airedale

I am chopping at the bit, going to clean some fish the way I did when I was a kid, no filleting, just gutting and scaling. Picked up an cordless electric scaler, hope it works as well as the old corded job I used many years ago. Al

Two good scores Wolc.

I would be carrying on doing the same as I always have. Al

A flock of nine showed up this morning roaming in my pastures, glad to see they made it through a pretty rough winter, they are tough birds for sure. Al

For bushcraft and camping it would be tough to beat. Al

Every now and then I watch farming shows on youtube from different foreign countries, I find the videos from Asia especially interesting as they use some pretty primitive techniques and tools and still get tremendous results. Two of the most indispensable tools they use constantly are a couple of knives, a large sickle blade and a squared off ended chopping knife, the amount of use these knives get and the tasks they perform with them are something and I was impressed. So much so that I decided to get one of each and give them a try for tasks both on the farm and in hunting situations making blinds and clearing brush and branches. They will replace my 40 year old machete that has gotten a bit long in the tooth. Al

Hey that is pretty nice, he looks good on your wall.

One of the worst winters ever for me, several snowfalls that measured in feet, I could not keep up with it. I have a lot of damage to contend with and will be making repairs throughout the spring. Al

Saw turkeys only once all winter, a couple paid a visit to the wife's bird feeder back in January. Had some very deep snow this winter so things had to be pretty tough on the birds. Hopefully some survived. My Royal Palms are strutting and gobbling up a storm. Al

Anyone with a half a brain can see what the problem is, loose stone in the transition to the steep paved portion, 50 yards of paving down the hill would fix the problem for the most part. Al

I go along with Coyote. Al

If I had the time and a motorhome, I always thought that a late summer all fall varmint and bird hunting safari starting in the Dakotas, winding down through the Mountain states and ending up in Texas would be great. Al

I had a pair of those Corn stalkers, like you I thought them to be very comfortable and like you I wore them out rather quickly. Al

A quick update on the Rocky Outback boots, this is the third winter I have gone through wearing these boots for chores just about every day, they have a lot of miles on them. I am surprised on how well they have held up, other than looking used, they are still comfortable and warm, they do not leak, and the soles are still in great shape. I treat them every year with the Obenauf's and I feel that has contributed to their good condition. I think if they were used just for hunting they would last many years, for me these Outbacks will go down as one of the best pair of footwear I have ever owned and especially so as they are modestly priced. Al

Good stuff! Al

"Rex," a big Airedale I had some years ago was a pretty fair Ratter, no shaking was needed with this guy, he just put the chomp into them and that would be all she wrote. Below is a photo of him with a couple of rats we got out of our hay. Al

I have messed around doing some ratting with Terriers and it is a lot of fun, I have never found them in the numbers that we see in the videos from Britain. The infestations on some of those farms is unreal. Those big rats do not go down without a fight, the Terriers get some nasty bites, a veteran ratting Terrier has plenty of scars. Back in the day of town dumps, rats could be found in big numbers crawling through the garbage and rat hunting was common, I used my car's headlights to shoot them after dark. Al

I went out and purchased another piece of equipment for snow removal and also for gardening. I found a really nice used Kubota B7500 at a really good price, it is equipped with a snowblower and a belly mower. I had one of these Kubotas and sold it when I purchased my TYM, a big mistake on my part so I remedied it. I still have my three point 4 ft Kubota tiller that works great with this tractor. Al

Ice grippers will run from $10 to as much as $75, the chain type that I like best run about $50 Al

Ice in my driveway is also a big time problem for me, I have a long driveway like you and is glare ice, I walk it every day, without those ice grips I would be slipping and sliding all over the place with a good chance of taking a tumble. I believe I purchased my current ice grips from Amazon, there are several different styles of all different prices and they all work, the big difference I have found is longevity. The ones with studs and spring type grips fell apart after a short while, these chain type I have now have been going strong for 5 or 6 years and are still holding up fine. Al

With all the snow melt everywhere I go around my place is covered with a sheet of ice making for treacherous walking, I took a bad fall on ice some years back and tore all kinds of muscles and ligaments in both legs. I can get around ok these days but I will never get back to normal. Consequently I am now extra careful when it comes to maneuvering on ice. I have tried just about everything out there and the best solution I have found are a chain type setup that slip over your footwear and held in place by strong rubber straps. The traction they give on glare ice is outstanding. If you have to do any walking on ice do not mess around, get some sort of traction grips and be safe. Al

Yes, there are several lead free 22 rimfire loadings, the problem is they do not perform well. I tried the CCI lead free some time back and they grouped lousy, the cheapest bulk ammo would outshoot it. It has got a bit better in recent years but it still does not compete with good traditional cartridges accuracy wise and the price is high. From what I have been seeing with the testing of this 21 Sharp it is running into the same problems as the regular lead free stuff and it costs a whole lot more and you have to buy a new firearm to shoot with mediocrity. Al