Had to take advantage of a nice day

72 degrees the 8th of April. After a winter that was, for lack of a better word, Stubborn, the nice weather was welcome. Rachel even had some time this afternoon and she wished to join me! I like when Rachel gets out with me as I know she is swamped most days, and I enjoy her company. We joined a friend, Jon Jones, at a wildlife are with three barrow pits to try our luck at a few crappie or bass, or anything that would bite for that matter. It was great to get there and see all the ducks. Bluebills, mallards, a few butterballs, shovelers, canadas, common mergansers, and a few unidentified. We walked the shoreline as the structure of this place was rather bleak. We tried small, bright, etc and could not get a fish to hit. I finally tried something with a little flash as something mimic the injured shad we kept seeing. Four casts and finally.

First open water fish of the 2013 season!

When I fish, all I want is one. I don't care what size or species, just one. I could have walked away at this point. A few more casts and another. Rachel came over and joined me in my 'honey hole' and I lost a nicer bass just before I could grab it. I was on a hot streak. Jones was finally fed up and he joined us as well. As he was changing his gear I hit a big one. One minute I am cranking, the next, my line is taking a slow, steady, pull across the bank. This was no slouch of a fish. I fought this fish for at least 15 minutes. I dropped my bag off with Rachel, and made my way back and forth on the bank following where ever it went. Back and forth....It never surfaced. We ruled out bass, and there was not wicked run, just slow and steady, so pike was out. I figured catfish or carp. When I finally caught a glimpse of him, Jones and I freaked. Within a minute Jones grabbed my fish.

I was hoping for a legal legit catch, but I had snagged his dorsal fin with one of the treble hooks. I was still stoked to have pig of catfish in hand!

 Rachel and I washing him off for pics

Jones wanted a fat cat belly pic.

 

We tried for another hour or so with no more fish but it was a great afternoon nevertheless. 

On our walk out we discover a small flock of Ross's geese came in on us out of no where. So now we have snow geese amongst the rest of the increasing number of waterfowl on the pit. Great way to spend a few hours indeed. 

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Shed Hunting Fun

Had a few more opportunities to get out and walk again. Two Saturday's ago Rachel joined me on a hike through the big timber that we hunt near Boone. We took our time and enjoyed the first taste of real spring weather. We found one small very chewed buck,

We walked for two hours without any bone but it was wonderful to spend some time out in my sanctuary with the wife.

This last weekend I got permission to walk the property I found Coleman's Legacy last year. I took Michael with me as usual and it was kind of hit or miss out there. With a gully-washing rain, and winter melt, the creek flooded something fierce, so we had to look on the high ground for anything not washed away. We crossed the creek at the bridge and were no more than ten minutes in and I found a dead head we missed last year.

It was great to not be skunked. We had just started walking the 'good' side so there was much more ahead of us. Another ten minutes, at the highest point on the property, and I had real bone.

There was a beaten path trail down the creek bank here but it lead into the abyss that was flooded/strafed bottomland. We continued to grid the area and surrounding for anything else but it proved futile. We forged on ahead and walked the vast ragweed canes down below. Luckily the flood damage was minimal down there. Michael finally hit pay dirt.

The pictures do not do this antler justice. It has a sweeping beam and great mass. All but the brow tines were broken off and a little chewed. It was a great find for either of us. Michael continued to search for the match and I split off to search the surrounding area. Again, another dead head we missed. This one was really old and rather beat up.

We found a couple of dead does as well but no more bone. Saw a fair amount of pheasants throughout the day as well. After walking this property we headed over to Coleman's for a quick look around. It was flooded pretty bad last time we were there and this time it was navigable. No bone there but the giant slough that formed off of the creek on the Eildert's side of the fence was covered in ducks. There were more bluebills than mallards out there. It's a big open expanse, so it was a welcome site to divers. There were canadas, wood ducks, teal, mallards, pintails, bluebills, and a big flock in the middle of unidentifiables. This alone made the trip worth it. They spooked when we got a little too close and it was a swirling mess of ducks overhead for the next twenty minutes. Absolutely wonder-struck.
The afternoon was spent working in the hogbarn with Nick, Lisa, Michael, Ma and Pa. We got a lot done and even had some time to play with some gun a little. I gave Michael my Billy Bass under the pretense that he must turn it into shards. We shot some blackbirds for a little bit and then Nick got the idea that he needed to shoot a snowman with a slug. Whatever. He built his snowman shucked a shell in and then a sparrow landed on brush pile behind the barn. He couldn't not try...Wouldn't you have it the crazy kid obliterated the sparrow with saboted slug from a smooth bore shotgun. Then he shot his snowman and was done. Michael then took one if his turkey loads and took care of Billy Bass.

 

As you can see in the picture, Michael saw a blackbird.....

Stay tuned

Oy.

Been busy working on tables and such and have even been given a bunch of antler sets to mount lately. Everything so far has been put into the Rustick Wood Shop part of Faceplant.

