Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Ok, I’ll go it alone!
For the past two days Seamus and I have been biding our time waiting for the rain to subside so we can get to the grouse covert that usually holds flight birds of woodcock. (Don’t bother calling me a wuss, I admit it; it’s an age thing.)
So far, we’ve been scouting, not venturing too deep into the woods because even when it stopped raining, the trees held so much water, when it dripped from their leaves it felt as though it was still raining.
So this morning, Seamus was going hunting …with or without me. It began when he wanted me to get out of bed. It was still dark and I wanted a few more minutes to just lay there, but as usual, he got his way and after a few minutes of stumbling to put on my clothes, I put his e-collar on him and we left the cabin. At first he went through his usual routine of checking out who’s been in his driveway and the ditch along the cabin, then up the road and in and out of a couple of woodlots and back to the road. All of a sudden, his nose went up and after gathering scent, he turning toward the woods along the road, went straight in and disappeared.
As this is our usual route in the morning, I figured he’d come out in a minute as he usually does, but after a few minutes I got worried and beeped him on the e-collar. Nothing, no response. More beeps and still no response. Then a short tap on a medium setting on the collar – nothing.
I searched for a sign of where he might have gone, but nothing still. So to make a long story short, I went back to the cabin, got the Jeep and drove to the other side of the woods and sure enough, after a while, here comes Seamus, full of burrs, tongue hanging, wanting to jump in the back of the Jeep when he saw me.
The short ride back to the cabin was filled with Seamus standing on the center console, alternating between nosing me and looking out the window. He knew he messed up, but also knew he’d been forgiven.
“She Who Must Be Obeyed” wasn’t as forthcoming with her forgiveness. Not readily making up her mind who she was more mad at – me for not controlling him or Seamus for going off doing his thing – she scolded us both, but soon scratched Seamus behind his ears …me, I’m still waiting to have my ears scratched.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Better late than never.
I swear he was on point as he stood over me on my bed this morning. As we looked at each other, he whimpered slightly and when I reached up to scratch behind his ears, he just turned puppy on me and danced all around trying to get me on my feet and go downstairs. I got up quickly because when he gets that excited, sometimes he pees a little. Not this time, he was in control, well, sort of.
Yesterday was opening day for grouse and we weren’t there. Seamus, I think, knew that. He was on the ready to go all day yesterday and even sat by my briar pants and shooting vest in the basement as I was arraigning the canning jars on a heavier shelf.
Seamus hasn’t missed an opening day since he turned one – I go back a little further – but Sunday had us (Seamus included) participate in an Alzheimer’s walk in Brighton. The reason was sad, but the event was fun.
Seamus’ opening day will be on Friday, a few days late, but it will be just as exciting for both of us. So for the next few days, preparations will be made, equipment readied and some long walks to get rid of some of the pent up energy Seamus is displaying.
Now, where did I put that box of 20’s?
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Time to check the larder!
Ok, crunch time! Time to take inventory of what’s in the larder and make plans to replenish: Venison, grouse, pheasant, goose, duck and don’t overlook rabbit and squirrel. ….Don’t bother to turn your nose up at one or all of these tasty morsels, if you haven’t tried it, you don’t know what your scoffing at.
The freezer needs to be emptied and room made for this year’s harvest just as the canning shelves have to be sorted through to use up the old before the new gets put up. So far, I’ve managed to can pickles, corn, green beans, tomatoes and peaches. Over the next few weeks, I’ll add Brussels sprouts, apples and apple sauce and maybe cauliflower.
This isn’t just about eating. The fur and feathers of game taken will replenish the tying material compartments of my desk and provide for patterns to be tied over the winter.
It’s all good.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Fire!
It’s time for a fire. It’s not that it’s cold or snowing or even time to turn on the furnace, it’s just time for a fire. The signal is when windows get shut because there is just a little chill in the air, then even a small fire in the fireplace is, as they say, comfort food for the eyes, and every other sense.
Too, fire has a smell that acts as a catalyst for thoughts and remembrances: It makes you think about returning to the cabin after a day’s hunt, drying out after getting caught in an autumn rain, dark looking back at you at 6 pm, and gives off a feeling of comfort and safety; the wolves will be kept away. Throw on a pine knot and the only thing that could make the experience better is “two fingers of your favorite bourbon.”
It’s all good!
TD.
