GreenDrake

Prayers brother

Nice bird down at 5:49 this morning. 9.5 inch beard...1” spurs..They were hot. Group of 8 2 yr olds. Came in so hot nephew couldn't get to his off side for a double. There had to be 12 different gobblers going within 75 yards at one time. Fog was heavy. It was neat seeing them run in through the fog.

I killed 75 percent of my turkeys with 2 3/4 inch high velocity #4 loads before I was compelled to buy “turkey” loads. Flattened them Plenty

Get yourself a BAR iin 30-06 and keep the ammo. It kicks like a 20 ga and is a tack driver.

I have killed most of mine early season. I think a lot depends on how much pressure a particular area gets as the season unfolds. I had some easy kills the last week, but I am usually fly fishing the Delaware as much as possible the second half of May.

I love the upper west. It is where I spend most of my time. I love the entire system but always gravitate to the upper west. I remember when no one fished it and would all clamber down below. I also loved fishing above there West Branch Angler is before it existed. Now you need to take a ticket to get a place to fish, let alone the drift boats all day long.

My shop was in Oneida County. It is no longer. I closed it in 2005. My law practice was too demanding to keep the hobby at that point.

Solo out of my shop.

Prior to practicing law I owned a small fly fishing shop and built custom fishing rods. I commuted to law school so I could continue building rods for several other shops and most of the steelhead shops in Pulaski. I would study until 10 pm...build rods until 1:00 am...then deliver rods before or after my commute. On weekends I guided steelhead fisherman and in the Spring I guided on the Delaware river. I kept building rods while practicing law until 2006. Did it for 15 years. Now I only build fly rods for family and dear friends and of course my personal obsessive collection.

Attorney. Solo practitioner.

Pan Broiled walleye...lebanese lentils and rice...braised carrots.

He is a handsome buck. Unless you have several older in the area, he is hitting the turf.

I find it wholly offensive, self-serving and irresponsible for any politician to point fingers at the administration in a time like this. This is an unprecedented situation and everyone is doing the best that they can under the circumstances. I wonder if Congress would have passed legislation during the last 10 years approving the provision of tens of thousands of respirators and PPE in the event of a future need? I seriously doubt it. We as a society have been blessed in the past with not having to worry about something like this because it was not reasonably foreseeable. Our society has evolved into live for today and make sure there are enough handouts to satisfy the current needs and "entitlements" In the past, those who worried about days like these were labeled doomsday freaks. It is time everyone stops the bullsh--t, prays for each other and most importantly, abide by the simple guidelines available to us in the hopes of protecting themselves and each other. Unfortunately, our free society lends itself to selfish behavior at the expense of others.

Filet with sautéed onions...baked potato and Sautéed dandelions from last spring.

But it would certainly expose more to the virus somewhere along the way. I like the idea of retrofitting new places within the hot spots with equipment needed to treat than to ship patients to low or nearly unaffected areas and leave some resources for the local areas. Let us not forget, people are still having strokes...heart attacks.....ruptured appendixes, etc. Equipment and resources are needed for those people as well. It is just a very scary situation.

My one concern from yesterdays news briefing here in Oneida County is how Cuomo stated that "there is no upstate...and no downstate" and if beds are needed, patients from the affected areas WILL be transferred to Utica and beyond. Though I would never relish the thoughts of refusing medical treatment for those in need, why transport patients to less affected areas and use all the resources (which are VERY limited) when the whole idea is containment? It is a really difficult issue.

With the Court System shut down until no sooner than April 30, I have been in a scramble here at the office. I had dozens of court appearances and three trials scheduled for the next 45 days and now I do not know when they will ever be re-scheduled. The most difficult part has been notifying (unhappy) clients and witnesses who have been subpoenaed for weeks. I can manage to get work done, but as 90% of my practice is litigation, there is only so much work that can be done until the Court schedule resumes. It is going to be very difficult times ahead. I wish everyone well.

2 years ago I killed 21 on our 70 acre parcel. They ate one of my box blinds down to the studs. I even clubbed one that was in one if my blinds when I climbed in. They are nasty critters. My wife takes the cake. She sat in the “ porcupine” stand one afternoon with her camera and a set if Nikon binos. One y the ladder snd thought it was going to come inside. Well...wife and Nikons won. They are now proudly displayed around the neck of a buck I killed that same day.

I bought 3 of the new Browning A5s last year. A Deluxe in 3” , a Wicked Wings snd a Stalker both in 3.5”. All 3 had ejection problems, even with hot 11/8 oz loads. This has been a BIG problem with the new A5s. Sent the Stalker back and they replaced the bolt face with a new design. They will be sending new bolt faces for the other 2. I hope it works. I bought them for Crows and pigeons and they get quite a workout. If anyone is experiencing problems Browning apparently has a fix.

To go or not to go in the morning.....its going to be quite chilly....but the crows will be hungry!!!

I have called them in. They are pretty easily distinguishable, especially if vocal. There are very few ravens in my main area. Where I hunt deer in the NZ there is a large family of Ravens. They drive us nuts. The noises they make range from eerie to comical.

They are a pitiful group. It is sad to see what our country's politics has come to. We are the laughing stock of the world right now. And you wonder why some countries do not want a “democracy”?

Got out late this morning. Too much snow for usual areas. Sat in a corn bunker. Killed 15 crows using mouth calls and no decoys. Got 23 pigeons. Could have shot more pigeons but I was working crows and didn’t want to scare them off.

Beautiful morning. Hunted solo. Killed 18. Not a lot of birds flying this morning but many that came in did so nice and low. Even managed a couple doubles. I love when 2-3 come in and not a whole bunch at once.

I own several vintage Lord Elgin, Hamilton, Benrus snd similar watches. Can get some beauties for under $300. They are usually 21 jewel wind up watches but keep incredible time.