First Rabbit Hunt of the Season

Today, we went out with 3 other guys for a late December Rabbit hunt. I haven't been rabbit hunting since I was a youngster, so it was quite the experience for me, and as for Little Mike, he has never been before. I managed to get 3 rabbits and we took 5 total. My youngest brother in law, who is a new hunter, got his first rabbit ever, and my other brother in law got one also. Little Mike got some shooting in but didn't manage to take one, although he did hit one, it got away. My father in law was our bloodhound dog today. He flushed and tracked rabbit for us throughout the afternoon. He actually tracked the one my brother in law shot for about 100 yards or so. After following the blood trail, he spotted it and we put him in the field bag. What I thought was really cool was, that, I took my great grandfather's old double barrel 16 gauge shotgun out to hunt with. He took alot of deer and turkey with it down in Alabama, and I wound up with it. I hadn't used it since I first took it turkey hunting about 7 or 8 years ago. It made me feel really good to take my first 3 rabbits with it on my first rabbit hunt in years. I know he would be proud to know that his gun is still taking game 4 generations later. When we got back home, my brother in law cooked up 3 other rabbits we had in the freezer along with a squirrel from my youngest brother in law. Not a bad way to spend a late December afternoon. In the picture above is my youngest brother in law Jim, and Little Mike. The picture below is me with my new hunting hat I got for Christmas. My wife thinks I look like Eddy Griswold from Christmas Vacation.

Little Mike's First Ice Fishing Trip

Well. today we got out for Michael's first ice fishing trip. We went with my brother in law out on a local private lake. We spent about 3 - 4 hours fishing with not much luck. My brother in law hooked a huge pike. He got him up to the hole and was about to try to pull him through the ice when the fish spit the hook!! I saw the fish near the whole and it was a hog. Another friend of my brother in law, went with us and caught a small bluegill, I had one good bite, but I was busy talking and missed it. A couple of other random bites between the 4 of us, but that was it. Michael got to experience how to cut holes, and set tip ups and jig through the ice, but nothing to put in the frying pan though. All in all it was a good time outside today. The temp was around 32 degrees this morning with some snow coming down. While we were out on the ice we saw 2 different flights of geese come through, that was cool. We also heard alot of shooting at the near by pheasant preserve, those guys were tearing it up today. There was a beagle howling for about an hour in the nearby woods, he must have been on a bunny track. Check out our podcast this week and we will discuss the fishing as well as some other things we did this week.

How Do You Feel About The 2nd Amendment

I just received this link from a friend of mine. It is from the USA Today newspaper, and they want to know if "YOU" think the 2nd amendment gives individuals the right to bear arms? Everyone who knows me knows how I already feel on this issue. Let your voices be heard and click on the link below and vote. Maybe some one in the main stream media will finally hear us and publish the results!

http://www.usatoday.com/news/quickquestion/2007/november/popup5895.htm

Wildlife In Urban Areas

Yesterday, I visited our local township hall, which sits on Lake Fenton, my son and I noticed a few ducks flying around. I told him we need to go around back to see if there were any on the lake. When we get around back and look across the water, we see a pocket of geese that numbered over 100! While we were standing there, no more than a minute, we notice more ducks flying by, probably about 25 or so. I told him that they must be around the point in the cove. After leaving the township hall, we drive around the cove and see a pocket of around 300 ducks!! We hunt all season just to find a few ducks and geese, then after the middle season ends, we find hundreds of them on a lake we can't hunt. More and more these days we are seeing wildlife in areas of heavy population and less in the wild areas. Animals definately know where they are safe. Hopefull these waterfowl will stay in the surrounding area until next weekend when the late season opens back up.

Why We Are Here

Welcome to our first post on our blog. Hopefully you will find these stories and information useful as well as funny or entertaining. We hope to use this blog site as a compliment to our weekly podcast that you can find on our website. We will update our blog as often as we can during the weeks to come. My son who helps me host the podcast will also help post on this site. His insite on the outdoors, is informative and sometimes ammusing. He gives our podcast a look through a youngsters eyes into our world of hunting and fishing. He helps me keep things simple and remember why I do this in the first place, for the sure enjoyment and the privelage of passing it on to my kids and others. Feel free to email us or comment on the blog, and by all means check out our weekly show on www.upnorthjournal.com