It’s been a long time between blog posts. That’s because I haven’t been doing anything interesting to blog about, which is my own fault.
Thankfully Scott Morgan of Baldwin City, KS has sent me another beautiful trail cam shot of a nice buck checking out his deer feeder. Wouldn’t you like to see this big guy opening morning!
My story Duck Math, published in Delta Waterfowl magazine, took first place in the Magazine Contest: Humor Category of the 2013 Outdoor Writers Association of America Excellence In Craft contests.
Two of my cartoons from Wildfowl magazine took first and second place in the Illustration/Graphic contest.
I’ll never use “birdbrain” as an insult again. A robin was intent on building a nest on the light fixture over our deck. I knew it was a terrible location but she wouldn’t listen to me. You know how women are.
She worked and worked, flying material up and placing it around like she wanted. Most of it fell to the deck, making a big mess. I thought she’d finally give up and find a more suitable place. I would have. But she kept piling stuff up and finally a little began to stick.
Then the whole thing fell off. Time to quit, I thought. Not Birdbrain! She started over with mostly the same results. But after several days of looking around for just the right twigs, pieces of string etc. and flying them to the light fixture they began to adhere to the mud she brought up in her beak. I assume that’s how they bring it. Can you imagine flying around with a mouth full of mud?
Successful at last, now she’s incubating eggs in the nest, flying away quickly whenever we open the door but never going far or staying long.
I’m looking at her through my studio door right now and I swear to God she looks like she’s panting.
Due “hosting difficulties” this site was down for several weeks, but thanks to hard work by my tech guru/granddaughter Heather Physioc and her friend Victor, it is up and running now and all is well. A big THANK YOU to Heather and Victor!
Once again it’s Tweener Time. Tweeners are those cartoons too raunchy for outdoor publications but to outdoorsy for Playboy.
Catfishermen with stink bait have nothing on bow hunters, who use a variety of smelly substances to mask their own odor. Raccoon urine was in vogue for a while but you don’t hear much about it lately. Maybe the supply dried up (pun intended).
Representing the Heart Of America Fly Fishers, Mark Borserine and I sat in with a couple of other fly tiers at the Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing meeting Tuesday night. PHWFF is an organization that helps wounded service men and women get into all aspects of fly fishing from rod building and fly tying to developing fly casting proficiency.
You can become involved in this worthwhile project by contacting Bob Barnett at (816) 309-7071 or barnbo@msn.com
Climate change…global warming…whatever you call it… is it happening and if so, is it anthropogenic? Will its effects be beneficial, harmful or a little of both? What if anything can be done about it?
The answer to these and many other questions can be found at the Johnson County Library. These four books will get you started.
Unstoppable Global Warming (Every 1500 Years) by Dennis T. Avery & S. Fred Singer
The Politically Incorrect Guide To Global Warming by Christopher C. Horner
The Skeptical Environmentalist by Bjorn Lomborg
An appeal To Reason by Nigel Lawson.
As you may remember, Tweeners are cartoons too edgy or raunchy for outdoor magazines but too outdoorsy for Playboy. They are in between.
If this particular Tweener seems mild to you that’s because you’re not a magazine editor. To we normal people this cartoon depicts two toms discussing how they hope to wind up in the sack (or where ever turkeys do it) with that sexy female turkey on the right. To an editor it conjures up images of inappropriate sexual advances, tag-team rape and possible job loss.
And you thought the cartoon racket was easy.
Want to do something with that duck you shot besides stick it in the oven or grill it? Try my friend Aaron Custer’s duck poppers.
First, shoot one duck. Filet the breasts and peel off the silver skin. Slice filets long-ways into ¼” or 3/8” slices and soak in cold water for several hours.
Marinate over night in your favorite marinade. I used Italian salad dressing. Anything short of brake fluid should do as long as it includes McCormick’s steak seasoning.
Slice jalapeno peppers long-ways and remove seeds. Six peppers and one mallard makes a ginormous pile of poppers. Fill jalapeno halves with cream cheese and place a strip of duck on each. At this point I deviated from Aaron’s recipe by slicing each popper in two crossways making them more bite-sized. Wrap a half strip of bacon around each popper, secure it with a toothpick, and grill until bacon is done. You want the duck medium rare. If you want to include the legs, wrap bacon around them and grill them but allow more cooking time.
When I tried it the bacon caused a huge flame-up when grilled on high. With the next batch I moved the poppers off the direct flame, lowered the temperature and it worked better.
Prepare some poppers and take them to the duck blind with you to grill at mid-morning when you’re having trouble staying awake. It’s a nice break from Ho Hos and Ding Dongs.
Eat your heart out Rachel Ray! 
A catchphrase making the rounds nowadays is “I want to do something to make a difference”. What makes a difference varies from person to person but here’s something that will definitely make a difference regardless of your political persuasion: Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc.
PHWFF provides fly fishing, fly casting, and fly tying instruction for wounded military personnel. If you are proficient in any of these areas this great organization can find a use for you.
If you’re not confident in your instructional abilities but would like to contribute to PHWFF please mail your check to:
Project Healing Waters Fly Fishing, Inc.
PO Box 695
La Plata, MD 20624
Support our wounded servicemen and women. visit http://projecthealingwaters.org.
