Uncle Nicky

Wild hog sausage topped with peppers, onions, and mozzarella cheese. Side of spaghetti and a garden salad. Mommas at work, just me and the pooches.

In response to the "What's Wrong with Shooting Young Bucks" thread, I also ask, what is wrong with shooting a 1-year old male turkey in the spring season?

Not the bad guy, more like the argumentative guy. But to answer your question, on the topic of individual opinions vs solidarity as hunters and gun owners, in the big picture, staying united is much more crucial.

Again, with the apples to oranges metaphors....the topic is about shooting a bedded lion, not about choosing to defend one's self in the event of a home invasion. I'm not surprised that a British newspaper is scrambling to fill content and sell advertising 8 years after the fact with sensationalism, but for a supposedly quasi-intellectual hunting celebrity to allow his "brand" to hang a hunter following the law out to dry is pretty sad, and a little elitist, IMHO. Hunting laws are in place to keep us honest, and are based partly on tradition and partly on common sense; to disparage anyone who is following the law because their ethics and traditions don't fall in line with yours is also elitist. As usual, we don't want to stick together, which will eventually be the death of our sport.

Right outside of Savannah.

Here's some pictures of my weekend jaunt to coastal Georgia. I brought a first-time hunter and co-worker with me, he made this old man proud. We each killed 2 hogs Saturday and turkey hunted Sunday (no luck). Carried a puppy back home for a fella near Harrisburg PA as a favor. Heading back next week to turkey hunt, I probably should just move there.

Apples and oranges comparison, IMO. Everything I can see is that the man shot the lion fair & square, at least according to his ethics. Who proclaimed Steve Rinella or his website judge, jury, & executioner? I haven't been in the union since 1998, so know idea what that is supposed to mean. For someone who has such a man-crush on Steve Rinella, you are dead wrong. He absolutely DID have a television show on one of the outdoor channels, I have no idea now if he still is on TV or not.

Yeah, I don't follow much of these "celebrity" TV hunters, especially since Verizon cut the outdoor channels from their lineup where I live. I always read on these forums what a great guy Steve Rinella is, down-to-earth, eats what he kills, bringing us back to the "real" reason we should hunt, blah, blah, blah....But calling out other hunters publicly is sad. If I had any respect for the man, it's gone now.

It is hard enough to cock the string in a crossbow, I can only imagine the problems that would be involved in a "self-cocking" crossbow. Also wonder how accurate these would be?

I think most of us prefer the excitement of hunting spring birds in the woods, listening to a lovesick tom gobbling his head off to your calls and sneaking his way in. But some days, sitting in a nice dry tent blind on the edge of a field makes the most sense. Decoys have gotten more realistic, and birds have gotten educated. My experience says use or buy the best and most realistic decoys you can find. If you think it through, spooked birds make sense. Suppose you walked into a bar, and a hot looking Momma across the room yells, "Hey big boy, come talk to me". You pick up your drink, work your way through the crowd, and 10 yards away your "date" looks like a store mannequin or blowup sex doll??? Wouldn't you turn & run also? Point is, your decoys have to look (and even move a little) like a real bird if you want success with decoys.

Smartest/toughest birds I ever hunted were on public land, either Florida swamps or PA/NY mountains. Educated birds = smart birds.

9, I may sound like I am bragging, but I have put my time in the last 15 years, and feel like I have a pretty good handle on what birds like & don't like to hear. If I was REALLY good with a mouth call I'd say 9.5 But, and this is a BIG but, I really don't call a whole lot. It's all about sounding like a hen (or sometimes a gobbler) in the spring, or a hen, poult, or gobbler in the fall, and knowing when to just clam up.

Chicken with mustard cream sauce, and spaetzles. I really like this recipe, I have to remind myself to try it with rabbit, pheasant, or squirrels and maybe wild mushrooms next fall.

They don't die that easily. I'd never consider taking a bow on a paid hunt.