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
“Sweet 20”
Red Label 20 gauge O/U
When I was a kid, I used to hear people talk about their “sweet 16’s”. All gun manufacturers made 16gauge shotguns and they were not only lighter than a 12 gauge, but they were sleek and packed almost the same punch. They were somehow given the designation of being tough yet delicate and just as reliable for most types of hunting requiring a shotgun. Twenty gauges were considered too light for pheasants and generally thought of as a kid’s or “little ladies” gun. Today, with the modern loads, a 20 gauge is as effective as a 16, and in most cases, a 12 gauge.
Though 16 gauge shotguns were common, it was the Browning 16 gauge that was most often referred to as the “sweet 16.”
Unlike the days when one gun was considered enough for all types of hunting, today, most people have several ….and I’m no exception. I’m reluctant to admit to exactly how many shotguns I own – no sense worrying “She Who Must Be Obeyed” – but suffice it to say, I’m not shotgun poor. Having said that and despite occasionally cleaning and admiring my collection, when it comes right down to it, I use one gun almost exclusively. My Ruger Red Label 20 gauge is my gun of choice and accompanies me both in the field as well as on the skeet range despite the barrels being improved cylinder and modified.
A few years ago I was invited to a wild game dinner at the local country club and bought a few tickets for a raffle of several nice guns. Luck was in my pocket that night and I won a beautiful Franchi over and under20 gauge with gold inlays. Holding that gun by its fine European walnut stock lets the workmanship shines through both in the engraving and the checkering of the stock. I’ve owned this gun now for a few years and have yet to fire one shell through it – it hasn’t even had a shell in the chamber. There are other guns too, 12’s, a “sweet 16”, 20’s of all types, but the Red Label is what you’ll find me with afield.
I read once where the writer found himself in the same dilemma as me who said the best thing you can do to avoid not using a fine shotgun, is to take it out and let it get that little scratch only you can see, and from then on, you won’t think of it other than being something made to hunt with.
I think we have that same mentality about other things too. Take a four wheel drive vehicle. A Jeep used to have the connotation of an off read vehicle -that’s what the four wheel drive was built for – but the original Jeep has been reinvented and takes on the appearance of a family sedan not meant to be scratched let alone drive through terrain it was originally built for. Part of the reason is these things cost so much more today and are made to look more like a luxury vehicle than a car to explore the back roads of rural wooded country.
Getting back to the 20 gauge, I don’t think – with the exception of duck hunting – that there is a game bird I can’t hunt with the Red Label. The modern loads are so much better than they were 35 years ago, I can reach and deliver punch almost as far as with a 12. The big difference, of course, is the pattern density. But with practice and an understanding of the different chokes, even that can be overcome.
The new problem we shot gunners have is how to afford the ammunition. It’s not cheap to go through a box or two of shells. Even sales by the case for cheap loads are twice the price they were a couple of years ago. The answer for me is to load my own.
Loading your own is not only less expensive than buying premium loads, it allows you to tune the load to your shotgun or as my friend Jack Gumbetter said, “Once you know how your shotgun spits them out, you can load to your guns preference.”…..and that can make the difference between breaking 23 or 25.
As far as I’m concerned, the 20 gage is the just right gauge for upland birds; all it needs is the proper ammunition and care and lots of use. … Seamus thinks to too.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Grousing …
In less than a week, small game season opens. In a little over two weeks, bow and arrow deer season opens too and for some unknown reason, I’ve been toying with the idea of digging out my old Bear Grizzly II compound bow.
It might be because I wasn’t successful in getting a doe permit this year, or because I’ve been asked if I was going bow hunting a lot, or it might be because I’ve been getting ads for new compounds and can’t stop shaking my head at the prices of several of the new ones. But probably, it’s because I’m cheap and figure I can make do with what I have. (Don’t bother taking up a collection for me, I think my old Grizz will do just fine if I decide to go.)
I’m being a hypocrite of course, grousing about the cost of the new compounds, it’s just that I can get a good deer rifle for the price of a new compound …or, a new fly rod – imagine paying $ 500 to $ 1,000.00 for a fishing pole when you probably have an old Wonderod in the basement. …go figure!!
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Another sad story!
For the next couple of weeks I’m going to feel like a landlocked salmon: I’m ready to make the arduous trek upstream, but can’t seem to get out of the confines of social obligations. Seamus is feeling it too. This morning with cool air blowing in the bedroom through open windows, he tried to motivate me several times, each time I ignored him, trying to get a few more minutes of sleep. Finally, the smell of fresh ground coffee brewing got me on my feet.
