Post Season 2017

[DComeaux]

Apparently the Rabid-dog's sausage is not available up around here y'all.
Will trade 4 dozen ears of Illini Extra Sweet sweet corn for four pounds of the sausage.

Do they not ship out of state?

[aunt betty]

You should see all the honey. I've emptied supers then put them back on and filled a second time, harvested, put back on and they're full again. Quit your crying about the rain. It's MONEY for me.
Example: Around July first I put an empty super with thin surplus (wax) foundations. Usually that's a big no-no as the heat will make the foundations flop over and then they're worthless. Looked into the hive today and it's already capped honey. Cut comb. The kind where you eat it in the wax. What a year. I'm honey-rich!
That's $120 worth. $7.50/pound. Around here honey prices are quite high. Stupid college kids using their Chicago-parents credit cards. I'll take it.

20170724_130643.jpg

Sorry for all you that got flooded. I quit dancing last week but I will take what I get.

[aunt betty]

Apparently the Rabid-dog's sausage is not available up around here y'all.
Will trade 4 dozen ears of Illini Extra Sweet sweet corn for four pounds of the sausage.

Do they not ship out of state?

I don't know. I looked it up and Sam's sells it just not here.
You may be wondering how I noticed this so fast.
I ditched tapatalk but it still notifies me when I get pm's or when someone quotes me.

That sausage sounds like I better get me some.
If I drag my wife to Norleans ...would you take me fishin' and not lose me in da swamp?

[DComeaux]

Apparently the Rabid-dog's sausage is not available up around here y'all.
Will trade 4 dozen ears of Illini Extra Sweet sweet corn for four pounds of the sausage.

Do they not ship out of state?

I don't know. I looked it up and Sam's sells it just not here.
You may be wondering how I noticed this so fast.
I ditched tapatalk but it still notifies me when I get pm's or when someone quotes me.

That sausage sounds like I better get me some.
If I drag my wife to Norleans ...would you take me fishin' and not lose me in da swamp?

No promises.

[aunt betty]

Don't blame you I wouldn't take a Yankee into the swamp as well. Big Lake is bad enough.

[SpinnerMan]

If I drag my wife to Norleans ...would you take me fishin' and not lose me in da swamp?

You and your wife are much more likely to get lost in NOLA

I took my wife there last year when I had to go for work. She enjoyed it and has no desire to ever go back. Which was my anticipated response. It is not a safe city. Much like Chicago, if you know where you are going and aren't stupid, you will be fine, probably. If you wonder out of the tourist areas especially at off hours, well, you've been warned. Definitely need to have some city sense. But if you or your wife have never been, you should go. It is a very unique American city that is worth the trip for the food, the culture, the architecture, ... There's a lot more than just Bourbon Street, but that is something worth seeing while you are there. Most people I think will end up like my wife, glad they went, but no interest in going back.

[aunt betty]

If I drag my wife to Norleans ...would you take me fishin' and not lose me in da swamp?

You and your wife are much more likely to get lost in NOLA

I took my wife there last year when I had to go for work. She enjoyed it and has no desire to ever go back. Which was my anticipated response. It is not a safe city. Much like Chicago, if you know where you are going and aren't stupid, you will be fine, probably. If you wonder out of the tourist areas especially at off hours, well, you've been warned. Definitely need to have some city sense. But if you or your wife have never been, you should go. It is a very unique American city that is worth the trip for the food, the culture, the architecture, ... There's a lot more than just Bourbon Street, but that is something worth seeing while you are there. Most people I think will end up like my wife, glad they went, but no interest in going back.

Ha! I've been to Phoenix, Tacoma, Seattle, Los Angeles, L.A. Watts, Egypt Arkansas, Paris Illinois, New York City, Panama City Panama, Chicago, St. Louis, and quite a few cities...ON FOOT. They'll all be hiding when word goes out that Acorn is in town.


I'm pretty sure the hard part about us being there would be getting us to leave. My wife is half coon-ass or cajun...whatever. (speaks French)

Last time I was in Chicago me and my Mexican friends went to an Irish bar. Walked in grabbed a pool stick, challenged them all to a game, then called em all a bunch a micks. Good times it was...

Forgot about Indy. Worked a lot there. Oh God lookit all dem titties.

[SpinnerMan]

Not everybody has city sense. I grew up in a small town with one red light. Barely spent any time at all in a town with a population over 10k until I went to college. I don't assume people have spent any time in a city.

