airedale

Love the attire and old Adirondack pack basket along with the rest of the equipment. Al

Have not seen anyone fishing with a cane pole in years. When I was a kid I hung out in Sylvan Beach quite a bit, back then where the canal runs into Oneida lake there was an intact concrete pier and rock break wall extension than ran several hundred yards out into the lake. It was common to see fishermen walking the pier using a cane pole jigging bucktails or sonic type jigging spoons. I love bobber fishing, nothing like the visual effect excitement of seeing a bobber sink below the surface on a good bite. I did a lot of carp fishing years ago, not with bobbers like the girl in the video. I used a slip sinker rig and whole corn for bait, sometimes a corn based dough ball. I caught some real whoppers and not many things more fun than a big carp on the end of your line. Al

One thing I notice when it rains hard the Turkeys make their way out of the woods into open areas, three hens some poults and a Tom are out in my pasture now where they have been since daylight. They can use their defense senses better to their advantage and not have them muddied up by heavy rain. Have always felt that hunting in the rain tips the scales in my favor no matter what game I am after. Al

I purchased a release a few years ago after breaking the top joint of my third finger, it will not bend and stays straight so I am pulling back on my string with two fingers. I did not think I was getting quite as smooth of a release but as time went on and with practice I got used to just two fingers, shot good enough and never used the release. I utilize the split finger draw but I am going to give the fingers under the arrow a try when I start shooting later in the summer. They say you can not teach an old dog new tricks but I have found that not to be true. Al

Staying on top of the situation year around is key, do not let things get out of hand. My Rat arsenal includes just about everything that is available, if things start getting bad my main defense is traps and poison. I actually have a bigger problem with Chipmunks. It is all about getting into your feed, that is what draws them. So a good feed storage system is a good starting point. For traps I like the old fashioned wood base rat traps they work great on rats and chipmunks. The water bucket traps also are a winner, there are online videos showing how to set them up. I do not like using poisons but I will if numbers rise. I have also shot them and used dogs. I have kept on top of things and knock on wood I have not seen a single chipmunk or rat in a couple of years. Al

I may give the "Poke Salad" a try some day as I have it all over the place around here. Picking it young and a couple of good boilings and strain offs seem to be the key to make it safe for consumption. Al =========================================== How To Make Poke Salad Pokeweed can be foraged in many different places. Think beside the road, along ditches, surrounding fences, and basically anywhere where weeds tend to pop up. While the grown plant features maroon stems and berries (seen above), it’s advised to use the green leaves of a younger pokeweed during the spring when making poke salad. After being boiled (many swear by boiling the leaves twice), the toxicity is gone and the wilted leaves are drained of the water and ready to be combined with bacon grease in a skillet. They are then often finished with salt, pepper, crumbled bacon, and any other seasonings. The final dish tastes akin to sautéed spinach or mustard greens with a subtle touch of bitter earthiness. In some households, it was common to combine the sautéed greens with eggs to make a hearty scramble.

A real good video about permethrin and treating clothes to prevent tick bites.

So I do my chores around here early in the morning when it is cool getting all the stock fed and watered. If you read my fired up the incubator thread you would know I purchased 15 Royal Palm Turkey poults, they are kept down in my barn on the floor in a large brooder cage. When I walk in the door I am treated like a rock star as they know they will be getting their morning treat of dried meal worms and they are very vocal and raising hell until they get them. Well I had the overhead barn door open as I needed to get a bail of bedding that was outside and the turkey brooder cage is right in front of it so they can see outside. So as I am finishing up out in back of the barn with the other animals I hear those little poults yakking up a storm, I went inside to see what was going on, and in the doorway was one of the local wild hen turkeys with her poults having a conversation with the Royal Palm poults. Apparently she heard them RP poults living it up with all the chatter they do when they get those meal worms and went to the front of the barn to see what was going on. She took off when she saw me and a couple of hours later she and her poults were up in back of my house on the shooting range grubbing for grasshoppers. Interesting morning. Al

For now one can still buy all reloading components and have them shipped to your door. Al

I am not much of an archery hunter these days but on occasion I like getting out in the woods on a nice autumn day with my pretty much vintage equipment. I still use the old Bear razor heads on Easton aluminum shafts. Al

Those Browing heads were real Doozys, LOL! Al

I see in many of these old photos the hunters used double barrel shotguns to take Deer, most likely using Buckshot for ammo. Al

Happy 4th all!

