Camping

So, I went camping at Jellystone.

There was a big group of us. My GF's 2 brothers and their families, and her cousin and his family.  We played basketball, spent some money at the arcade, met Yogi Bear, and Boo Boo, and all kinds of other fun stuff.  A good time was had by all.

My favorite part about camping is in the evening and night.  There's just something about a nice cold beer and a campfire that really relaxes me.

Beer and campfires go together like peanut butter and jelly.

There is a downfall to campfires and kids, for me anyway....and that is marshmallows.  I hate marshmallows! Gross!!  I do love the Stay Puff Marshmallow Man, and would totally befriend him, but I just cannot stand marshmallows.

Let's just be friends.

There were 2 lakes on the campground, but due to an influx in rain during the week, they were both blown out and overflowing.  Now that I think about it, a few day prior to our arrival, a tornado touched down not far away from the campground, and my GF's brothers were worried that they were going to be closed.  I was able to take my GF's brothers fiance's boys fishing, and they even caught fish...at the same damn time!!!!  How awesome of a guide am I, that the boys doubled up on some warmouths.  I was proud.

My lovely GF cooking up some bacon. Can't have enough of that stuff.

Before we left for the trip, I started to put my extensive collection of decals and stickers to use by decorating my Nautilus Reels Yeti Cooler.  I spent more time on this than I probably should have.  There are a few spots open, but they're already reserved. Actually, I have already filled them in, and just haven't updated the photo.

Deeking out the Nautilus Reels Yeti Cooler.

Outback Modifications

I've made some more cosmetic modifications to my Subaru Outback. Looking for more of a rugged look, I used black Plasti Dip to color a few things.

1. Grill

2. Fog light housing

3. Side door moldings

Let me know what you think!

Door moldings. They used to be the same color red, but now they're black. I think it adds some nice contrast.

BEFORE

AFTER

Bald-Faced Hornet

Hiking around the Northwoods, I came across this small utility shed/building of sorts. Attached to it was the biggest hive I have ever seen with my 2 eyes. There were these huge black wasp looking things going in and out of it. Did some research and they turned out to be Bald-Faced Hornets. I knew it was a wise choice to keep my distance.

I wonder what's in there....

Bald Eagle

While driving back from the Northwoods of Wisconsin, my buddy Fat Gordo and I passed by a bald eagle eating a doe that was on the side of the road. We quickly made a U-turn, but a passing semi truck scared the eagle off of the deer.

Here's a terrible picture of the bald eagle after the semi truck passed by.

After a short while, the eagle just walked around, and then took off into some nearby trees. We were quick to follow the eagle down the road, and to where it was perched. I got out of the car to take some pictures of the eagle and all of it's beauty. 

As I got closer, the bird started to sway and fidget, like it was preparing to take off. I set my GoPro camera to the burst shot setting with hopes of getting shots of this raptor taking off. As I stood almost under the tree, I could hear my buddy Fat Gordo say from the car, "he's gonna go, he's gonna go!" ....after a few more fidgets and a lift of the tail, he went...number 2 that is.

My buddy and I could not control our laughter, because, we were both so sure that he was going to take off. We both would have put money on it. Shortly after the eagle took off, and I missed the opportunity to get those take off pictures, because, I was busy laughing at what had happened.

America.

Thankfully, I was not directly under the tree during the encounter. Although, I hear if a bird poops on you it's good luck, I wonder how much luck a bald eagle would have brought me. Ha

Birds of Prey

Whenever I am out driving around, fishing, kayaking, or doing whatever. I am always on the lookout for birds of prey. I keep a pocket book in my car, so, I can better identify what I had seen while driving, or when I get back from a fishing outing. 

Here's a shot of a Red-tailed Hawk that I am quite proud of. Captured this while the sun was setting. The hawk was eyeballin' me and took off shortly after this photo. Thanks, for the profile shot!!

The pocket guide I use.

(National Audubon Society Pocket Guide: North American Birds of Prey)

Got 'em

The rabbit was playing it smart and avoiding the box trap ever since it worked the first time. Who would have thought that would have worked to begin with. Hahaha

MONDAY

I brought 2 of my trout/kayak fishing nets. I wasn't able to join the guys in the lower level to attempt to capture the trapped rabbit, but I was able to watch from above, and help as the "eye in the sky." Unfortunately, my buddy Arik was not sneaky enough to bag this furball.

TUESDAY

We set the box trap up again with hopes the bunny has forgotten about how it works. No luck.

That little rabbit was wise.

We tried coaxing the bunny into the area, but it would simply avoid the box. Heck it seemed it felt safer closer to one of us. Our trapping time was almost up for the day, so, I gave the nets a shot, and came up empty.

After taking down the trap and calling it a day, we were just about to walk away, and the rabbit came out of the bushes again, sort of putting itself in a corner. I quickly grabbed my nets and raced on over, and quickly tried to fool it into running into one of my nets. The rabbit quickly juked left, right, left, right. It began to look a lot like Barry Sanders with it's swift moves, but eventually I became the victor. One wrong move, and I had it.

The rabbit won some parting gifts.

