wolc123

At this point, I consider the "work" of processing firewood more like "play", and having several lifetimes supply of "free" wood on-site makes it very cost-effective, compared to other heat sources.

I am very thankful for that PA chest girth chart you provided on here last November. It seems to be pretty spot-on for accuracy and saved me the expense of a scale. If I can't scrounge up enough time or reclaimed treated lumber, I may need to spring for a few new store-bought tree-stands this year and attach them to oaks, cherries, or maples. I recently cut the emerald-borer infected ash trees trees that supported 3 ancient wooden ones. It was a little sad thinking about all the venison harvested from them, but I am happy to see those trees going into the woodstove now and I am very thankful that they stood firm long enough to prevent any falls over the last 30-40 years.

As far as what we have in NY, my favorite wild game meat would be whitetail button-buck liver, followed closely by tenderloins, backstraps, and even the roasts of those extra-tender "fatted-calfs". The corn-fed ones are truly in a class by themselves, especially when cooked rare. Next would be ruffed grouse breast, which is also in a class by itself compared to any other bird I have tried. This white meat actually has lots of rich flavor, not the bland, cardboard taste of turkey or chicken. It is hard to beat squirrel in the crockpot, which I much prefer to cottontail rabbit. I have often made mixed batches and the squirrel is always the tastiest. For fish, my favorite to eat is largemouth bass, followed closely by their much harder fighting cousin, the smallmouth bass. These fish have just the right amount of oil to remain moist when baking, grilling or broiling. Perch and walleye are too dry for these healthier cooking methods and they don't put up enough of a fight to be worthy of much of my time. Fish tacos made from grilled, just barely keeper-sized bass are as good as seafood gets.

"if it ain't broke, don't fix it", describes most of the gear I use, however I am willing to part with a few dollars to try new stuff on occasion. Especially if I think it can make things significantly better or expand my options. For example, when crossbows were legalized four years ago, I purchased an entry-level model which has performed flawlessly, greatly improving my archery season success percentage. I also picked a new rifle last year (open sighted lever action 30/30), because I was lacking a proper rifle for still-hunting in rainy conditions. That one has not had much use yet. Mostly, I just use the same old stuff that has worked for years. I find that hunting (or fishing) success depends a lot less on the cost or age of your gear than it does on your relationship with He who controls the fate of all living things.

I only use the wood stove when the outside temperature is below the mid 30's for extended periods. This winter has not had too much of that, which is why we have used a little below average. It gets too hot in the house when it gets warmer outside. It sure is nice having the living area up in the 80's and seeing the heating bills get lower when it is bone chilling cold outside, thanks to that wood. I also enjoy producing the firewood. Having an almost limitless supply available on-site, and all the equipment to make it very easy, makes a big difference. When I was younger and single, I did all the splitting by hand. I do appreciate the hydraulic splitter now, and I am thankful that I let my wife talk me buying it right after we wed. At 53, my arms and shoulders never feel sore. All those impacts can not be good for the joints. Right now, I have about 10 face cords worth of trees down (all ash). I always cut the trees in the winter. If winter conditions are right (they were not this year, or the last two, when we never had more than 2" of frost in the ground), I will sometimes drag a few logs up front for processing. With mud under snow like this winter, I just leave them lay where they fall, tops and all. That way, the buds start to sprout, even though the roots are severed, speeding the drying process. On our mucky, bottom-land farm, there are only two good times for dragging logs: mid-winter on cold years and mid to late-summer every year. Mud on bark should always be avoided, because it quickly dulls chainsaws, and the ruts also damage the land. When it comes to dragging logs out of the woods on soft ground in the summer, it is hard to beat an old tricycle front tractor. It is too bad that the overabundance of lawyers these days prevents their continued manufacture. Getting your steering tires out of the same track as your drive tires makes for a softer footprint in the woods, and considerably less rutting. Forward visibility around stumps is also a lot better on a trike. When the ground is frozen, it is tough to beat a wide-front 4wd tractor with forks on the front loader and a log winch on the back. With this kind of equipment, it does not take much time or effort to knock out a years supply of wood.

