What Did You Do Today?

[Knoll]

DC .... you have some skills! Me and electrical thingys don't get along. Congrats!

[DC]

Thank you. 37 years with the telephone company. DC circuits are not much of a problem for me. AC circuits, on the other hand, I keep going back and forth on them.

[JW_Halverson]

Thank you. 37 years with the telephone company. DC circuits are not much of a problem for me. AC circuits, on the other hand, I keep going back and forth on them.

I am not shocked you would say that!  LOL, you got a charge out of that joke, didn't you?

And for those of you that didn't like my puns, don't be so NEGATIVE.

Hehehe.

[DC]

I finally got around to trying steaming in a plastic bag. I just used an old bread bag out of the recycle bin. I cut a slit in one end to slide the bow into and taped the other end tight. I cut another slit for the tube from my steamer. I mounted the bow to the bending jig and turned on the steam. You have to cut a vent hole for the steam to get out. The bag condenses the steam more than my wooden steam boxes so you have to put a bucket under it to collect the water unless you don't care. It worked just as well as my wooden boxes, it still went up to 210 degrees(I think my thermometer is out a couple of degrees). Once it had steamed for 45 min I clamped it while it was still steaming. Steamed it for another few minutes and then turned of the steamer, tore the bag off(put it back in the recycle bin) and aimed my cooling fan at it. I'll leave it like that til tomorrow. So it works a treat. The only problems are the condensation and the fact that you are trying to clamp it while it's hot and steaming. The opportunity to scald yourself is right there. Slip a bit and you've got pink fingers. I will wear gloves next time. It's hard to sort out the picture but here ya go

[Wolf Watcher]

Feeling sad today as I put down a three or four year old black bear that was in the yard last evening.  He has been up and down the ranches along the river this summer and am not sure he was a real threat.  He had no fear and was all around the yard, shop and barn last evening.  He has two ear tags so maybe I will be able to find some history.  This is not the only bear I have killed, but all others were fair chase and I am having a tough time justifying killing him.  There has also been a grizzly in the area and we have no right to shoot him even if he is in your yard.  My game warden friend told me this has been a bad year for bear problems in this part of the state.  I have been a hunter all my life and still have respect for the lives of the animals we live with and except for a few varmints I feel I must respect their right to live.  Wolf Watcher

[lebhuntfish]

Feeling sad today as I put down a three or four year old black bear that was in the yard last evening.  He has been up and down the ranches along the river this summer and am not sure he was a real threat.  He had no fear and was all around the yard, shop and barn last evening.  He has two ear tags so maybe I will be able to find some history.  This is not the only bear I have killed, but all others were fair chase and I am having a tough time justifying killing him.  There has also been a grizzly in the area and we have no right to shoot him even if he is in your yard.  My game warden friend told me this has been a bad year for bear problems in this part of the state.  I have been a hunter all my life and still have respect for the lives of the animals we live with and except for a few varmints I feel I must respect their right to live.  Wolf Watcher

I feel for you Joe. I was hired one time to take care of a coyote issue for a ladies that raised calves. I am a pretty good shot so I had no problem shooting the yotes that was bothering her calves. Then one day a stray dog showed up, he was a likeable young dog but full grown. She wasn't happy about the dog but told me (after a discussion with her) that as long as he didn't bother the cows that I could leave him alone. One day while I was helping move the cow calf pairs accross the road to the barn, this dog started barking at the cows and and ran 3 of them through the fence and we had to put one calf down. The lady wanted the dog shot. All I had was a 12 gauge with me, I didn't want to shoot him but I knew that once he started chasing cows I would never stop him. So I got close and shoot him in the face, it didn't kill him, then I had to track him down and ended up shooting him 2 more times. After it was over a picked up the poor dog and carried him back to my horse in tears. I buried the little fella in my yard. The lady let me go a week later, she said I was too soft hearted. I told her that was ok, but I loved that dog I guess but I still did what needed done.

I'm sorry you had to take the bear but maybe he can provide you with some meat and a warm coat from the hide. Patrick

[Wolf Watcher]

In Wyoming you have to take the hide and head into the G&F within 72 hours for any black bear you kill.  I guess I have a weird since of humor as all the time I was skinning the bear with three stone knives (two I made and one I got in trade at the Classic with Stringman)) I was thinking of Jim Shockey!  It kept going over in my mind "This Bear with these "Havastones"!

[lebhuntfish]

In Wyoming you have to take the hide and head into the G&F within 72 hours for any black bear you kill.  I guess I have a weird since of humor as all the time I was skinning the bear with three stone knives (two I made and one I got in trade at the Classic with Stringman)) I was thinking of Jim Shockey!  It kept going over in my mind "This Bear with these "Havastones"!