The rabbit was released in a courtyard on the ground level. It's an area I walk past daily on my way to the fitness center at 5 AM. I often see bigger rabbits out eating and hopping around. Hopefully, one of those bigger rabbits is one of it's parents, and it can now teach it the ways of surviving. I just hope we didn't spoil the little bunny, too much, when it was trapped. (Thinking about it, it ate like a king - carrots and apples galore.) As the bunny left my net, it quickly started eating some of the plants in the open areas, and seemed like it was in a familiar area. Which is a good sign.

Hope to see you around little buddy.

The last thing I told the bunny was, "Don't get eaten by a hawk." ..."Keep your eyes on the skies little man." (Don't know if it was a male or female.)

Took A Walk

I left the fishing rods at home, and opted to take a walk around the forest preserve down the street from my home. I recently borrowed my friends DSLR Nikon and decided that it should come to.

Poor little guy had an injured back leg. I wonder what he escaped from...hawk..owl...coyote...

Cool silhouette shot of a bird in flight.

Who doesn't like a sunset shot. Very happy with the lighting on this one.

Sunset on the Soob.

Way better than watching TV. You'll never know what's around the bend, unless you get out there....or use Google maps. 

Skunked.

Not the fishing type of skunk, either.

Like every morning before I let my dogs out in the yard at 3:30 AM, I turn the light on and make sure there are no critters in the yard. The coast was clear, and I let the dogs out. Daisy usually runs to her spot and does her business and she's back right away. Bo usually wanders around a bit. Well, Bo wandered around, but Daisy, did not do her usual, instead, she kept sniffing all of the bushes very closely. This sort of alarmed me. While I was paying close attention to my dogs through the window on the storm door, I noticed something out of the corner of my eye, I looked down, and I'll be damned....it was a baby skunk standing on the step on the opposite side of the door. The skunk was watching Daisy sniff all of the bushes.

Even knowing that the baby skunks don't have the glads to spray, I knew that momma or pops, couldn't be far. I began to panic. I opened the door and tried "shooing" the baby skunk away with my foot, but that only drew the attention of my dogs, who now noticed that there was another animal in the yard. Thankfully, the little skunk jumped off the step, and under my porch.

....then I got a nose full of that god awful skunk smell...

I called the dogs in and smelled them the best I could. Daisy was perfectly fine. Bo on the other hand, caught a little bit of the spray. My guess is that Momma or Poppa skunk sprayed from under the porch hitting mostly the porch, and a little bit of Bo.

Bo received a quick tomato bath. I only had a can of diced tomatoes, but I think it did the trick...my girlfriend thinks otherwise.

They are living in a hole they dug out underneath my cement step, under the porch.

I've been researching ways to get the skunks removed without having to contact someone to trap them. (and pay them.). I taped a flashlight to my GoPro camera, and used the app on my phone to view the underside of my deck. I found where the skunks have made a home/hole. I soaked some rags with ammonia and used a pole to stuff the hole best I could.

My GoPro light set up.

Screen shot from my GoPro camera - Before I placed the ammonia soaked rags inside.

Screen shot #2 - I did the best I could with the rags. It was an awkward angle.

Hopefully, that will force them to relocate to someone elses backyard or the field nearby.

Visiting the Grandparents at Fish Lake

Took a short day trip to visit my Grandparents at Fish Lake. One of my cousins was up there and wanted to fish. After dinner my cousin grabbed one of my grandpa's fishing rods and his tackle box. We quickly sifted through it, and he asked my advice on what to use. It was a mix of old and new lures. I was intrigued by a few of the older ones.

Here's an old popper I found in the tackle box. It has a light wire in the front that serves as a weed guard. This was my favorite find in the tackle box. He used to toss this with an ultra light spinning rod. Very cool!!

Unfortunately, this lake apparently had an extremely bad fish kill this past winter. Lots of reports and locals indicated that a frightening number of bass, crappie, and other fish were casualties.

Golden roach. There were schools of these guys around the fishing piers. There were some with more size.

I ended the evening catching a few golden roaches, and one small bass tossing a black and red gotcha fly with my 3 wt. My cousin tossed every small lure he brought, with no luck. I'll get him hooked up next time!

My cousin Giacomo looking for his first fish of the year....It didn't come this night.

The bluegill

Far too many people over look the bluegill, and think of it as an annoying fish...

I can guarantee when those same people started out fishing, one of their first fish was a bluegill.

Next time you catch a bluegill, take a closer look at it, and you will find an array of colors revealing a beautiful fish. A fish that's always willing to bite, and save the day of a skunk.

Grandparents Camper

Helped open up my grandparents camper at Fish Lake. Did some cleaning and helped with all of the heavy lifting to get it all ready for Memorial day weekend when the whole family usually goes up to get together.

Lot's of memories at this camper, and it's very hard to believe they've owned it for 14 years now.

Before this permanent camper/trailer, they had an old pop up camper. They belonged to a camping group that went to different campgrounds every year around the states of Illinois and Wisconsin. They're one of the reasons I learned to love and appreciate the outdoors.

Looking forward to making more memories with the family sharing laughs and stories around the campfire, taking my cousins fishing at the lake, and just having a good old time with the family.