Showing posts with label outdoors. Show all posts
Showing posts with label outdoors. Show all posts

Sunday, April 26, 2009

Find a Place With No Windows

I'm blogging right now during the most intense thunderstorm this year, and it's so cool!!!

I love thunderstorms so much. Ever since I was a kid, my family and I went out onto our porch when the sirens went off instead of heading for the basement like sane people do. I was scared a little when I was a kid, but I've grown to love them. On some occasions I even take walks in them. I almost always go drive in them, and it's always being a dream of mine to see a tornado in real life. I think they're fascinating, and I hope to see a lot of them in my life time, or just one, depending on how the first encounter goes.

I don't know what it is about them I like so much. I think it goes with the whole adrenaline thing, I get such a rush being in the middle of a storm that I've become addicted to them.

I'm seriously having a hard time finishing this one because the storm is being so distracting , every lighting strike is another reason for me to stop blogging and to start watching the storm again. this is truly the meaning of getting high on life.

Sunday, March 15, 2009

The Little Things

You hear people say it a lot, and it's really become sort of a cliché. But you really do have to appreciate the little things in life.

Let me tell you a little story. I had been working for about three hours this morning. Catering to the Sunday brunchers and the Saturday night drunkards trying to keep their buzz from the night before. It was overly hot in the restaurant, because the heat was still on even thought the temperature had reached nearly seventy degrees. When I finally got cut, I walked outside. The warmth hit me like a brick wall when when I stepped out into the sun. Then as if that was enough a fresh cool breeze hit me, instantly cooling me off and cleansing my entire being it seemed like.

You never do truly realize how cold you've been during winter until the warmth of spring replaces the chill all the way down to your marrow. The little moment outside of my work place refreshed my life. Not that I was depressed or anything, but if there were ever any doubts they're officially gone now.

I really hope that the warm weather is here to stay this time. Twice now mother nature has teased us with warm weather only to to replace it with below zero temperatures, but not this time. If it happens again there will be a full scale revolt.

P.S. Looking for soldiers to fight mother nature in the revolt. All applicants welcome. Must be eighteen years or older to apply.

Thursday, February 5, 2009

Thinkin' About Spring

With all of the warm weather that we had last week I've really been craving spring. Every year it feels like winter lasts until you can hardly stand it. But then when spring comes you take advantage of it, and before you know it you're locked back in the cold embrace of winter. I vow that this year will be different, I'm really going to appreciate what spring has to offer. I'm going to go crappie fishing every weekend in my friends boat. The only weekends that we won't go will be the weekends that we go turkey hunting.I've been looking forward to both for a very long time, and when the time comes I'm going to hunt and fish them like there's no tomorrow.

Last week my brother and I spent a long time talking about all of the different places we were going to try out this year. We even talked about going on a weekend trip to Minnesota to fish to our hearts content.

We spent most of the week checking our hunting and fishing stuff making sure that it was all still good to go so that when the time comes we'll be ready. All of my fishing gear was in mint condition, but there are a few lures that I want to buy. My hunting gear was a similar story, but I need to buy another camo shirt.

I just don't think I can seriously stress to you how excited I really am, and sorry to those who don't care. I mean you really don't have to read this unless you're Mr. Ayers.

Anyway back to the subject. My uncle is a fisherman as well and we've already arranged several fishing weekends with him. My brother and I were also talking about buying a cheap boat that we could hook to the back of my dad's pickup. It is going to be the best spring/summer thus far.

Sunday, December 7, 2008

Got Another One

It was four degrees this morning. Luckily it wasn't windy, because I would have frozen right to my bones. Anyways, I was sitting up in a tree stand to start the morning, looking out over my domain. It was just getting light and the cows were bellowing their goodbyes as they left for market.

It was getting really cold and I was ready to get up, so I did. There were some deer that I had seen up in the woods above me, and no one was shooting so I thought I'd start driving them in. I started walking, and as soon as I got to the edge of the woods, a bunch of deer stood up and started running in. I kept walking and pretty soon the woods sounded like a war zone. Shots going off all around me, I was ducking trying not to die.

After the chaos was over I stood up and looked up the hill and two bucks,A four point, and an eight point appeared from the other side. They saw me but they didn't seem too concerned I was there, their mistake. They trotted down the hill and when they reappeared on the other side I popped off a shot. They jogged a little farther, but he wasn't hit. I shot again and he lurched and took off. I shot a shot after him and he was gone. My uncle was standing up on top of the hill so I went up there to help him. At this point I thought I had missed the deer I shot at, but I resolved to look for blood when I was done.

I watched my uncle clean his deer. When he was done we walked up the hill and found another blood trail so we follow it, and followed it, and followed it. Finally we just turned around and came back. As we crossed the fence we saw another person from our group cleaning a deer. We walked up and asked him if it was his and he said he had just found it. It was the one I had shot, and we followed the blood trail back to the place I had shot it at. Sweet! An old but nice seven pointer. All in all it was a very good year for hunting.

Saturday, December 6, 2008

Got One!!!

Sitting by the oven late Friday night, listing to my dad and uncle reminisce about past hunting experiences, got me excited to go out and get a story of my own.

