Blinds, Food Plots, Fishing and Weddings.

Well let me see where to begin. I've been busy visiting family in Alabama,working around the home front, my job,and working with my grandchildren trying to build a deer blind at my dad's place that's big enough for two of us as I have four of my grandchildren wanting to try to take a deer this year. The walls are up with the roof so now I have to get some hinges to put the door and windows on with then figure out the camo on the outside of it. It should make for a great year hunting with my grandchildren whether we take deer from it or not. I'm also planning on planting a food plot in front of it to help attract the deer and starting a feeder tube in the field close by it. A salt lick may not be a bad idea either if I have the time to get all this accomplished. My smoking habit is still an ongoing process I'm still working on and I've been fishing in our company bass anglers tournament at work that we've just started on may 10th. Two tournaments so far and my partner and me have come in second place but this you'll have to read about on my fishing blog ( http://fishingafield.blogspot.com ). I'm also planning a trip to Gatlinberg this October for a wedding vow renewal with my wife on the 27th ( 20 years ) and my youngest daughter is having a wedding June 21st redneck style ( with real shotguns and everything and everyone drssed in camo including her and her groom and plenty of beer for all). I've had a long year already and it's passing me by fast. I've also joined Facebook and enjoy that alot and have found many of my fellow bloggers there too. I've added a few new links to my blogroll which some of you may want to check out which deals with outdoor clothing, hunting equipment, fishing equipment and climbing gear of all kinds. look under " outdoor gear " for the urls of these three sites. Okay that's about it for now so let me go now to my other websites and update them with some new articles then I've got to get some sleep so I can go to work tonight. Hunting seasons coming quicker then we think so everyone get ready and have a safe year out there this year.

Traveling and Relaxing.

Just a brief update to let everyone know I haven't passed on yet. I'm actually in Alabama right now on my daughters computer enjoying a relaxing weekend with my wife, daughter, her husband and four of my grandchildrens and an ex-son-in law. We came down Friday morning after I finished a 12 hour shift and arrived around 12 noon. We'll be leaving here Sunday morning around 11:00 a.m. heading home. I've kind of left my postings for a while to catch up on some chores at home and find time to relax and work on quitting my smoking and take stress management classes online through my work insurance. As for my smoking, I like 10- 12 cigarettes before I start using the nicotine patch therapy to finish off my habit for good. If I plan it Right without pushing it to fast, it should be about a week or two before I start the patches. I'll start back visiting sites again sometime after I return home this weekend.

Just a Short Progress Update.

My hunting is been put on hold for a little while to take care of some of my chores around the house and help a friend- neighbor. I've been busy trying to get my garden out between rains and had to work on my chain saw tuning it up and getting it ready to cut my winters wood supply. I've also been trying to take my grandsons fishing on at least one of my days of work ( you can read about that adventure here at http://fishingafield.blogspot.com ) and plan on going again this weekend which is suppose to be in the 80's and sunny. I still have alot of work around home and my dad's to do but I will try my best to get something posted here on my hunting site as well as my other to sites for all to read. In the mean time I'll be reading other sites and looking for new sites to join the OBS. Everyone keep up the great work and I'll be by soon. Get out and enjoy the great spring weather and the outdoors.

Why Did I Join The Outdoor Bloggers Summit?

Kristine over at the Outdoor Bloggers Summit posted this challenge to everyone and I finally decided that I needed to get with the program and follow up with her challenge so here it goes. Why did I join the Outdoor Bloggers Summit?, the answer to that question was simple now that I think about it. The real answer was because it was the only place that I had found at the time that allowed me to read updates of what everyone was doing, locate new sites that I'd not visited before, make new friends around the world, try to gain exposure for my websites and read some really great articles on new products for the outdoors person. There were times I'd visit leaving my comment and others I'd visit just to read everyone elses comments which I find to be of great value and benefit to all ( so don't ever forget to check out the comments folks after reading the articles ). The Outdoor Bloggers Summit I feel has grown with epic preportions ( and will continue to grow ) in a way nobody thought was possible and has given everyone so much insight into the outdoor world without regards to your choosen adventure of the outdoors. I'm a proud supporter of The Outdoor Bloggers Summit ( displaying the Outdoor Bloggers Summit badge on every website ) and will continue to support this website in every way possible including trying to recruit new members. The OBS has now moved to a new site(http://OutdoorBloggersSummit.com/), taken on a new look which makes you feel at home and is easy to browse through and use and as far as I know has rejected nobody wanting to join us there ( the OBS is open to everyone wanting to join us ). The Outdoor Bloggers Summit is a website that was designed to bring outdoor bloggers together and has done this and will continue to do this through our support and hard work. Joining the Outdoor Bloggers Summit was one of the best moves that I did when I first started blogging and I'm glad to be a member and supporter of the OBS.

Two Historic Events with a Great Future Ahead.

