What the?!?! Wednesdays

The actions of certain hunters and fishermen have given outdoorsmen as a whole the reputation of being a group of individuals that are not very intelligent. As an outdoorsmen I find this unfortunate and do all I can avoid being an individual that adds to this stereotype. In the meantime, once a week I will make a post designated to an "outdoorsmen" who outdid himself in reinforcing the stereotype because lets face it, these bumbling idiots sure are entertaining.

Todays featured storie is a self-narrated tale posted on the Kentucky Hunting Forum from "Corndogggy" (with a name like that, I have high expectations.). During bow-hunting season corndogggy was fortunate to bag a large doe. After examining his accomplishment, he began field-dressing the deer. Apparently this hunter didn't have an understanding for the anatomy of deer and began investigating. As corndogggy is rumaging through the open cavity of the animal he came across a large pink "balloon looking thing". As protocol for any great disection requires, corndogggy poked said pink thingy with his knife. What was poke turned out to be the stomach of the deer and our featured hunter this Wednesday ended up with the stomach contents of his trophy all over his face.

Hope you enjoy your Wednesday more than corndoggy, and for the love of all that is good please make better discisions.

October Salmon Fishing Trip

Waking up at 3:45 a.m. isn't something I do often but last Saturday morning (Oct. 9th) I gladly packed up my fishing tackle along with my older brother and a close friend for our 9th annual salmon fishing trip on the Pere Marquette River.

As the air cools, the leaves turn and begin to tumble from the trees marking the fall season, the King Salmon migrate out of the great lakes and into the rivers to spawn. During this approximately two week migration up stream small rivers like the Pere Marquette have forty pound fish filling waters as shallow as 3-4 feet.

Arriving at the river around 8 a.m. excitement builds while we don our waders, thread and bait hooks, and trek from the vehicle down the path to the river to find an ideal fishing spot. The next nearly four hours and cast after cast are spent unsuccessfully. After a brief lunch break and another half an hour of casting success at last! A thirty-three inch beautiful King Salmon was finally landed.

Although much of the day was spent watching countless salmon swim on past, headed up stream, with no avail, the beauty of the outdoors and the power and grace of these fish was not lost on our three man fishing expedition. I have fished the Pere Marquette River for nine years now, witnessing these magnificent fish travel hundreds of miles upstream to complete their spawning cycle and am still awed by the instincts and cunning these salmon exhibit.

After nearly nine hours of fishing, we exhaustively called it quits, packed up our tackle, and drove home. This year we were fortunate enough to have landed six large salmon, the largest of which measured in at forty inches.

Although we were fortunate enough to be successful this weekend (Oct. 9th) the run this season has been sporadic at times and later than normal. While fishing last weekend (Oct. 2nd) the fish we saw were few and far between. My advice would be to fish early mornings and later afternoon as the Salmon are still slow to move up stream during midday.

Image of the Day

Looking at this picture at face value, it seems to be a photo taken out a subway window with the landscape blurring by, showing the reflection of a lady reading a newspaper. Although this may seem quite ambiguous when considering the topic of my blog, I find a striking correlation. We typically wake up, rush through our morning activities, eat our breakfast as quickly as possible (if not while driving), often we find ourselves stressfully hurrying through the work day... and so rushes our lives.

Viewing this picture it would seem that everything is rushing on by while we sit. However, looking from a different perspective, we are the blurrs rushing on by. During our high-speed, high-productivity days, seldom are the times we take the time to truly sit still and enjoy the landscape around us (looking out the window of a subway doesn't count!).

The value of spending time outdoors, avoiding the pressures to rush, and making time to enjoy the sporting opportunites nature presents, or even sit and enjoy the landscape has been greatly underestimated. Do yourself the favor of going to a park, woods or river this week, enjoy the outdoors and for a change watch the world rush by rather than be the blur flying past.

About This Blog

From the age of 8 (possibly younger), seemingly every sunny summer day of my childhood was spent fishing on the Elkhart River with my two older brothers and often my grandfather. As I got older and my brothers got their drivers licenses, our fishing spots grew in number and we started hunting as well. Mentored in fishing and hunting by our grandfather and a family friend (who previously held the Indiana State Record Buck for bow-hunting), our love for both sports grew as well as our talents. At the age of 23, I still enjoy hunting and fishing as much as I did when I started and spend much of my diminishing free time on the river and in the woods.

As many outdoors-men know, there are few more exciting times to spend on the water or in the woods than October. With the cooling air (and water) the salmon have starting spawning, which brings them into the rivers. This brings to pass on of my favorite times of year, my yearly trip to Northern Michigan to cast-a-line for these beautiful fish. Additionally, Oct 1st marks the start of Bow season for deer.

Although fishing and hunting with my grandfather has neared the impossible (health complications), my two older brothers and I continue to practice the techniques he so patiently taught us and maintain the love of outdoors he instilled in the three of us. During this exhilarating month I spend outdoors, I find myself reminiscing on the times spent with my grandfather, the conversations and laughs we shared, and how he would always find a way to use the triumphs and failures of fishing and hunting to teach me valuable life lessons. These are the aspects of outdoor sports that I continue to love and hope to share in this blog.

Things That Interest Me

Lately I have started reading and following blogs that cover some of the activities that interest me most in life. Three blogs that I find the most intriguing and entertaining that pertain to things I enjoy watching and/or participating in, are blogs that are dedicated to Snowbaording, Fishing, and Chicago Cubs baseball (yes, I admit that I'm a Cubs fan).


Snowboarding Days - The Snowboard Blog
This blog is written by Mark Shaw a snowboarder in Cornwall, England. Much like Indiana, (where I call home) England lacks the mountains and powdery snow that every boarder craves. So at our computers Mark and I sit, dreaming of mountains and powdery snow, watching videos and reading posts from boarders who reside in favorable locations. Reading this blog wets my appetite for serious boarding as I make due with Indiana’s short boarding season full of sketchy snow conditions (more like ice conditions) and gives me advice on where to plan my next mountain get-away.



The Ultimate Fishing Blog
Fishing is one of the most exciting/frustrating sports there is. What works today most likely won’t bring success tomorrow, which is the challenging beauty fishing presents. There are always new techniques and tackle available to anglers and that is why I enjoy following this blog, as it offers advice, tips, and tutorials on all things fishing.


Bleed Cubbie Blue
As a lifelong Cubs fan I follow this blog that offers, painful as they may be, stats, scores, standings,
injury reports, and transactions. It’s great reading opinions and comments from fellow Cubs fans. As yet another discouraging season comes to an end, I look to this blog to keep me up-to-date on trades, signings, and who might be the next manager. Go, Cubbies, Go!