My alarm went off at five thirty in the morning and that was all the encouragement I needed to get out of bed and get dressed. At six o'clock the other people from our group arrived ready to set out. We started walking towards our respective spots breaking off as we we got to our various exits. When I got to the spot I would be in for the next four hours I cleared some snow off the ground and settled in for a long, chilly morning. Shortly after sunrise I was "resting my eyes" for a second. I opened my eyes slowly and saw a doe running across the hill in front of me. I raised my gun but too late she was already behind dome thick brush. I saw her wandering around behind the a fallen tree and it pissed me off to be so close and not be able to shoot. I got to shoot soon enough though, she trotted up the hill and I thought she was gone for good. Ten minutes later she was back.

She came walking down the hill, and this time I was ready. With my gun raised I waited for her to come closer. When she got to where she could smell me, she stopped and looked around. It was now or never. I shot, I missed, she ran twenty yards, I shot again, I missed again, she ran away to live another day.

In my defense it was an awkward shot, but all excuses aside, I just choked. The rest of the morning I saw several more deer. I saw a total of twelve does and four bucks in that span of four hours.

After awhile my uncle walked over and told me that my grandpa had shot a deer and to come with him to see it and help him with the deer that he shot, all THREE OF THEM!!! So we went and found his first deer, cleaned it, and drug it up the hill. Then we went and found his second deer, a doe and I volunteered to clean it. My first time cleaning a deer, and I figured I'd get some practice for when I shot mine.

After we got the third one we walked back to the house to eat some breakfast. after that I decide to walk through the woods to get to my spot. When a was almost to my destination a doe trotted up over the hill. I froze. I swung my gun up and she bolted. I fired the first shot, and missed. She made it halfway down the hill and I fired again. She dropped. Hell Yea!!! I walked down to get her, but she was still alive so I put a bullet in her brain. She wasn't alive anymore. I cleaned her, man was I glad I had practiced earlier that morning, dragged her up the hill, and that was that.

AWESOME!!! More tomorrow.

Wednesday, November 12, 2008

Turkeys! Everywhere!

My brother told me an interesting story the other day, which is a welcome change from the boring, uninteresting, dull stories he usually tells.

He was at home in the morning before going to school. He was getting ready down stairs when my dad yelled at him to come upstairs and fast. Standing in the front yard were a dozen turkeys, all toms, in full strut. He said he ran downstairs to get his turkey call as fast as he could, and by the time he got upstairs the turkeys were already all the way down the street. Not to be deterred by distance he called out to the toms.

As soon as the sound reached the toms their heads snapped up. They ran down the street towards the house as fast as they could. when they got to the front yard they were strutting around in full fervor, pecking, and scratching at each other. when they realized there were no hens to be found, they walked around to the back yard, thinking the females were back there. They were in the back yard doing the same thing when my dog casually walked out of her dog house and spotted the birds. She stood there stiff as a board examining the turkeys. She finally decided they didn't deserve to be there. She erupted into a fit of barking, and the turkeys took off into the sky.

Nothing like an encounter with some turkeys to get you pumped for hunting season!!!!

Sunday, November 2, 2008

Ice Fishing

My brother and I love to fish. We fish all spring and summer long, but when winter gets here we have to wait in boredom until spring brings the new fishing season. But not this year, no sir, this year we're going ice fishing.

To go ice fishing requires a different fishing pole then the one you use in the spring and summer. Since you're only sitting a foot from the hole, you need a short but sturdy pole. Fortunately they make poles just for this purpose. My brother and I are both buying new poles soon so that we can experience all that ice fishing has to offer.

A person we know is letting us borrow his auger and tent so that we don't have to purchase these items. We plan on going to the same lake where I caught my monster bass. You should see how excited he is about going he's been bouncing off the walls and annoying the hell out of my mom and dad. It's pretty fun to watch.

I'm sure ther will be a post telling about the trip soon after it happens so stay tuned!

Hunting Season

November is here, which means hunting season is just around the corner, and thinking about hunting always gets me pumped up. The men in my family have a tradition, every year we all go hunting the first weekend in December down on land that is collectively owned by my whole family. My brother and I usually just tag along, but don't ever get to hunt. Last year was the first year I got to go hunting with the other guys. It was an exciting time for me. Sure I had been hunting before, but always with my dad right there with me. This time it was just going to be me and the wilderness.

The weather was nasty, the forecast called for freezing rain all weekend, not looking good for our hunt. The roads were covered in ice and nearly impassable. But a little weather wasn't going to get in the way of us and our prize.

Saturday morning we all set out towards our respective spots, guns in hand and ready to shoot a deer. When I got to were I would be hunting I broke off from the rest of the group and settled in to watch the sun rise. It was already raining and the blanket of snow on the ground had a thin layer of ice over it. I thought that when the sun rose it would warm up the ground and the ice would just simply melt and stop causing me extreme discomfort in my hind end. No such luck, the sun rose behind a shroud of clouds that morning, it was going to be a long day.

Just a half an hour after the sun rose I was locked in place. The outer layer of clothes I was wearing had totally frozen in place. I could move, but I was in a comfortable position and relatively warm for being a living ice sickle. Over the course of the morning the ice got thicker and thicker until by the time I was ready to walk back to the house I had to hammer through the ice to free myself.

