Come Along and Follow Me

The new blog is up and half way running.I have yet to acquire a new camera but it is on my list for Spring shopping.number one I want to thank all the people who have stuck with this blog over the last few years.Some of my posts were informative,some were pure rants that didn't need to be put down on paper.I hope you will all follow along with the new blog as I strive to write better stories and take better pictures.I look forward to any and all comments as to how I can improve the new blog. http://keepingitrural-tugboatdude.blogspot.com/ The new blog,Keeping it Rural,is waiting for you to follow along.Thanks everybody and take care!

Outdoors Education,Get One

*Prime Hook is NOT where the following violation took place*

I have been in the past one of the many idiots with a fishing pole/shotgun participating in outdoors recreation.That being said it took a few lessons learned in my younger years to show me that if I wanted to be outside I needed to understand it.I'm talking about everything from plant identification,a work in progress,to wildlife rules and regulations.I was reading on another website of an egregious wildlife violation that happened in broad daylight,in plain view of a public audience,on a National Wildlife Refuge.To sum up,a professional photographer had submitted some pictures to the local newspaper.An image of snow geese on the NWR was chosen for the front page,beautiful picture by the way.The next morning the locals read the paper.That afternoon an idiot decided someone leaked good information on where those dang ol snows been creeping round.He went to the NWR,in front of others,with a shotgun and blasted into a large group of snow geese killing two and crippling others as the story goes.After the few up to date photographers and locals questioned the man he was oblivious that not only was what he was doing wrong but EXTREMELY illegal.So I have been told he was later arrested and charges are sure to follow.So what's the point?The point is this local yocal decided well pappy and me used to kill them there sky carp all day and night when I was a littlin!He probably has not acquired a license or even a regulation handbook in years if ever.The papers will be all over this and he will be labeled as a "hunter".A "hunter" that has broken the law to a ridiculous extent.This in turn makes us all look bad.Which in turn adds fuel to the fire of let's say anti Sunday hunting bills.So I say well done you stupid bastard and thanks from all of us who spend hours and hundreds of dollars to keep it legal.I will let everyone know how this specific event unfolds in the court and in the local papers.

Bad Luck at the Best Time

One last try on the Blackwater River

If it was going to happen I would vote that it goes down in February.I came home last week,after being gone for 29 days,to an angry house.It started with a flat tire on my old Ford ranger.Easy enough,I can fix that!A few minutes later while retrieving the tools necessary to change the tire I noticed my yard was a bit mushy.As I stepped closer to the well house I heard the pump running almost non stop.Strange because I was running no water.I took the top off and bam,problemo numero dos!So I figured before I cut off the water I needed a shower.I came inside turned on the water and BAM,the shower drain is clogged,problem three.Now imagine being gone for four weeks and coming home to two minor problems and a major one.Not exactly relaxing in any way.So I made a few calls and lined up a service tech for the water pump,the leak was underground and I'm not about to go digging up the yard to find it.I may have drank a few adult beverages that evening while I changed the tire and snaked out the drain.The next morning brought very little good news financially as I was hit with the realization that Sanford and Son installed the last jet pump in my well and it was ancient.So I pulled the trigger and bought a new one,with a new tank and new plumbing.Being a homeowner has its rewards but they will cost you.So the next day I had a Canada goose hunt planned and the bad luck came with it.

Princess Anne WMA February 2012

the season for Canada geese goes until the middle of the month out by me because we are in a different population then them there coastal fellas.With liberal limits,five a day,and plenty of geese around it's hard not to go.I mean what else is there to do in February outdoors?I met my friend who called and said he had a sure thing field lined up for us.The truck was jammed packed with lay out blinds,shells and floaters.He got in and pointed me in the direction to drive.BAM!I quickly informed him where the field was lays literally on the other side of the boundary.Yes the side where the season is closed!He is a bit younger and didn't think to check things out.So I woke up at 330 am for no reason,nice.I did manage to make it out on the river,which is currently holding zero geese,and spent the morning watching wood ducks and mergansers recreate the nutcracker ballet in my goose decoys,duck season is closed of course.Today I met up and drove two hours to Princess Anne WMA to try for snow geese.I know nothing about hunting sky carp but hey it was worth a shot.We only saw a few small flocks and couldn't figure out where they were.We drove a few miles south to Mackay Island NWR and well there they were.Right next to the road and the freshly burned marsh.I love ordered burns but why would you do it on a NWR,where you can't hunt,instead of on the WMA where you can.There is a conservation order in effect for snow geese.They want us to kill these geese,why would you do that!So I may try and get my sanity back once or twice more but the way my luck is going I simply don't want to push it.If this had all gone down a month ago I may have had a problem keeping sane.Is it time for me to go back to work yet?