Some cities, like San Fran, no real worries (another city everybody should see once). Others like New Orleans, you need some city sense. Since then, I've spent years in Atlanta. My wife-to-be when we met 26 years ago lived a sketchy part of Richmond, VA. Never been to Paris, IL, but spent a summer living and working in Paris, France. Depending on what part of Chicago you were in, you may have been near where I lived for a summer, it was an Irish part of the city. Maybe you were that asshole that called me a mick, when I'm only 1/8th mick

Been to a large fraction of the big U.S. cities. Looked up the list of cities in the U.S. by population. I had no idea San Antonio was that large. Of the 50 largest, I've lived in or just outside 3 of them, spent time in 25 of them and been through 10 more. Not bad for a kid that grew up in a one redlight town.

[aunt betty]

I'm a city slicker. Figured you knew.
Wouldn't know about a harrow, furrow, combine or which end goes into the field first. WTF is a wind row?
Hay rake is a funny lookin' thing. We own an old antique hay bailer, the rake, and tractor but please don't ask me to actually bail hay. I hear you could lose a finger, hand, or put an eye out.
The farm has about 20 acres of bottom that is a freakin' mess. About half is in hay.
Deer like it tho. Maybe I'll go shoot me some now that my dad is gone. It was his private reserve.

[aunt betty]

How many days now? Thirty eight? Teals and geeses. Oh yeah.

[SpinnerMan]

I'm a city slicker. Figured you knew.

I actually did not know.

I grew up small town. Take my shotgun and dog, walk down the street and stop and talk to the neighbors as I walk the couple blocks to the edge of town and go hunting type small town. And it was a couple of blocks because I lived near the middle of the town.

My grandparent's dairy farm my mom grew up on was still operational when I was old enough to remember. I helped do most everything on the farm at least once, but couldn't do most of it today myself if my life depended on it.

We raised and produced pretty much all of our own food at the time, except for dairy We didn't drink the raw milk, make butter, or cheese. We did all our own beef, pork, ham, sausage, bacon, canned or froze all our own veggies, potatoes, ... Very little we didn't do from scratch beyond dairy, sugar, flour, and a few things like that.

[aunt betty]

Back in the early 80's one of my mom's friends from the phone company said I should hunt with her son Bill.
So I did.
He had permission from every farmer in an entire township. We'd walk out his door in Seymour, IL and just wander around shooting pheasants. Who knows where we might end up. Come dark we'd make a bee line back to his house. Imagine having permission on 100 square miles. It was great. Those were the days. They're over and have been over for close to 30 years or more.

[Rick]

Dave, I spent much of the day in Tiger Island marsh north of Grand Chenier and feel quite confident predicting strong September flights for you guys - absolutely phenomenal deer fly hatch this year.

[Darren]

ok "Oak Island" I can see, but Tiger Island......surely some ol fella in the area has a story. Had to search Google Earth to see for myself, it's officially shown on there

Dave, doesn't even sound like you'll need decoys for these guaranteed flights

[Rick]

ok "Oak Island" I can see, but Tiger Island......surely some ol fella in the area has a story.

I'm guessing alcohol was involved. Better story might have been where we started to the east today: Money Island. Unless, maybe, it was named for what some poor bastard was sinking in it...

[DComeaux]

Dave, I spent much of the day in Tiger Island marsh north of Grand Chenier and feel quite confident predicting strong September flights for you guys - absolutely phenomenal deer fly hatch this year.

I've pulled a few from my neck in the past few weeks.... Not too terribly bad at the camp though. Mosquitoes at dusk are thick.

[Darren]

ok "Oak Island" I can see, but Tiger Island......surely some ol fella in the area has a story.

I'm guessing alcohol was involved. Better story might have been where we started to the east today: Money Island. Unless, maybe, it was named for what some poor bastard was sinking in it...

Hows the hunting around islands Tiger and Money? They fighting salvinia?

[Rick]

No salvina that I saw on either, but that doesn't mean it isn't coming. The Money Island school section we pick has so little open water that I'd not give it a second look - which doesn't mean whoever's fighting the weeds to keep runs open between potholes isn't limiting every day. The Tiger Island section shows much more water and has a super "used to be" reputation. Have seen years when the wigeon grass was thick, though this isn't one of them. Am guessing it can get a bit brackish in those years and is too fresh to suit it now.

[DComeaux]

50 days until opening day of teal season.

Was told, and can see from the road, that the water has dropped substantially in our marsh, so I need to get my butt to the blind to see what's up. Was told by the lease holder on several occasions that he has a generator and pump for us to use at the blind....that just takes all of the fun out of it. It looks like I'll be starting a roseau island, transporting many loads to place around and through the boat hide. Roseau islands are all around us so we're just blinding in. Knowing my luck, I'll not be able to get, of all things, a roseau to take root.