December 2000, 50 elk were released into the Cumberland Mountains of East Tennessee marking a historic return of the elk to Tennessee's landscape. This year a second historic event will take place making the Elk Restoration Program a large success. This year 5 lucky applicants will be drawn to participate in an elk hunt in the Cumberland Mountains scheduled to take place on October 19th - 23rd. Tennessee residents and non- residents of Tennessee may apply for the Elk hunt either by Tennessee license agents or online at Tennessee wildlife Resource Agencies home page found at http://www.tnwildlife.org. or at http://www.tnelkhunt.org. Young adults ( under 16 years of age ) may also apply for the elk hunt but must be accompanied by an adult non-hunting companion 21 years or older. The fee for the application is $10.00 non-refundable regardless whether drawn or not plus all other hunting licenses applicable. All permits are non- transferable and no refunds will be made to anyone issued a permit. Of the 5 permits to be drawn for the elk hunt, 1 will be donated by a NGO ( Non- Governmental Organization ) with the proceeds designated to the TWRA ELK Program. Non-resident applicants will be restricted to no greater then 25 percent of the drawn permits. Photos of the Tennessee Elk herds can be seen at http://www.tnelkhunt.org as well as other information about the elk herds and the application instructions. Hopefully with the help of the Elk Restoration Program it will only be a matter of time before the Tennessee Elk can roam the woods and fields of open ranges as the whitetail deer do now.

Spring Is Coming.

Wild hogs, wild turkey or shed antler hunting? Just when you thought you were going to get a break and catch up on some work around home you discover it's just starting all over again. For many outdoor enthusiast, the spring thaw is the beginning of another year of outdoor adventures. A time to renew old friendships and make new ones. Just as the weather begins to warm up for the first time in months everyone begins to get the spring fever and wants to get outdoors for the fresh air and a little relaxing time away from all the work. It doesn't matter whether your hunting shed antlers, watching birds, checking your fields or just going for a walk in the woods looking at the wild flowers. Spring is a great time to enjoy life outdoors. Here in Tennessee there are several hunting seasons opening to the hunters that may want to take advantage of the spring thaw such as wild feral hog or wild turkey and even an early spring squirrel season. Those of us who want to take on a new adventure this year can take advantage of the early hunting seasons or can set out engaging our new adventure with a friend who already knows about our chosen adventure.I, myself have decided to try hunting wild feral hogs this year and have researched them on the internet, as well as around the area with some of the local farmers and TWRA ( Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency ). I found a 500 acre farm of which I acquired permission to hunt and found out that they have taken some nice hogs of around 250 - 300 pounds from the farm last year while thinning out the group. I have plans on trying to take my hogs with a bow to start out and if this plan fails I'll go to the rifle. I've been offered the opportunity to go horse back riding on the farm while hunting for hogs but this may be alittle more challenge then I want not knowing how the horses will react. Although spring has shown it's face several times and the flowers and trees are blooming it's not quite over yet and I've still got alittle work to do before I'm ready for my first hog hunt. We,re in the dogwood winter now with blackberry winter quickly approaching then spring and the warm weather it brings will be here and I for one can't wait. Springtime and the beauty it brings is soon upon us so get out there and enjoy the outdoors again this year and be safe during your adventures.

Basics to Hunting Wild Feral Hogs.

When you start thinking of feral hog hunting where do you start? For anyone just starting out hog hunting ( like myself ) probably the best place to start is at your local wildlife agency. Asking the right questions can give you alot of useful information to getting you headed in the right direction. For most of us just starting out probably the first and most important thing to hog hunting is locating a place with a substantial group of hogs on it. Most wildlife agencies can tell you all the management areas with feral hog populations on them and may even give you a list of farms or ranches. Almost every management area is open to hog hunting during the deer hunting season only and ranchers charge a fee to hunt game on their ranch so if you can, try to locate a farm that borders a management area with feral hogs and ask the owner for permission to hunt wild feral hogs on their farm. If you get permission to hunt hogs ask the owner if he can tell you any places he's seen hogs consistently or if there's any fields that the hogs are destroying. Once you've located a farm to hunt and created a good repoor with the owner your next objective should be to look over the farm and decide from the signs and sightings the best place to ambush the hogs. Decide whether you want to hunt from a stand, a blind or just standing by a large tree. If your going to be using tree stands be sure to get permission to use them and never attach them to the trees with nails or any other damaging hardware and the same goes for using screw-in steps, get permission first. Now that your set-up is complete, make sure you acquire all the proper licenses for hunting wild feral hogs. Here in Tennessee, law requires a hunting license and a big game license (either gun, archery or muzzle loader depending on the weapon you hunt with. ). Once you've taken a feral hog it's not mandatory to check it in at a checking station here in Tennessee however, the wildlife agency would appreciate notification of the location and quantity of hogs taken. Okay now, you've taken your first feral hog so now what? Do you take it to a local processor or do you process it yourself? This would depend on you and your abilities, do you have the right equipment? Do you have the knowledge to properly process and package the hog you've taken? Is there someone that can guide you through the process and help you? If you have any doubt about processing your hog properly then perhaps it would be best for you to carry your hog to a processor until you can gain the knowledge to do it yourself. Well your now armed with some of the basics for getting started into wild feral hog hunting so get out there and help thin out the feral hog population and enjoy yourself while in the woods and fields this year and good luck.

