What's up today (bullchiting) thread.

Hit the nail on the head. Literally.

 

You already filled it with middle management brains.

 

progress on the pallet palace

 

Congrats to all of you. Thank him for his service for me. My brother did his basic at Ft. Jackson back in the 60s.

 

Technically not today, but over the last few days:


Freshly cut sugar maple and paper birch we got stacked under the overhang of an outbuilding at my sister-in-law's and brother-in-law's cabin, a mile up the road from us.


Ruffed grouse taken Saturday. One of our absolute favorite meals. They were a staple of our diet when we lived here. Now they are a treat for our family fall and winter feasts.


Ridge top view of one of my hunting areas. The lake in the background is a MN/Canada border lake in the BWCAW. This is the beginning of a 10 mile loop with a lot terrain and elevation changes along the way. There is no logging in this particular area, but there is enough brush, creek edges, alder swamp edges, beaver dam edges, etc. to support a fair number of ruffed grouse, with a smattering of spruce grouse thrown in. One of our son's and I walked up to within 50 feet a small bull moose while grouse hunting the day before, but he moved off the trail before I could get a picture. Sometimes the big ones won't move, and force us to go far around them. Our moose numbers have been down over the last few years, but now appear to be rebounding.

Lots of mountain ash berries and hazel nuts this year...as many as I have ever seen...maybe the harbinger of a hard winter?

 

Ruffed Grouse is are state bird....i can remember when they were plentiful (like our ringed neck pheasant used to be)...now there hardly ever seen in our area. I believe the total population is in jeopardy...sad

 

Good job billb3 !!!

 

Sundays are soccer days with my 3 boys. My little one had a 11am game in Dobbs ferry NY right on the water. He scored 1 goal and they won 7-2, my twins played at home in the rain and mud and beat sleepy hollow NY 2-1

 

That ranks pretty high on the pucker factor scale, no?

 

There is some concern that West Nile Virus could be impacting grouse populations in the midwest. I have seen no evidence of this in our area, but one thing that has changed is less logging. The forest areas which were logged that once supported new growth and booming numbers of grouse during peak cycles are more steady now in numbers of birds year to year. Now logging is picking up a bit which will also help our moose and deer.

 

PA game commision biologist says the same for our grouse...steady decline since the early 90's

 

Yup, that's a 10!

 

We had brats, and burgers on our grill, plus all the good tasting, but bad for you chips and dips. The Bloody Mary's were awesome as always ( my recipe)

Got home at like 7:30. We even waited to leave to let traffic clear out. That never seems to help for the Milwaukee season ticket holder games as 99% of the traffic goes down 1 main freeway. There's really no other way to get back south, and not hit traffic unless you spend a night in GB.

 

They had the wambulance procession.

Lol

 

All firewood now under the covered porch! My son and I finished the job today.

 

Penn State will lose too. They always do.

 

That grill doesn't look very hot.

 

They go in 9 year cycles. Give it a couple years, there will be a lot more.

 

Good for them!