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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
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“I cannot endure to waste anything so precious as autumnal sunshine by staying in the house."
- Nathaniel Hawthorne
Me neither, Nathaniel...and I like to use this week's outside time by setting up waterfowl decoys with friends. But... 'sunshine' is a bit scarce
around these parts lately. Up North, we're now in the grip of some very serious global cooling. Hmm...I thought we were in for 'global warming'?
Which is it, anyway? This whole part of the USA is 20-40 degrees below normal for this time of year. The weather people have dubbed it
Winter Storm Atlas.
So...preparation is everything in a successful undertaking.
BRINGING HOT SPICED CIDER TO A FREEZING GOOSE HUNTER.
Hey, looks like the sun may come up after all. A welcome sight to help my cold feet.
These are some Canadian Honkers looking over our spread below. Shot them with my Nikon D-40.
One approach to decoying geese...waving a flag to imitate the wings of landing birds.
These are commonly called, 'coffin blinds'. I could have come up with a different nickname. They are kind of cozy on a cold day, though.
A typical spread of decoys named Bigfoots...because of their huge feet that keeps them upright in the field. Like some hunters I know...
Lots of waterfowl in this part of the Central Flyway and incoming groups are frequent in the early morning. Like any good aviator, they will always
approach into the wind.
I am frozen in place...but ready anyway, just as soon as I thaw out.
Back at the Duk Shak, some hunters get ALL the perks.
This wise old owl seems to be telling us..."WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE? GET YOURSELF SOUTH!"
Well, says I, I would...but first we have things to do. Like feeding some deer, helping tag a batch of mallards, and going to a DU banquet and
auction.
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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Pompano
Elite Nomad
Posts: 8194
Registered: 11-14-2004
Location: Bay of Conception and Up North
Member Is Offline
Mood: Optimistic
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I have loved Baja and all it’s magic for many decades…..but what I missed most after 8 months each year was the long return to my homeland Up North
and it’s vast forests of pine, so many lakes & cottonwood-lined streams, the freshness of sudden rain showers, and truly magnificent natural
wonders.
Hah...my favorite expression to Co-pilot when it was time to leave Baja for the north was..."One can take a brown & leafless land for only
so long!" A smile and a hug and we were packing.
Ah…the Fall! I love to be in that country whose people are autumn people, thinking only autumn thoughts. Autumn is a time for being afield, to revel
in nature, and make great memories…like these:
FALL ND SCENES… ..This is what the countryside looked like just a few days ago….certainly changes fast.
It’s a great time to get a dove dinner…walk a few miles…and come across some tasty crabapples for a snack like this scene from so many years ago.
Memories! I can still taste those dove breasts and the tart crabapples.
Sharing the times and hunting with lifelong friends. Priceless.
Keeping the kids tree fort intact..even though they are almost grown men today.
The hundreds of potholes and sloughs are why we are the original Duck Factory.
These young fox are happy to make a playhouse out of a hay bale.. and are not camera shy at all.
Goose flocks cover our skies in the fall.
Lots of old history….and photo ops. Everyone loves old barns! Places full of memories, and I often imagine what happened to the people and how they
lived their lives there.
Try sneaking up on your Co-pilot in those dry leaves…crunch, crunch, crunch….EEK! ROGER! ANIMALS-ANIMALS!!
Fall is a great time for some camo-painting…fun stuff, but you should plan on reselling to a duck hunter. 
Now we are in the grip of any icy blast from the artic.
Storm clouds moving in…fast.
Accompanying a potent November arctic outbreak, the season's first significant snow from Winter Storm Astro, is hammering parts of the Upper Midwest,
Northern Plains, and Northern Rockies.
The first big snow is falling across the Upper Midwest this week, with over 20 inches possible in some locations.
This week’s polar plunge is driving temperatures down to as much as 40 degrees below normal across the Plains and Midwest, and is giving many
locations the season’s first taste of snow. The storm, which began late Saturday night and will continue through Wednesday morning, has already
brought over six inches of snow to parts of North Dakota, South Dakota, and Minnesota as of Monday morning.
Global cooling or warming..? Who cares? Makes a great opportunity to Huddle!
A very winded tree on the frozen prairie. Can you feel the cold?