We must have a similar sense of humor Joe. I find that funny as well! Patrick

[Marks]

Lebhuntfish-a shock collar would have fixed that problem. My Mt Cur started out chasing cows and the old jack. That jack kicked him in the head 4-5 times but it wouldn't break him. They loved to hate each other. A couple shock therapy treatments and now he makes a wide circle around the cow if they are in his path.

It is never fun to kill a tame animal. We had a doe that followed my truck across the field one day on my way to go deer hunting. I couldn't have shot that deer if I wanted to. It wouldn't have been fair chase. I doubt I could have shot that dog. Anyone who faults you for being that "soft hearted" is crazy.

[YosemiteBen]

Well - not me but my intern had 10$ forced into her hand by a visitor to the Yosemite NDN Museum as an "apology for everything the white people did to the NDNs."

[lebhuntfish]

Lebhuntfish-a shock collar would have fixed that problem. My Mt Cur started out chasing cows and the old jack. That jack kicked him in the head 4-5 times but it wouldn't break him. They loved to hate each other. A couple shock therapy treatments and now he makes a wide circle around the cow if they are in his path.

It is never fun to kill a tame animal. We had a doe that followed my truck across the field one day on my way to go deer hunting. I couldn't have shot that deer if I wanted to. It wouldn't have been fair chase. I doubt I could have shot that dog. Anyone who faults you for being that "soft hearted" is crazy.

Thanks Marks! I know a lot about shock collar treatment, I've run beagles for many years. But I didn't own a collar back then. Patrick

[Stringman]

In Wyoming you have to take the hide and head into the G&F within 72 hours for any black bear you kill.  I guess I have a weird since of humor as all the time I was skinning the bear with three stone knives (two I made and one I got in trade at the Classic with Stringman)) I was thinking of Jim Shockey!  It kept going over in my mind "This Bear with these "Havastones"!

Joe, I'm just proud as punch that ol rock was useful! Reading this really put a smile in my heart that we have been able to connect and do some tradin. I have been contemplating on how best to use that set of horns and this is what I came up with.


The skull plate  sets in a slot and the front tines held down by a loop of leather. Simple and easily disassembled. This will be a great addition to my setup at demonstrations and is a simple way to display my bows.

[osage outlaw]

Coolest bow rack ever!

[BryanR]

Anyone still use this ? I did laundry today.  Mom has Alzheimer's, and was feeling a bit off her game so I volunteered to wash her clothes this morning.  She can't remember my name or what the date is, but she never forgets laundry day.     Still going after 86 years.

[JW_Halverson]

I know someone that is going nuts trying to find a working wringer washer like that one!  She does a lot of brain tanning and that machine does a HUGE amount of the work for you.  Depending on the size of the hides, you can do up to 6 full deerskins at once in the braining solution and the wringer does a lot of the working of the hides.

Started fall training the kestrel this morning.  Being the size of a robin, and pretty gentle of nature, he is the perfect bird for the Black Hills Raptor Center to use for a flight demonstration in school classrooms.  If he "goes off the rails" and lands on some kid's head, he is as likely to injure someone as a parakeet.  Can't say the same for the redtail hawk.  She thinks it is funny to make me bleed.

Today, Hendrix, the American kestrel was forced to hop a whopping 12 inches from his favored perch to my hand in order to get fed tidbits of diced mouse. The hand pops up from my side, with a quick two note whistle.  He gets the count of three to make the hop to glove.  If he dithers, I turn away and walk out of the room quickly.  Wait a minute and walk back.  This is sets him up to believe this is a "limited time offer" and that he better respond immediately.  If he pauses, hesitates, or dithers and I allow my hand to hang out there waiting on him, he learns to delay and eventually it all becomes a waiting game where he has trained me to stand around hoping he will fly to glove.  This goes on for a few days and then I start shortening the count to 2 beats, then later just one beat.  I will also start giving him longer flights for the first one or two tidbits since he will be more hungry for the first few. 

Kids lose their cool when Hendrix does a few laps around their classroom looking for a landing spot.  I just gotta make sure that there are no open windows and that shades are drawn across large glass windows so he does not bash headfirst into one at speed, killing himself.  NOT the kind of nature lesson I wanna be giving the kiddies, ya know?


Tomorrow I might take him out with a long lightweight leash and try him on catching grasshoppers again.  Last week he caught a couple that I had handcaught for him and tossed to the ground nearby.  In falconry, those are called "baggies", or bagged prey.  They are confidence builders, kinda like giving your boxer a couple of glassjaws to knock over before a big fight.  I need to get someone to come along and video him "hunting".  He looks so serious!