The next day despite the weather man's prediction of more freezing rain, it was a beautiful day for hunting, and even though I didn't shoot a deer I now have a good story to tell my kids someday.

Sunday, October 19, 2008

One Right After Another

About a week after I caught my big ol' bass I went to the same lake but clear on the other side. I was at the spillway. The spillway consist of three main water falls. It starts off flat with grass and various weeds growing and channeling the water to the waterfalls. Then the water takes a dive off the side of a relatively small cliff about 30 feet. I was all by myself (I don't recommend going hunting or fishing by yourself EVER!!! Use the buddy system) and i was on the middle island with the two waterfalls crashing down on either side of me. I set up shop and got to fishing.

Now it wasn't long until these two people that were fishing on the other side of the barrier reeled in a largemouth. It was about the right time for them to start biting. So anyways they fumbled with the fish for a few minutes before they give up. I hear one of them call me over so I grabbed my pliers and skirted the waterfall in no time. When I got to the other side I took one look at the bass, grabbed the hook with my pliers and yanked that bad boy out. Followed by the words of gratitude from my fellow fisher men I climbed back across the falls. I don't know if it was good karma or what but not five minutes after I had helped those two I reeled in a 13 inch largemouth of my own.

Over the course of the next 30 minute I nailed 25 largemouth bass, ranging in size from 10- 15 inches. Even though i didn't keep any of them I had an immense amount of fun on this particular trip, and now the spillway is my go to spot for all of my fishing pleasures.

Until next time, cya!!

Monster Bass!

Late July. My brother and I are fishing with one of his friends at another lake in the area. We started out the day on the south shore of the lake by a small causeway. We were all out on the end of a jetty fishing for bass. We would catch small bass, maybe six to nine inches, at irregular intervals. After a while of this we decided to move to another spot across the highway. So we drove over to our new spot across the lake. We climbed out of the car and the first thing we saw was a big sign with four pictures on it, and a heading that read: Fish in This Area. The sign told us that we could catch bluegills, crappies, bass, and channel catfish. We set up shop on a nearby bench and started fishing.

We all were using worms and bobbers and we were catching bluegills left and right. It was a lot of fun, but one can only catch so many bluegills before it's time to find another quarry, and I bet we had already caught 100 bluegills. Time to move on. After we packed up the car, we drove to a dock on the north shore of the lake. There were already some people on the dock so we walked a little ways up the shore and started casting off the rocks. An hour later we moved to the other side of the small bay to a small ledge with a log in the water five feet below. We all voiced our feelings that this was the right spot.

We caught several medium sized bass over the next several hours, and my brother continued to reel in bluegills from under the dead log in the water. Then, as I was reeling in something jerked on my line. I had a lot of snags that day and I was cautiously optimistic that this was more then a snag. The drag on my reel was going out like crazy. Just when i was about to call it a snag and give up the surface of the water ten feet in front of me erupted. A monster bass as on my line and he was fighting with all of his strength. As soon as he hit the water again he took off towards the log. "He's going to get under the log," yelled my brother's friend. He jumped into the water up to his knees and grabbed onto my line. Pulling the bass into the shallows was no easy task, it was thrashing and fighting the whole way. Finally the bass was on shore. We measured the bass, 23 inches!!! Alright but now to keep it alive long enough to get it home. My car was all the way on the other side of the bay. Bass in hand I took off down the road.

When I got to my car i popped the trunk and grabbed the cooler. There were still bottles of water and cans of pop in it, but sacrifices had to be made. I pulled all of the stuff out of the cooler, leaving the ice, I put the bass it it and emptied the rest of our water into the cooler. I drove over to where they were waiting, and we filled the cooler the rest of the way with lake water. I called anyone who I thought would know what to do. Everyone told me I had to keep it alive as long as i could. After getting the same advice from two different sources we decided to go into town and buy some ice to put on the fish.

After getting ice we had to take my brother's friend home. His mom took so many pictures that I lost count of time. Finally we got home where my mom was waiting to take my picture some more. Following the advice of the people I talked to I wrapped the fish in a wet towel and put it into my freezer where it will sit until i get enough money to get it mounted.

That fishing trip was the highlight of my summer. I had so much fun. Fisher man for life!

Saturday, October 18, 2008

First Fishing Trip of The Summer

It was early July. My brother and I were just leaving Wal-Mart with our new lures. We had plans to go fishing in an hour with our friend who was to meet us at the lake. When we arrived he was waiting for us on the short boat dock that protruded ten feet into the water. I walked out onto the dock and what I saw was not encouraging. The water around the dock was nothing but weeds in every direction. No problem. I just tied on my top water scum frog and gave it a big heave. It landed with a faint plop about 20 yards away. I reeled it in with no results. My brother and friend had similar results. We continued this procedure for the next hour and nothing to show for it. We were growing more and more disappointed by the minute. Finally we decided to call it a day and head out. We packed the car up with our gear and left the lake the same as we had found it, full of tricky little fish. No matter a real fisher man is a fisher man for life.