This last weekend was spent working on stuff at the parents place as they continue the process of moving. Micheal Parker and I got out Friday afternoon evening to walk a property he was given permission and gracefully asked that I be able to join. No problems with the landowner on that one! We walked into the property and watched seven deer feed into the prairie with no clue as to our presence. It was a good omen going into the walk. We no more than walked 60 yards in the timber and I yelled "DIBS"!!!

 

I had Micheal hold it for the pic. Had he walked twelve more steps he would have been standing on it. I just saw it first. (He ended up finding a nice right side yesterday)

Really nice antler and my first and probably only for the year. We walked another two hours without another bone. We did end up going back there for Dad's birthday but found no bone then either. Large property and we only walked small portions.

We spent Saturday doing all sorts of random projects. Micheal and I cut up the wood pile on the cement slab before collapsing in a heap in the house. The evening was spent going through old stuff from the closet upstairs. Fun to go through old things.

Working part time at HyVee for now until April 15th. I then start full time with a landscaping crew The Groundskeepers based out of Ames and Grimes. The pay is better and it is full time and then some. Looking forward to a steady paycheck.



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More woods and such

Ned and I are official with our business. Working on website and logo now. Shipping concerns the next issue at hand. Here is what I accomplished today, and yesterday. Really need to start selling stuff...


Red oak stump cut. Dad has the match. I cut this one a year later and after spray painting it for work.

 Cedar coffee table. HUGE and awesome.

 Cedar table of sorts. Unless I get a ridiculous offer I will sell it otherwise it is mine. 

 This is the end cut of an ash canker. Simply amazing.

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Zombies and Wood Stuff

Well, to my credit I was able to pull off the Golden Birthday thing for Rachel, as we got a crowd of friends (15) and headed to Zombie Burger in Des Moines. To my un-credit, I not only brought my camera, but completed neglected to take pictures. I played with it in my pocket all night. FAIL. It was a splendid evening watching Walking Dead on AMC in a zombie bar while everyone around us drank spiked milk shakes.

Out of complete astonishment, Jason Rich, a senior in high school when I was a freshmen, was there and stopped to say hello. Haven't seen him since high school.

There thing is simple; burgers. I had Planet Terror, which was carmelized onions, BBQ sauce, cheddar, ranch dressing, and two greasy beef patties. Rachel had The Dead Moines; a beef patty, prosciutto, ham, and gouda.  I am still recuperating and did not again until dinner tonight and we had soup. We had fun, but I regret horribly forgetting pics.

Rachel and I as we walked back into our apartment after our evening out:

To back track a little, we made waffles and bacon for breakfast, and just vegged for the afternoon for her birthday. We watched The Little Mermaid, and tried the bottle cutter thingy again, to no avail. It was an enjoyable day in my opinion.


On a separate note I have taken every spare moment to work on wood stuffs. I completed my Damascus knife project, and am working on the sheath before I put it on the market:

 Flame grain walnut with osage orange caps.

I finished two antler mounts,

 and I finished another table of which I forgot to take pictures...Theme anyone?



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Table/Business Update and Ice Fishing

 I have continued to plow away at tables lately. I completed my black cherry table set which includes the two end tables as well as the coffee table. They turned out better than I could have expected.

Ned and I have come up with a name and have decided upon Rustick Woodshop. We are working on logo and design right now but we love what we do and want to make money doing it. With that in mind we are maintaining hobby/small scale sale as of now. Excited to say the least.

Now, on to today. Before the snow came in Nick, Jon Jones, and I went to the East Peterson Pits outside of Ames to try our luck at ice fishing. Do-able yes, creepier than hell, even more-so yes. 4-6 inches of good solid ice. We caught a few small bluegill, one small bass, and a couple crappies. The kicker was when we started hearing Jones freak out about losing a fish behind us for about an hour. When he freaked out the final time it was because he caught the fish he was after. I have never witnessed it before, but he pulled up a small catfish. We decided to join him in his success and try our hands at the same fate. He pulled up another, better cat. Unbelievable.

We fished there for another hour or so and he continued to lose fish at the hole. I had finally hooked up with a good size cat and again, lost it at the hole. Awesome experience, but still could not believe that catfish could be caught through the ice.



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Progress...Sorta

Update:

Rachel continues the seemingly never-ending vet school as I seek meaningful, gainful employment. I recently took a part time job at HyVee Wine and Spirits here in Ames. I also had a phone interview for a full time position with the INHF. I had an internship with them in 2009, and this is honestly a dream come true kind of situation. BUT with that said I am not counting my chickens. It is a competitive world and I need to keep looking for full time employment.

My friend Ned Parker and I are moving forward with the wood working business. It will remain a part time/ hobby but we are filing the necessary tax documents so we can name the business and begin active advertising. We will continue to work small scale, but are obviously willing to work on expansion.

With that, I have found a semi-limitless supply of kiln-dried, milled lumber. I have begun working on laminate works. My recent supply was black cherry. I built a matched set of end-tables and a matching coffee table. Legs in the works still.

 The coffee table stained:

At this point, I don't prefer this type of table but the materials were free.



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