I have used slightly less than average so far this winter, or about 7 face cords. On colder winters, I have used as many as 10. I try to stay 2 years ahead and keep the seasoned wood covered under a shelter or tarp. Most of what we have been burning over the last 10 years has been ash, which makes up about half the trees on the 5 acre woodlot at the back of our farm, and most of the trees in the hedgerows. The emerald ash borer is hitting them pretty hard, so it will be a long time before I can get back to burning oak or cherry. Ash makes good heat but it also lives up to its name in making lots of ash to be cleaned out of the stove. Oak and cherry make more heat and leave much less ash to be cleaned up. It is too bad that the emerald ash borer did not get here 100 years earlier, so I could be burning those "cleaner" woods now. The reason many folks like about ash, is that it will burn ok unseasoned, which can not be said for many other hardwoods. That is no advantage for those of us who always make time to season their wood.

It don't get better than that. If FSW/RWH ever tried that he might loose interest in antlers.

Finally, a president has came through the White House door and done what he said he will do. It won't be long until we are all drinking that free bubulub and drinking that rainbow stew.

Here is one that might be harder to accept: Lots of archery practice, all right or left handed, is asking for trouble as you get older, because it leads to uneven arm development (triceps on one side, biceps on the other) as well as spine and neck issues. I am extremely thankful that NY state legalized the crossbow when they did, so I have not had to deal with that issue in my fifties. In my younger days, I kept an old 30 % let-off, heavy draw weight compound around and used that to try and keep both sides in shape, doing equal number of draws, and slow releases both right and left handed. Bow hunting was always right handed though, so I really appreciate that the crossbow is legal for the peak of the rut in the southern zone and starting a month earlier up in the northern zone. That has helped out a lot in allowing me to secure all of the protein our family needs for the last 4 seasons, while not having any shoulder issues.

We bought a 6.5 hp generator after the October storm in WNY more than 10 years ago. During that storm, Our basement flooded and I learned that you can not trust a water backup sump pump. During a big wide-spread storm event such as that one, water pressure may be lost or severely reduced due to power loss at the pumping station. When water pressure falls low enough, those things put more water into your basement than they take out. They might save you if your primary pump fails under normal conditions but to me they are not worth the packaging they come in or the cost to install. A far better solution is to install a water alarm and have a backup A/C electric pump ready to install, along with a portable generator. I also tried a DC backup sump pump which lacked the capacity and endurance to keep up with a big storm. Keeping the generator ready to go is important and I do that by using it for small projects throughout the year (like string trimming areas far from the house outlets), changing the oil once a year, and keeping it filled with stabilized ethanol-free gas. 10 years later, it always starts on the first or second pull. There have only been two or three power outages that lasted longer 4 hours in the last 10 years, when I needed that generator. During those events, I ran extension cords to the freezer, sump pump, and two fridge/freezers. We get plenty of heat from our woodstove and kerosene lanterns and flashlights give us enough light.

yes

Have you tried it ? It is definitely more comfortable than trudging around thru the snow and mud with a scattergun. That don't too look fun to me.

I have been waiting for one to settle in on the 3/4 eaten deer carcass behind my bedroom window. No takers yet this afternoon. I average about 50/50 on crows with that 100 yard shot with my 10/22. It is a lot tougher when the wind is blowing. The coyotes have been very scarce this year thanks to the great trapping efforts of neighbors on each side so those remains may last thru march.

I would do it if they would let me use my crossbow.

Seeing the video of President Trump and his wife and Vice President Pence and his wife at this event yesterday was very encouraging, especially the kind words from Franklin Graham. Russia did not help put Trump into his current position, but evangelical Christians did. The power of their prayer is nothing to be scoffed at. Maybe the Hollywood elite, mainstream media, and democrats will realize that before the next election.

I wonder if Remlin will be able to keep their head above water in these troubled times. It seemed they almost had their act back together on this line anyhow. The quality and fit/finish of the brand new 336BL 30/30 I picked up last summer seems pretty good. I won't know for sure if it is a keeper until I break it in on a deer (hopefully this fall), but it does great at blowing up gallon milk jugs filled with water.

Definitely in my top 5. The Indianapolis scene that Tacks described was the best in the movie, but one of the "deleted" scenes that is on the DVD was almost it's equal. The captain and his helper went to the music store in town to buy piano wire (he used it as fishing line). A kid was nervously playing the clarinet as he stood behind him humming along with his recital. The look on that kid's face was priceless. I watched Wind River last night. It was ok but I would not rank it a top 10. It would have been better if it had been filmed where/when it was actually cold outside. You know it was not, because you could not see the people's breath and at one point a spider ran across the snow. Lot's of good tracking and gun stuff though.