Headed to the camp tomorrow afternoon to continue the work. Last Saturday my cousin and I got a good bit accomplished, and rained out on Sunday. I drove the whole way home in the rain. We should be ready for our final inspection next week, if the weather doesn't screw us.

[aunt betty]

All this stuff would make more sense to the Yankee followers if you'd include geo-tagged pictures. (wink wink)

[DComeaux]

All this stuff would make more sense to the Yankee followers if you'd include geo-tagged pictures. (wink wink)

I'll tell you this much, the gulf of Mexico beach is 3.25 miles, through nothing but marsh, due south of the blind, and the camp is 1 mile north and 2 miles east of the blind.

[aunt betty]

Was joking. Never post cords unless they're the discharge canal at a nuclear power plant that's a refuge. The authorities guard that kind of place heavily.

One exception: Blind #16 at the Fish Hook

[Darren]

Look forward to seeing pics of new blind/setup!

[DComeaux]

DComeaux - hope you have better luck with the roseau cane than we did. It makes a beautiful cover for a blind for a few years - then it just takes over the whole area. We cut it back but you are left with very rigid sharp stakes coming out of the ground. The only way to control it is with chemicals and we did not have very good luck with that.

Bear, I've thought about that, and hope to manage it like Rick does at his blind. When we had the rice blind, the levees were mowed and my pup ended up with cut pads, every year. I for sure don't want her launching on a spear.

I'll have to take a good look at what we have to work with in our immediate area and use an alternative if I can. I just didn't see anything tall enough during my one and only run out there. I was looking for just that, how to make that blind not look like a blind, especially with the large parking garage. I may end up taking the sky scraper down and use the pirogue to get to the blind after I drop the crew off,similar to what I was doing at the other place. There's plenty of spots to hide the big boat away from the blind, It's just that the non-balancing bunch I hunt with may frown on that. They would only hunt when I hunt.

[Rick]

- then it just takes over the whole area. We cut it back but you are left with very rigid sharp stakes coming out of the ground. The only way to control it is with chemicals and we did not have very good luck with that.

Gots to be crazy to cut canes growing around a blind with a cane knife. When I thin what's growing around mine it's well above the high water line and potential dog impalement, with snips and horizontally, so the staubs are flat-ended. So cut, they don't last long above the water and there's nothing sharp left below. And while I do cut what I carry in to dress around the blind, every stick is carried out at season's end.

That said, I remain torn about leaving it thus, as the tall live canes are a huge help in concealing hunters, but also tough to see and work game through, even after the thinning I give them. Well, that and the flotant they're on is too thin to support my aging arse, which makes thinning my stand mighty hard work. Expect to carry a spray bottle of poison this time around and see if spraying the cut staubs to kill their roots doesn't thin next year's stand appreciably.

[aunt betty]

DC we use a burlap camp cover to help hide our boats parked close to the blind
I buy 2 pieces of burlap 30 feet x 56 inches and sew them together makes it easy to cover the boat

Ahhh.
Love the smell of wet burlap in the morning. Been doing the same thing with my boat-blind for years.
^^^ that's a reference to the line in Apocalypse Now. Love the smell of napalm...

[DComeaux]

DC we use a burlap camp cover to help hide our boats parked close to the blind
I buy 2 pieces of burlap 30 feet x 56 inches and sew them together makes it easy to cover the boat

This is what the blind looked like on January 23rd of this year. As I've mentioned, the pit is new and is sitting on the NW corner of that clump with a dog box. The lease holder bought and used heavy duty camo netting at that time and that is whats draped over the boat hide now. It doesn't look too bad, but i want to break up the box look if I can.... The tide was high on this day.

Blind 1.jpg

[aunt betty]

Started the gumbo. My daughter is begging mom to make her version which started out as a chicken gumbo recipe and we changed it to duck, shrimp, and smoked sausage. It's good but I want to do it authentic and compare side by side. (pics later)

I'm following the pirate recipe posted in this thread and I think I got my roux a bit dark.
Probably be alright. Here's what it looks like now. still has about 1.75 hours before I add the shrimp and held back green onions. Finally the file powder.
She brought home Tony Chachere's gumbo file.
Here's what it looks like now.
Plz tell me it's going to turn red like the stuff in the picture.

20170730_113459.jpg

It's got 4 chicken thighs, a pound of smoked sausage, and later a half-pound of shrimp. We had baby back ribs on the smoker Friday and still had three ribs left so I cut up the meat put it in and tossed the bones in too. Smokey. Oh yeah.
Meaty enough?