I wish I could add something positive, but it seems like every year they are coming out with something new, and the vests I've liked are no longer in production. I'd look for a vest that fits your style of hunting. If you're not walking far or sitting with the vest on, just get something basic. For the way I hunt, I need LOTS of pockets, a THICK cushion to sit on, and a BIG pouch in the back to carry a bird on the days I get lucky. Hope this helps.

Venison goulash tonight, the real deal with caraway seeds and sour cream.

It does not matter who I buy a gun from, the last 6 shotguns I bought (all brand new) went back to the factory for some adjustment or another. Best to buy it in the summer, work all the bugs out, and the inevitable shipment back to the factory. But the answer is it could take a couple months, in some cases. Hope you get it back soon!

I've lived here most of my life, I am glad things are finally starting to turn around. Nothing is etched in stone yet, but the momentum is now in place. I have never understood the mindset of most of the people who live here, traditions, no matter how silly or outdated, are treated like gospel, and many are so reluctant to any type of change that it becomes laughable. But most of the old-timers (I'm one myself) are losing their say, and the younger generation sees through this. I welcome PA finally coming into the 21st century.

A lot of what I do ay my job is HR related, and I do tax returns as a side business....I talk to a lot of people who are retiring, retired, or thinking of retiring. There really are some people who enjoy working, and some who really had no outside interests or hobbies beside work...they are practically scared of what life will be like once they don't have a job to go to anymore. There are also some who live in an area or have a lifestyle that they know they won't be able to survive on their small savings and partial SS, so they work until they are forced out or they can't continue any further. I'm grateful that probably won't be my fate.

Good hatch last year in most places in the Northeast, things should be looking up.

B-I-N-G-O!! This topic has been on my mind a lot, since 62 isn't that far away. If you do take payments at 62 (tempting), then you are limited to how much you can make if you do decide to work. In my case, if I start collecting at 62 and my wife does too, that equates to about $30,000 in SS payments. Plus a part time job (both) up to the limits, roughly $30,000 more. If we relocate to somewhere with a cheaper cost of living it's doable, but things will be tight. I'd hate to start dipping into savings & investments or going the reverse mortgage route that early in the game. And, if one spouse dies early, the SS income (and part-time job income) then gets reduced in 1/2. That could be extremely tough. I'd also need to buy my own medical insurance out of the meager earnings, since Medicare doesn't kick in until age 65, and most part-time jobs don't offer medical insurance. Like most people these days, we don't have a defined benefit pension from an employer. As long as we are both reasonably healthy, I'll probably wait until 65 to collect, that way I can at least get some break with the health insurance and can work a full time job if I want without being penalized. Not as much as waiting to 70 to max out, but I don't see myself working that long, at least by choice. So many unknowns....

I've turkey hunted in VA, both spring & fall. Not really all that different than NY or PA, lots of birds in some areas, not so many in others. Flatlands & mountains, take your pick. I DO like that the season opens so early, and the last 2 weeks you can hunt all day. WMAs get pounded hard. Quantico & AP Hill have good bird numbers, but you have to jump through a lot of hoops to get on the base & hunt. If you have permission on any property on the Northern Neck, you are really in luck. Hope this helps.

I took the dogs for a walk at the ballfield, that is the extent of my outdoor activity yesterday. The rest of the day I was chained to a desk working on tax returns, that is my life for the next 2 1/2 months. I WILL sneak out for a week and head to Georgia to turkey hunt in early April, work be damned.

Please don't see this as a poke at you, because I am sometimes guilty of it myself, but I truly worry that we are automating and robotizing (is this a word?) out of existence. Foreign contractors from India coming to take our office jobs, Mexicans taking our blue collar jobs, and self-serve cashiers & kiosks taking retail positions. Driverless cars to transport goods = driving jobs going away. The whole time our population (US citizens) continues to grow, what are these people of the future going to do for work? I read that at some point it will be cheaper to just send the masses a free check to live on rather than go to work, again, maybe a tinfoil hat theory, but still a little scary.

Fried catfish, rice pilaf, and spaghetti squash. Not the most colorful meal I ever made, but it sure was tasty, not a morsel left on my or Mrs. Uncle Nicky's plate. These days, I don't put tartar sauce on my fried fish, just lemon and some hot sauce.