Buffleheads

Setup on an unnamed location for a morning hunt for the first hunt of the year at this spot.  Saw some geese and some high flying mallards. ended up taking a male Bufflehead diving duck which was the first one I have ever shot.  By far, one of the coolest looking birds I have ever seen.  Love the cool mohawk that this bird sports.  Saw some more Buffleheads, but just wanted this one. 

December Pheasants

Pheasant hunting on public land with a few friends, a German Shorthair and some cool December weather.

2013 South Dakota Pheasant Hunting

Cooper and I went on a pheasant hunting trip to South Dakota with our friends Brad and Christine and their German Shorthair Pointer, Roxie.  We leased a 1200 acre farm and rented a house in Hoven, South Dakota to hunt wild pheasants for four days.  I had been out to South Dakota a few years ago with my wife and Cooper and we had an absolute blast.  She couldn't make the trip this time, but I wanted to get Cooper out (at least) one more time while he was in his prime.

 

 We had an awesome trip, but the hunting was definitely tough.  The overall bird numbers were down in South Dakota this year and this farm gets hunted by a different group of hunters each week.  We saw a lot of hens and much fewer roosters and the birds were highly educated and wily this late in the season.  We saw many birds that just seemed to flush just outside of shotgun range and the birds that came up in range were fast and tough.  Every bird we got was earned through some long tough miles and relentless dog work. 

 

I cant wait to come back out here one day with the kids and a few more dogs!

 

 

 

 

Brad / Roxy and me / Cooper 

 

Cooper making the first retrieve of the trip





Old windmill on the prairie



Roxie on a nice retrieve



First afternoon on public land.  Great start!

One proud Lab after a hard day's work

 

My wild pheasant and portabella crock pot recipe

 

Living room of the rental house



Best part of the day!

Cooper and Roxie with fine retrieves

A pointer and a retriever can work together well!
 

Cooper and I with a beautiful wild Ringneck using Dad's old Beretta 12 gauge

Beer of the trip = Bells Midwestern Pale Ale

Brad and Christine with a gigantic cottontail rabbit





Random old port-a-potty at the reclaimed
gravel pit yard.  Strange, but convenient!

SouthDakotaWild.com



Just another breath taking SD sunset. 

 

Cooper being Cooper.  Captain Nitwit!

Small game bonanza - 11/25

 

Trip Summary from Pittsburgh - South Dakota
 - Lynchburg, VA.  3,230 miles!

I found the worlds BEST sunflower seeds. 

 


Sunset over the old farmstead in Hoven, SD after the last day's hunt while sitting on the tail gate drinking a cold one.



 

Pheasant Season Kick Off

I've been trying to get Cooper into shape for our South Dakota hunt coming up in November.  I've probably taken him out about 6 times now to just exercise him.  We hit a lot of the game lands in Washington County which are always hit and miss.  A couple hunts we never even got a bird, but that's State Game Land hunting for you.  We did manage a few birds and more importantly got him into (better) shape.

 

                         

Sauerkraut 2013

Sauerkraut season is on for 2013.  The Somerset farmer we typically buy from lost his crop due to the floods this year, but my buddy was able to find us some cabbage for the year.  We'll see how this batch turns out for New Year's.

Cooper and Molly's pheasant hunt

 

I went pheasant hunting with a buddy who used his parents red-lab, Molly, to work pheasants.  This was the first time the dogs met and after a short conversation, we realized both dogs were bred by the same Sire.  Really, I see no similarities????

 

Molly on left and Cooper on right in both pics

We had a really nice morning hunt and the dogs worked well.  It was really cool to even see some of the similarities in the hunting style.  Pretty neat they were able to hunt together.

Twins 1st Fall Camping Trip - Penns Creek

We've been wanting to take the twins camping as babies and finally decided to take them on a whim to one of my favorite places on the planet - Penns Creek. 

It was a lot to throw together late Friday night for a one night camping trip, but I'm really glad we pulled it off once before they turned 1 (in less than a week!)

I could write a whole page on the page on how special Penns Creek is to us, so needless to say, it was extremely important to bring Jack and Clara and get them right in the water!

We got there Saturday afternoon, set camp up and a little hike in their new baby backpacks - a major upgrade to those Bjorn chest things.  The twins did just great and love everything about camping including romping around in the tent with Mama and chilling outside and trying to eat leaves and play with pine needles that fell into their pack and play.

 

 

 

Baby friendly camp site

 

Saturday night was not exactly how I drew up in my head.  Part of the reason we decided on going was the 0% chance of rain and stellar October weather we had.  I should know that in this valley anything goes...so as I was getting the campfire going, a major thunderstorm rolled in.  Picture Spencer in the tent with two hysterical babies while I ran around organizing camp in the pitch dark with a head lamp, grilling steaks and potatoes in the downpour while getting soaked to the bone. It was a pretty stressful hour, but the thunderstorm rolled out and the babies finally fell asleep.  Mom made her S'Mores and I drank an IPA - we had survived.

Sunday was an amazingly beautiful fall day.  At one point on the stream I found myself completely lost in just watching the leaves fall and was filled with so much joy.  I've been going to Penns for years now, but this was my first time in the fall and first time with the twins. 

 

Tressel bridge just wide enough for a double stroller

 

 

 





Fly fishing with Jack on my back

Passed out after a long hike and fishing trip




Me and my little girl

 

Lion's Mane mushroom

 

My Aunt found a strange looking mushroom in our neighborhood about a week ago while strolling the twins.  I went to inspect it and thought I recognized it from some pictures I'd seen on mushroom sites.  It was about 25 feet up a tree in a neighbors front yard, but we got permission to cut it down. 

 

It was, by far, the coolest looking mushroom I had ever seen.  It had tentacles, was shaggy like a lions mane and looked like it was from another planet.  With further inspection and research I was 100% sure this was Lion's Mane (it is an unmistakable mushroom.)  In my research I found a ton of information on the recent scientific studies on the health benefits that seemed endless. 

 

 

 

 

 

The primary benefit I read was the ability to regenerate nerves by stimulating the body's Nerve Growth Factor.  Studies have shown Lion's Mane to improve cognitive focus, memory and slow the effects of dementia. There was also a lot of history this being used in Japanese and Chinese cultures as treatment for some of the world's most difficult diseases for centuries. At one time, Chinese tradition only allowed Lion's Mane to be eaten by Emperors. They used Lion's Mane to help relieve issues involving the digestive tract such as duodenal ulcers and stomach ulcers. The mushrooms were also given to those with cancers of the esophagus, the duodenum, and of the stomach.

 

All that sounded great, but I was really just hoping this improved my memory and I would stop loosing iPhones, keys, etc. 

 

So the million dollar question...how did it taste?  I sautéed some in salted butter until they were slightly browned...  and it tasted exactly like lobster.  It

 was unbelievably delicious!

 

 

  

 

I woke up today, so I didn't poyson myself by eeting the wrong mooshroom (which was a grayt way to start the dae.) I also phelt weigh smurter then I did yestertoday.  This stuff is greight!