I don’t go to the movies much but I’ll admit “The Grey” has intrigued me enough that I might have to head to the theater and check it out. A group of guys stuck in Alaska after a plane crash in the dead of winter and hunted by a pack of wolves sounds pretty good. Sounds like it has some gruesome scenes and a rated R rating maybe not a date night choice.

I see that the Black Bear Blog has a story up about the animal rights wackos wanting folks to boycott this movie because of the way wolves are portrayed….. remember they are really cuddly critters.

Getting skunked on a hunt is never fun and when 3 guys go on a duck hunt and only get one duck it is pretty easy to brand that as a “Lousy Hunt” but in this case nothing could be further from the truth.
Having a young person along and seeing him get his first Mallard Drake made the whole thing worth it for me. We were sitting on a beaver swamp in Harnett County long before shooting light so we could hopefully not scare to many of the birds off. I’ve hunted with Carson and his Dad a number of times this morning Carson and I were in the easier to reach spot while his Dad (who was wearing waders) worked his way around to the other side of the swamp.
There was some open water in front of us and between the moon and the stars once our eyes adjusted we could see the beavers and the wood ducks swimming back and forth only a few feet from us. This was looking to be a great day’s hunt but like wood ducks will do they flew off before legal shooting light leaving us holding the bag so to speak.
Once daylight hit we had some wood ducks fly over us but our poor shooting didn’t help us bag any of them. Shortly after that the mallards started flying many out of our reach but finally some flew our way. Carson threw his gun to the shoulder and dropped one of them in the woods right behind us. He was excited especially when he discovered it was a Drake.
I swear there is no such thing as a “ lousy hunt” when you have young people along they bring you back to your early days of hunting and how exciting every little aspect was an adventure. Take a young person hunting it will a whole new perspective to your hunts and it will do away with the doldrums of a slow hunt.
As we sat in a small dinner eating breakfast and hearing Carson relive the morning hunt with his Dad I thought to myself what a lousy hunt this wasn’t .

Take a Kid Hunting!!!

Tundra Swans winter in the eastern part of North Carolina and one of the few places in the country where you can hunt them. One of the largest waterfowl you’ll ever see and a very beautiful bird. Hunting is an important management tool in managing these birds and by having a limited hunt for them allows a small number of them to be taken each year. To be able to hunt them you have to enter a lottery and draw a tag and unfortunately I wasn’t drawn this year.
NCWRC Tundra Swan Page
I did get the opportunity to take my camera and lay out in a muddy field ditch and photograph a hunt this year.

Conman’s Guide Service is who I recommend to go with if you draw a tag and looking for a place to hunt.

This past weekend my wife’s Uncle Edward lost his battle with cancer but his faith will win the war over death and we’ll see him again. Edward Adams was a country minister dedicating his life to service in small churches all across the southeast. When I joined this family a number of years ago Uncle Edward was one of the interesting people I got to know. At the family gatherings he always seemed to be the center of attention at least until he said grace and we could get to the food. He had a love for the outdoors and he and I often swapped stories about hunting and fishing. I never got to actually hunt or fish with him but the stories we shared were special.
The story that has been sticking out in my mind this week was one he told me at Christmas a while back about how he’d gotten a deer that year. It seems he was driving home after visiting some sick folks at one of the local hospitals when he spotted a buck feeding in a small field behind a house. He stopped at the house and went up to the door and knocked on it. A woman answered the door and he introduced himself and then asked her if she minded him hunting in the field behind her house. I guess cause he was a minister she told him that be fine. That in and of itself is pretty funny but what he did next to me was hilarious but it’s within his character to do. He asked the woman if he could borrow her bathroom to change into his hunting clothes. After changing he went out there and snuck up on that buck and killed it.
That story brings a smile to my face every time I think about it and seeing a deer standing in a field near a farmhouse brings it to mind often.
Uncle Edward loved the outdoors ; chasing rabbits, surf fishing at Carolina beach, hunting turkeys in South Carolina. I’m going to miss him and I’ll miss hearing his tails of adventure in God’s great outdoors. His love for the Creator who made this world and his desire to teach others about God’s Love is even more important. I hope and pray that you have Peace With God like Uncle Edward did and I do.

My doctor told me I was out of shape but I told him last I heard round was a shape. Funny…. somewhat but like many folks I’ve battled with weight and the illnesses & problems that comes with being over weight for a while now.
My doctor’s visit in June my lab work was bad…. A1C was 9.8 (should be bellow 7.0) and the doctor wanted to put me on shots to control my diabetes. I didn’t want to do that so it was a wake up call for me to really get on track.
I started doing some research on my own trying to figure out what the best approach would be. I’ve done Weight Watchers in the past with some success but its the stick to it part that always seems to sink me.

Well I found an interesting book in my research and decided to get it and give it a try. “The 30- Day Diabetes Cure” and I started the program in early September. Pretty easy thing to follow and it taught me some new ways to think and approach what I eat. About 5 weeks into the program I had my labs redone and my A1C had dropped to 7.2 I was 350 lbs when I started and I dropped some weight too. I lost close to 30lbs when I kind of let the holidays side track me a bit.
I’m back on track with the plan trying to eat right and get some exercise. I’m shooting to drop below the 300 lb mark by the opening of turkey season here, about 12 weeks away. That’s about 2 lbs a week ( I’m currently @ 323)

As time goes on I’ll share my journey and the things I’m doing to help reach my ultimate goal of 250. I’ve run into a number of other hunters and outdoor types that share the same battle whether it is 10lbs or a 100 lbs you want to lose we can all help each other.