Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!

Hope you had prosperous 2010. Wish I had made more time to sit in the woods or on a duck pond this past year. No need to list the excuses I have convinced myself are legitimate, but I promised myself I will make the most of opportunities when they arise in 2011. Over the Christmas break I did visit Smokey Mountain National Park in TN and saw some great wildlife and lots of snow.

I installed a much needed floor in my boat and completed some other minor equipment repairs in preparation of a busy 2011.

Already this year we began work on the St. Johns River, collecting the winter quarter electrofishing sample. Water temperatures were in the low 50’s but we still managed to find some big ones, like this 9lb Largemouth.

Sampling begins this week with trawls and hoop nets. I will let you know how we do.

Switch From Feathers to Hair During Christmas Break

Five days before Christmas my son and I deer hunted at a good friend’s plantation in southeast central Georgia.  The objective was to harvest more does and to get Josh a nice buck.  The big bucks this year after the rut have all but disappeared.  The food is so plentiful they do not need to move hardly at all, and they are not.  We did remove three more does, but Josh's Big Buck will have to wait another year.  The freezers are full and the hunting season is coming to an end.  Now its time to go back to school and get back to work!

Not Doing Much Work, But Lots of Hunting!

We went duck and goose hunting with the Allen Ducks Unlimited Committee In December. Had a great time and we got lots of birds. We duck hunted a Saturday near Bowie, Texas and goose hunted the following day north of Lubbock, Texas. My son josh got a limit of redheads for the first time.  Tejas Waterfowl is top notch for goose hunting, and I recommend Ruben Molinar to anybody that wants to Canada goose hunt in northwest Texas.  Dash the wonder lab was a little tired after Saturday as he retrieved about 27 birds Saturday morning for the group.