Here’s a MSNBC newscaster hunting snows with us a while back. Oddly, he must have forgotten his boots, cuz he was wearing tennis shoes. We nicknamed
him Frostbite Ed.
Some of our early snowfalls….
DEER FEEDING TIME in ND’s TURTLE MOUNTAINS.
In 1900, only an estimated 500,000 whitetails remained in the United States. Thanks to conservation work spearheaded by hunters, today there
are more than 32 million.
Whitetail deer are increasing in alarming numbers almost everywhere and sometimes overgraze their normal food sources, so kind-hearted volunteers with
federal agencies put out lots of food. Naturally, care must be taken that this practice will not accelerate reproduction and become disastrous to the
health of the entire herd.
Now for a bit of a rant.
Politeness and responsibility seem to be becoming things of the past in today’s society and government. In this case, gaining access to someone
else’s property for hunting...it is easy…or at least it always used to be. Usually all it takes is a small thing like a phone call or knocking on the
door..…”May I?”
Because of some slobs, nowadays you see a lot more of these.
ASK BEFORE ENTERING SIGN
A real sportsman respects land ownership and rights. A man’s true character is shown as by his manners.
.
Time for some fun!
DECOYS SEEN FROM THE AIRPLANE. This was a very fun day and made for memories.
Warning: This photo shows a prank with foul language-intentionally done by friends.
This is how it all unfolded during our goose hunt.
One balmy October day 4 of us had risen gawd-awful early to set out snow goose and honker decoys…and then we waited, and waited and waited… and almost
fell asleep. Nothing was flying, at least not where we were. So 2 of us decided to jump in the airplane and scout around a bit...to see where all
the birds were flying and feeding.
After cruising a large part of the countryside from a safe height we decided to fly over our decoy spread and check up on our other 2 hunters. I
guess we had been gone too long and had completely forgotten their request for some lunch…because as we flew over the set below, we saw this.
They had re-arranged some of the snow goose decoys in what only can be construed as a..message…then lowered their pants and ‘mooned’ us.
Tsk-tsk, guys…you’ll never attract any geese with language like that!
Our revenge: We found a package of snacks in the plane and Twinkie-bombed them.
DU AUCTION DECOY…from a local Ducks Unlimited dinner and auction.
A sportsman’s mecca, the area has many auctions and charity dinners featuring a wildlife & nature theme.
For avid decoy collectors, this shorebird ‘confidence’ decoy one was a good find for me at a good price. I might take up carving as my next hobby.
A wood duck mount just back from a local taxidermist is a prized addition to the Duk Shak.
Also at an auction, was found this rare beauty.
I added this rifle to my gun collection. It’s a 1874 Sharps-Shiloh Creedmore rolling-block single-shot rifle in bristol condition. Caliber is 45-70.
This is the type of firearm used in long range hunting and the popular international shooting matches of that era. At 500-700-1000 yards this was
the rifle of choice by sharpshooters. The workmanship is superb and reflects a special time in our history.
This is another annual Ducks Unlimited event that we like to donate time to…helping in tagging waterfowl for studies of migration and health. A huge
net is ‘shot’ over a group of waterfowl (ducks in this case) that has been attracted to a feeding site. The netted birds are handled very carefully
and a aluminum tag is attached to a leg with current info recorded. When you harvest a bird with a leg tag you send it in to the state or federal
wildlife organization and receive back the history of that bird with a thanks.
DU NETTING AND TAGGING PROGRAM
As you can see, there’s still plenty to do Up North if you love nature…..BUT….this is what is planned before the next snowstorm hits!
Our motto: The first snowflake may hit us, but the second one won’t!
IF WINTER IS ON IT’S WAY….THEN IT’S TIME TO GET OUT OF DODGE!
(I got prepared when the weather was lots nicer!)
I’ve always wanted to yell….”Tally HO! The games afoot”…and now I have.
p.s. Note to self: Never have too much Jack and coke when writing these posts...they get a little long.
[Edited on 11-17-2014 by Pompano]
I do what the voices in my tackle box tell me.
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KaceyJ
Nomad
Posts: 391
Registered: 10-7-2011
Location: there
Member Is Offline
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Great post and very nice rifle .
We'll have to start calling you "Quigley up yonder"
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