Sus Scrofa

Sus Scrofa which is otherwise known as the pig was introduced to North America by the first European settlers some 10,000 years ago and although they have since been domesticated there are still groups of these free-ranging feral hogs today. They have a voracious appetite and destructive rooting behavior that can cause severe habitat damage especially to newly planted food production fields. To add to the feral hog problem is the fact that the females mature sexually at 5-8 months and can produce a litter of 6-12 piglets 2-3 times a year when conditions are favorable. Adding even more problems is the threat that comes from their ability to tranmit swine brucellosis and pseudorabies to farm raised animals causing a serious effect on the economy. A form of E-Coli bacteria has also just recently been discovered that effects humans to an extent of even causing death. Any wild hog found on management areas are considered as wild boars and any wild hog found on private property are considered as wild feral hogs. Hunting of wild feral hogs is open year round on private lands with no bag limits on either sex.

Dangerous and Serious Trouble with a Lesson.

Upon getting off work Monday morning at 7:00 a.m., I went home then headed out to Fort Payne, Alabama to take care of some business then drove back home. All together I ended up being up for 31 hours. 12 hours of work, 2 1/2 hours before work just getting ready for work, the drive to Fort Payne and back with the business involvement was 12 1/2 hours then another 4 hours of work at home. After 31 hours of being up I finally gave in to the sleep but then Tuesday morning, I got up again at 7:00 a.m., had my coffee, drove to Crossville to help my daughter ( who just moved in with us after 126 days in jail ) try to find a job then stopped at the TWRA ( Tennessee Wildlife Resource Agency ) to inquire about information on feral hog hunting, back home, got the wife and took her to Sparta to eat lunch and get groceries, back home and that's when things really got exciting and dangerous. I got a wild hair and decided because it was a beautiful day and the wind, I thought wasn't blowing real bad, so I lit a small fire in my garden spot to burn off the grass and weeds. Boy was that a mistake and a half. Soon as I lit the fire the wind gusted, the fire spread quickly and I was by myself trying to beat it out with only a leave rake. I ran to the house, grabbed my water hose which was to short, got the wife outside and told her to get help then returned to beating the fire with the leave rake. I beat the fire until I just couldn't beat it any more and was out of breath, shaking and coughing from the smoke. Finally help arrived, the water hose was extended with a second hose and then the Volunteer Fire Department, an ambulance and the White County Sheriffs Department arrived just in time to prevent the fire from catching my neighbors house on fire. After an hour and a half, the fire was out and then the sheriffs department stepped in and told me he was supposed to write me a citation and could even take me and put me in jail for 3 years. Finally after 30 minutes of talking to the deputy sheriff, it was decided by the officer that he wouldn't give me the citation or take me to jail ( lucky me ) but he was going to notify the U.S. Forestry Division and any complaints they received about the fire damage would put me in jail. Good thing I'm on good terms with my neighbor and she wasn't too upset about the fire damage. I had a few hot spots re-lite which I was able to put out quickly by myself and had a tree which was burning on the inside which I cut down and managed to get put out then continued to watch the burnt area till 8:00 p.m. for hot spots and re-lites. Fortunately there was no buildings lost,just underbrush. The good thing is my garden spot is now ready to turn and plant just as soon as it drys out but the bad news is it's supposed to rain here so I guess it will still be awhile before I can plant my garden. The lesson learned here was to get a burn permit from the U.S. Forestry Division and make sure you have plenty of help on hand when you burn and not on a windy day.

Two Bad Weekends in a Row.

This weekend has turned out to be a big bust for me as all my plans have been overturned by some misfortune. I had planned on going fishing before the final day our licenses run out but the weather just got really messy. I planned on getting out and starting a clean-up routine around my house but there again that darn weather just didn't cooperate. About the only few things I was able to accomplish was going to town for some new clothes, watching the television set ( most of the day ) and visiting a few websites to give my support to my fellow bloggers ( which was the best part of my rainy weekend ). Next weekend I have to be at my job and it's daylight savings time on Sunday ( March 8, 2009 )and I have to make a trip to Alabama on Friday, so no work around home that weekend. As for the following weekend I'll just have to wait and see how things pan out by then. Last weekend I came down sick and ended up going to the hospital on Sunday morning only to find out that I have Chronic Bronchitis and C.O.P.D. ( Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease ) which I have been researching on the web. I've found out that it's worst than I thought it was and can even be fatal. I'm now in the process of having to give up my smoking habit whether I want to or not and when you go from 1 1/2 -2 packs a day for 24 years to 1-12 cigarettes a day with only will-power and a loving wife for support, I think I've done quiet well for my first week. Patches, gums and prescriptions are too costly for me at this time so I'll try the will to live as my savor along with the Grace of God. If I can give up the smoking habit it could add a few extra years to my life and allow me the time to possibly go on that hunting trip of a lifetime I've been wanting to take for so long now or maybe even a grand fishing trip to the ocean for big cobia's or tarpon. For now I'll settle for the extra time with my wife, reading and commenting on blogs, grandchildren and home life as it is now.