Congratulations Eddie.

I try my best to match my scopes to the gun and cartridge it is chambered in and also to the game being hunted along with the terrain-habitat the hunts take place. These days my Deer hunting is done in big woods and shot distances that are what I would call short, under 100 yards most times. I like trying and shooting different calibers and rifle-handgun types, all of the ones I own with a good bullet and proper shot placement will get the job done. Hardly any stand hunting for me, I am on the move and like fast handling, light weight, shorter length rifles. The scopes on most of my woods Deer guns are also compact light weight of low power with large fields of view, straight 2.5X, 3X, and 1x4 and 1x5 variables. I do have large high powered scopes but they reside on varmint and target rifles for the most part, some of my rimfire rifles I use for Squirrels have some high powered scopes. A squirrel peeking around a tree trunk just exposing it's head makes for some precession shooting so some high power comes in handy for those kinds of shots. It is all about how you hunt, what you like and have confidence in to make the shot. Al

I know a couple of guys that make big batches up in a 5 gallon bucket, they dip their boots, socks and pants up to the knees in the permethrin solution, wring out the excess back into the bucket and hang everything on a line to dry. They will use a spray bottle for above the knees on their pants especially around the waist and will also spray their shirts hats and coats while on the line and let them air dry. Al

I know the Gordon's brand is used straight on farm animals and is safe and I know some people use it diluted on dogs. I use permethrin cattle tags on my dog's collars instead of and like a flea collar for quite a few years now, any flea and tick problems vanished. Al People also ask Can you use Gordon's Permethrin 10 on dogs? Benefits: Effective insect control on animals - Permethrin 10% can be used on dairy and beef cattle, sheep, goats, swine and poultry. Plus, it is labeled for effective control of insects on horses and dogs. Can you spray Permethrin 10 on dogs? Martins Permethrin 10% may be used to treat dogs over 12 weeks of age for fleas, ticks, mange, and lice (do NOT apply permethrin products on cats). Per the product label, you should mix 8 oz. in 12. 5 gallons of water, which would break down to 0.

A quick video showing how to make a spray similar to Sawyer's for a whole lot less money. I use this formula and it has worked well. Al

Another kind of off the wall competition is rod and reel distance casting tournaments, with specialized equipment the distances achieved are amazing. Al

Never knew there were flight competitions. My first home had large agriculture fields off my back yard, close to 500 yards deep. I had both a rifle and archery range set up there and we did a little archery shooting to see how far our arrows would fly out of the then new compound bows compared to our old recurves. Entertaining for sure and I will say the over a mile record was safe. Al

The Royal Palm Turkey poults are coming along nicely and so are the Geese. Al

Learned something new, I have this pokeweed plant growing all over the place on my property and especially so along my pasture fences where birds who apparently eat the berries crap when perched on the fence wire. I have seen no evidence of any animals eating the plant itself. I have spent a lot of time mowing and using a weedeater on this stuff to get rid of it to no avail. Come to find out the leaves on this plant are very good eating when properly prepared, a popular Southern dish called poke salad which I have heard of is supposed to be delicious. There is a bit of work getting prepared for eating as there are some poisonous compounds that have to be leached out. There are plenty of youtube videos with recipes and instructions on how to safely prepare for eating, will give it a try sometime and maybe I will like it. Al

Wow!, That is some rack for sure. Al

I still use them, Easton Gamegetters and XX75s in 2016s and 2018s for the bows I shoot, they are really good arrows for what I do. Al