Week after next, I’ll be northward bound and another dilemma will present itself: do we float for big browns or head for the woods in search of bonasa umbellus? I know what Seamus is hoping for. So, why not do both?
Sometimes I think life was simpler when I was still working fulltime. Back then, every weekend was planned out with one thing in mind. Not able to do it all … well, I could always blame it on the job. Now, it’s my own fault due to poor planning …and Seamus is too good a friend to hold a grudge. (Something he had to work at: Brittanies are notorious for getting their feelings hurt and taking their time about forgiving. We’ve been a team for so long, well, he bypasses the grudge stage and goes with what’s coming.)
I’ve missed one river cleanup and will miss another but I’ll be in town to make the Paint Creek Fly Festival in Rochester – though only for a few hours. Yep, another obligation.
By now some will have tears in their eyes as they ponder my plight. Cheer up, I’ll survive. But if you see me in the Rail Side Bar and Grill in Elmira, tired looking, wearing briar pants, a red shirt and a whistle on a lanyard around my neck, just buy me a drink. I’m just taking a break from trying to make up for lost time.
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
A rose by any other name …
I just picked up an old copy of Fly Rod and Reel magazine and one of the features was the “new” technique of fly fishing Japanese style with a rod, line and a fly, no reel. It’s called Tenkara. It’s talked about in a little more detail than I’m portraying it but that’s what it is in a nutshell.
This is one of those rare times when I’m ahead of the trend and already have the equipment because somewhere back in time, fishing with a rod, line and bait of some sort was the way we all fished. In fact, the rod I’m thinking about is a bamboo rod I used when I first learned how to fish. Back in my short pant days, when fishing meant sitting on a dock, shore or in a boat holding a one piece, three section bamboo rod with a heavy cord line tied to the tip and a piece of mono-filament for a leader with an Eagle Claw hook and bobber. (I still have the pole.)
Now I know the rods being touted for this old/new technique are much more expensive (they are telescoping and light) and the line is fly line instead of a cord, but it’s still a line being slung with a fly at the end. I guess the simplicity of it will be the essence of the cost.
Give me a break!
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Count your blessings!
“She Who Must Be Obeyed” had a plaque made that reads, IF YOU’R LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE A PLACE UP NORTH; YOU’R LUCKY ENOUGH! It hangs on the wall in the main room of the cabin and I read it to myself several times a day – even pronouncing the words as I do.
There are a lot of little witticisms hanging in different places, as I’m sure most people have in their cabins or homes. Some go un-noticed, but some, at one time or another, ring true and take on a meaning.
Lately, the plaque hanging on the wall is mesmerizing and becomes more mesmerizing every time I have to pack up and go home. It serves as a reminder that, although I’d rather stay, I’m fortunate to have a place to come back to anytime I want …or can. (I’ve given up arguing about not having to leave with “SWMBO”)
Seamus, too, goes through withdrawals of sorts when he sees me packing and loading the car, so to ease his pain, we go for one last romp along the Lake Michigan shoreline where he runs for about a mile in each direction, then comes back, tongue dragging, ready to “load-up” as soon as I get the hatch open.
This trip will probably end the summer since there are obligations to be met downstate, but the return will usher in a new season with different things to do.
By the time we come back, some of the leaves will have begun to turn color, a chill will be in the morning air and Seamus will expect to be the center of activity as we search for bonasa umbellus along the river I’ve called home for the past four months.
In my younger days, I tried to do it all. Now, I read and understand: IF YOU’RE LUCKY ENOUGH TO HAVE A PLACE UP NORTH; YOU’RE LUCKY ENOUGH!
TD
Category Archives: Two Cents Worth
Are you kidding me?
I feel like a fish that’s been spotted and is being targeted by someone who decided that fish was his and he’s going to get it even if he has to blow it out of the water. The price of gas on Thursday at many gas stations Up North was 3.59 per gallon. Friday morning, that changed to 3.69 a gallon. When I asked why the 10 cent jump over night, I was told, “We raised it for the holiday weekend.” …are you kidding me? Not all stations bought into that rational, some, like in Charlevoix and Bellaire, didn’t change “for the holiday weekend.”
I keep getting the explanation that it’s “supply and demand” but I haven’t seen anyone being turned away from a pump since 1973 as long as their credit cards weren’t denied. It isn’t “supply and demand,” it’s “what ever the traffic will bare.”
That 10 cent increase doesn’t amount to a lot for a tank of gas; maybe a dollar or two. But it grinds me to think I’m being fished.
TD