Posted in Uncategorized on July 16, 2008 | 2 Comments »
My South Africa trip ended last July and this week I picked up my final delivery of processed trophies from Golden State Tannery, Inc. located in Turlock. The last two boxes included the back hides from my kudu bull, back hide from my impala ram and complete hide from my black wildebeest.
Along with the hides [...]
Posted in Ecology, fishing, outdoors, wildlife on July 2, 2008 | 1 Comment »
The kingfisher was perched upon a stump protruding four feet above the lake surface. From this lake location near the mouth of the river which fed the impoundment, he commanded an excellent view of the water below, where smallmouth bass minnows hid amongst rocks of the lake bottom. His gaze was unyielding as he remained [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged stream fishing on July 1, 2008 | 1 Comment »
The emerald-green stream water glistened with early morning indirect sunlight. The deepest portion of the hole, alongside the swift current, had the best potential to hold large trout.
The fly, hand tied on a size ten hook to the specifications provided by my brother, seemed like an insignificant item in the rushing stream water. As I [...]
Posted in Uncategorized, tagged Add new tag, trout fishing at Lake Almanor on July 1, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Roads were closed and the sky was filled with smoke, but that didn’t stop our annual trek to the north lands for trout fishing. Highway 70, up the Feather River Canyon has been closed for about a week and today highway 32 from Lake Almanor to Chico was closed due to the proximity of lighting [...]
Posted in dogs on May 9, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Our canine companions are wonderful company. Val, the 14-year old yellow lab has seen her better days as a duck retriever, but her loyalty has never been more endearing. Lola our 18-month old yellow lab has energy without bounds and never ceases to impress me with her enthusiasm.
Val has lost some of her senses, primarily [...]
Posted in Ecology, Endangered species, Wildlife habitat, blacktail deer, wildlife conservation, wildlife management on April 21, 2008 | 1 Comment »
Saw a pair of fawns yesterday. First of the year for me. Whenever I see my first fawn of the season, I can’t help but count back to the date it was conceived. I’ve been told that the blacktail gestation period is about 7 months. Various internet sites say it’s about 200 days. That sounds [...]
Posted in co-ownership, ending co-ownership, real estate on April 3, 2008 | No Comments »
Sometimes you just can’t continue to co-own property with certain individuals. It’s similar to getting a divorce, but you may hardly know the person you’re “divorcing.”
I recently participated in a partition action on a ranch which I own approximately a twenty percent interest. As the petitioners my partners and I named the other co-owners in [...]
Posted in Archery hunting, Big game hunting, Deer hunting, Hunting, Hunts with a Professional Hunter or Outfitter, archery, sheep on January 21, 2008 | 1 Comment »
A couple months after the 2006 Buck-O-Rama, I purchased a northern BC Stone Sheep hunt. Having hunted mule deer since I was 21, I wasn’t sure exactly how I’d be getting all the value out of the hunt, because a great mule deer hunt could be purchased for less than one third the price of [...]
Posted in California Delta, Duck hunting, Ecology, Farm Management, Hunting, Land Ownership, Wildlife habitat, goose, outdoors, permanent marsh, pheasant, real estate, seasonal marsh, wildlife, wildlife conservation, wildlife management on January 13, 2008 | No Comments »
After a morning of enthusiastic and exhausting pheasant hunting, with a bird each in the bag, Rob and I trudged through a final field of marsh on our way back to camp.
I glanced over to my brother, and he pointed skyward – above our main duck hunting pond. A large flock of mallards was circling [...]
Posted in Archery hunting, Big game hunting, Deer hunting, Duck hunting, Farm Management, Hunting, Land Ownership, Partnerships, Ranch Management, Wildlife habitat, outdoors, real estate, selling land, wildlife conservation, wildlife management on January 12, 2008 | No Comments »
(Caption: The size of the pond and the catch vary with ”the beholder.” 
The small sycamore tree stood atop a 20 foot high mound where it had been spared by quarry equipment. It remained an island in an otherwise barren gravel pit. From our vantage point, my brother, Rob, and I could see a valley quail sitting atop [...]
