and sharing your knowledge and passion for our great sport of hunting.  I'd give up shooting myself if every day was youth day.

Tis the season to get out and share the Passion!

In Honor of Veteran's Day

Veterans day observance is Friday November 11th, 2011 and it is a time for all of us to remember those that have served our country and continue to serve today to help maintain our freedom and protect our rights to Life, Liberty and the Pursuit of Happiness.

On the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918 an armistice between Germany and the Allied nations came into effect. On November 11, 1919, Armistice Day was commemorated for the first time. In 1919, President Wilson proclaimed the day should be "filled with solemn pride in the heroism of those who died in the country’s service and with gratitude for the victory". There were plans for parades, public meetings and a brief suspension of business activities at 11am.

In 1926, the United States Congress officially recognized the end of World War I and declared that the anniversary of the armistice should be commemorated with prayer and thanksgiving. The Congress also requested that the president should "issue a proclamation calling upon the officials to display the flag of the United States on all Government buildings on November 11 and inviting the people of the United States to observe the day in schools and churches, or other suitable places, with appropriate ceremonies of friendly relations with all other peoples."

An Act (52 Stat. 351; 5 U. S. Code, Sec. 87a) was approved on May 13, 1938, which made November 11 in each year a legal holiday, known as Armistice Day. This day was originally intended to honor veterans of World War I. A few years later, World War II required the largest mobilization of service men in the history of the United States and the American forces fought in Korea. In 1954, the veterans service organizations urged Congress to change the word "Armistice" to "Veterans". Congress approved this change and on June 1, 1954, November 11 became a day to honor all American veterans, where ever and whenever they had served.

We shouldn't need an official day to remind us of the sacrifice of our service men and women along with their familes have made, but we do so please take some time out of your day on Friday to thank them.

To all our veterans and current service men and women I thank you for everything you have done and continue to do for us and our great country.  I will never forget the sacrifice of our service men and women and their families. May God Bless them and keep them safe.

THANK YOU FOR YOUR SERVICE!

 

Early Season Waterfowl Recap

Our September resident goose season was a bust for us. We struggled to find geese in our normal haunts and with all the rain we had the corn fields were too wet to cut. We jumped around between 4 or 5 spots and never fired a shot. The highlight or should i say low light, of the September goose season was a trip to a local pond where my daughter and I got into a yellow jacket next when setting up for an evening hunt. It wasn't pretty as my daughter got stung 17 times as we tried to beat feet out of there. She has refused to go goose hunting until the snow flies. The only good thing about the lack of geese was we were loaded up with ducks. Lots of wood ducks, teal and plenty of Mallards and hopefully they would stick around for the duck opener.

Thanks to all the rain we had more water then we needed

We have a split waterfowl season here in CT and in the northern zone our 10 day season started on October 12th and Bubba, Busch Pilot and Myself were welcoming in the season in our favorite local swamp. We had lots of wood ducks early, a small group of geese and even a couple flocks of mallards. It would have been a spectacular day if we had remembered how to shoot. We really stunk the joint up and only manage 2 Mallards and plenty of ducks left untouched and smarter. We continued to hunt the local watering holes and while seeing plenty of ducks, some serious shooting for some of our crew but little to show for it.

Busch Pilot, Myself, Damon and Bubba with our limit

When we got the call that the farm we hunt started cutting the corn with just days left in the early goose season it was like receiving that special gift on Christmas morning, you know the one that you just had to have and Santa delivered. We headed out to the farm made a make shoft blind for the 5 of us and settled in for what we hoped would be a good shoot.  The geese were flying early and there were lots of them except they were headed off to another field.   After about an hour of watching about 400 to 500 geese fly by us with barely a look, we got a flock interested and when they made there final decent inot the spread we let out our frustration and dropped 3 geese right off the bat.  We picked away at some smaller groups of geese over the next hour to come one short of a 5 man limit and we were packed up and on our way to breakfast at 9:30am.  The boys decided to hunt the following Tuesday which was the last day of the first season and they had a 4 man limit by 7:30am and then sat at the barn and watched flock after flock land in the field.  Hope they stick around for the second opener.

We have a couple of youth deer hunt days mixed in over the next two weekends and duck opens back up soon as does our rifle/shotgun deer season.

Bubba Day dreaming about Green Heads

Busch Pilot doing his best to hide

Bubba the pack mule

View from the goose blind

Busch Pilot retrieving decoys

Team Empty Hull goose pile.

The X

Hannah napping in the blind

No ducks to retrieve this hunt, so she was retrieving the decoys

Sunny Rise over the swamp

Storm Alfred - October 2011

We had record snow fall in January with over 50 inches for the month, A tornado that left a 9 mile stretch of destruction and passed just 9 miles from my house and hammered my son's college campus, Hurricane Irene, lots and lots of rain and now a Nor'easter in October. I'm not sure what's next but I can tell you one thing for sure, I plan on taking every single weather report seriously from here on out. Connecticut had almost 900,000 customers without power and for many of us it looks like it is going to be a while before it gets restored.I was without power after Irene for a week and Alfred sure left much more damage in it's wake.With all the leaves still on the trees and wet heavy snow, trees and branches didn't have a chance.The family and I are planning on a long cold week but thankful it wasn't any worse.

Video from around the house 

Video of my driveway - Took me 7 hours to get it totally cleaned up and passable

My 14 year old GSP Beau trying to stay warm

The girls doing the same

My lab Hannah loves this stuff

The Morning After

My driveway is under there somewhere.

My pines lost their branches but still standing

My maple sprung back to live