About 40 years ago, I had a mishap on my way back home from checking my muskrat traps. I took a shortcut thru a building lot, where fresh snow covered thin ice over a recently excavated basement hole. I was on my dad's snowmobile (1971 Moto-ski zepher 399) pulling a sled loaded with gear. I broke thru and the water was up to my neck while standing on the seat. I managed to crawl out and quickly ran towards home, about 300 yards away. There was a 4 foot deep creek in my way and being already soaked, I ran thru it rather than running another 100 yards out of my way to get to the bridge. The air temperature was in the 20's and my body was numb below the neck. It feels very strange running when you can not feel your legs. Nobody was home when I got to the house and I went in the shower and took off the frozen clothes. I remember a lot of pain when the feeling came back into my limbs. Dad was a little pissed when he got home from work and I told him where his snowmobile was. We grabbed a few chains and drove his truck back there and yanked it out. It still worked ok after we dried it out.

I I don't see how we can expect kids to respect teachers and other adults when the media continuously bombards them with adults engaged in disrespecting and demonstrating hatred towards those who they disagree with, all the way up to and including the President of our country.

I know that feeling and I am very thankful for a wife who pushes me to hunt, for the venison. She loves that true "organic free-range" red meat. She gets grossed out when frying ground beef on the stove, watching the fat grizzle out of it. She makes some great meals for our family from the deer and fish that I kill. The apple don't fall far from the tree and her mother cooks equally well. I am also very thankful for her and I always look forward to hunting and fishing trips up to the in-laws Adirondack retirement home. Great eating, and world class scenery add more to those trips than words can describe. I do see that the trophy hunter has to work much harder to keep the wife happy than the meat hunter. My wife is less than thrilled with taxidermy bills or with giving up wall space for more shoulder mounts. Her folks seemed happy to hang my last one, which is only fitting since I killed it at their place. It's cost was more than compensated for by all the free room and board that they provide our family up there. I may try the painting class, or something similar, if I ever get another real big one at home. My wife is never happier than when I bring home a button buck. She is ok with smaller antlered bucks and medium sized ones who's "free" skull plates or euros end up in our basement or garage.

I am not so sure about that. I spent 4 of the last 5 Memorial day weekends up in the NW Adirondacks without suffering a single black fly bite. I never even used any insect repellant. Most of my time outside was spent on a lake that was loaded with fish which may have something to do with that. Good choice, you are less than 10 minutes from Buttermilk falls, which is a free "natural" attraction that your kids will love. I remember the Adirondack museum in Blue Mt being a little pricey and that is about 30 minutes away.

We took our kids up there when they were about that age. Their favorite spot was Buttermilk falls, which is just upstream on the Racquet River from Long Lake (actually not a lake but a "wide" spot on the river). They liked it so much that they still talk about it, almost 10 years later. The falls are just a short hike from the main highway. The kids had lots of fun jumping between the rocks at the base. I can not think of any finer scenery in the lower 48.

It would certainly stop the gun purchases of some law-abiding folks. They are not the ones who use the guns for crimes however.

Arming some teachers and staff seems like it would be a cost-effective step in the right direction. Those folks should get some type of bonus, but due to the increased frequency of school attacks lately, many would volunteer to do it for no additional compensation. Besides more bang for the buck, they would offer additional advantages over armed security guards. They could be put into place quickly. Some may already be there, especially pistol permit holders in states like NY which already have tough gun laws. They already have a feedback system in place to provide clues of where and from whom danger might be expected. The bad folks are going to be a lot less likely to strike, not knowing who may be armed, than they would against students who are protected by a known and lesser number of security guards.

Thankfully, it is very good. I probably hear 3 deer first for every one that I see first. That is a big help up in a stand for getting my gun or crossbow in position to make the shot. I always wear hearing protection while shooting firearms on the range except with the bb/pellet guns with which I do the bulk of my target practice. We have all been required to use hearing protection at work over the last (3) years, and it seems like my hearing has gotten better over that time. The nurse at the hearing test remarked that my hearing was very good compared to most whom she had measured. I use it like radar when hunting, and would definitely have to alter my technique without it.