A Season of Change

It appears that five months have elapsed since my last post!  I have a great excuse for not writing.  He looks something like this...

 Yes, the Woods Hippie tribe has expanded its ranks by one.  As of this writing, the little guy is seven weeks old and has already enjoyed his first hike in the woods of Burlington, CT and has tasted some delicious squirrel stew (albeit processed into breast milk by Mama).  So, I haven't had much opportunity of late for grand outdoor adventure, but plenty of grand life adventure!  I can't really ask for much else.

Although, it would have been a blast to be able to ski on some of that freak October snow.

The venerable Coleman stove was impervious to the power outage.

As I alluded to above with the stew reference, I have been hitting the small game hunting season with some regularity, and the squirrels have made some tasty fare.  Don't knock it till you've tried it!  Squirrel really is a flavorful meat and an elusive quarry, too.  Forest greys are much more wary than your average suburban squirrel.  My setup of choice has been my Remington 870 12 gauge shotgun outfitted with a full choke, shooting no. 6 game loads.  The tight choke allows for longer shots in oaks still loaded with foliage, and I don't have to worry about the consequences of sending a .22 slug skyward in the relatively populated areas in which I hunt.  That, and the scattergun gives me options should I flush a stray pheasant or partridge.

I'll leave you with a few scenes from a Connecticut small game hunt...

Think snow.

Aimless Goals for 2011

Tired of winter?  Just go to Hawaii, right now.

About once a year, whilst locked in mid-winter’s icy grasp, I find myself daydreaming about the indelible pleasures of the other seasons – warm breezes wafting through an open window, falling asleep on a mountaintop in the sun, and, most importantly, not having to put on all my clothing to poop the dog.  Now is the time when I lay out my grandiose plans for the upcoming year; few of which ever come to fruition but all of which look good on paper in February.  The promise of warmer days always seems to fill me with energy for tackling various summer projects, but even as I type this I realize that some of this stuff is just plain work.  And, I always seem to forget that a crucial eight hours of most days are filled with another type of work that is necessary to keep the grocery spigot flowing.  Oh well.  Without further ado, I present my perpetual list of goals that I commit myself to every winter and never seem to follow through on during the summer.

Garden

One of the more successful garden years.

My wife and I have kept a garden pretty much every year since we bought our house, with varying results.  As with most things in life, the success of a garden is directly proportionate to the amount of effort invested.  I’ve learned that just throwing seeds in the ground once the last frost passes is not a great way to ensure a bountiful crop; I really need to focus on starting seeds indoors while simultaneously prepping the beds with compost and other amendments, and then keeping that focus to keep the garden watered and free of weeds.  This all sounds relatively straightforward, which it is, but these early spring tasks coincide with the spring skiing season in the North Country, arguably the most enjoyable time to be on a ski hill.  Also, the warming temperatures in southern New England signal the return of two of my other favorite distractions, bicycling and motorcycling.  Anyway, I want to devote some more time to the garden this year as I want to try canning vegetables.  That seems silly since commercially-canned produce is available at a fraction of the cost of what I’m going to lay out for a pressure canner and supplies, but there is something aesthetically-pleasing and anti-establishmentarian about producing my own food that tickles my anarchist sensibilities.

Fishing

The Woods Hippie on a Vineyard striper mission with Hoagie.

I have a veritable sporting goods store in my basement, including a practically unused 5-weight fly rod, two ultralight spinning setups, and a formerly well-utilized inshore saltwater spinning setup.  All have spent the last few years doing little more than putting out the fishing “vibe” around the house.  I live fifteen minutes from one of the finest trout streams in New England, and I could easily cast a few flies every day before work, but then again maybe I should be pulling weeds from the garden.  I also dream about rigging up a way to transport rods via motorcycle or bicycle because adding another sport just makes everything tastier.  The fishing aspirations may be the first ones to be realized, because Mrs. Hippie always expresses a mild interest in casting a line, so any opportunity to get her out in the woods or streams is a bonus.

Hunting

Mrs. Hippie ain't afraid to handle some iron, either.

I have always enjoyed wing-shooting and small game hunting but have not devoted much time to these pursuits in recent years, mostly because I've been obsessed with bicycling and trail running during the onset of hunting season.  I've already purchased my hunting license for this year and submitted my bid for Connecticut's lottery for shotgun deer season.  I have never killed a deer but I am excited to spend some good time in the pre-season scoping out terrain.  Most importantly, I'm hopeful for a freezer full of venison steaks and stew meat to carry me through the next winter.  I have a slew of delicious venison recipes that I've perfected on other people's deer meat, this year it's my turn!

Home Improvement

Yeah right.








Enjoy the rest of the winter folks, spring is coming fast.



New Toy

Simmons scope on a Marlin 25N .22 rimfire rifle.

This weekend I picked up a Simmons .22 Mag riflescope for my trusty .22 rimfire rifle.  I've been shooting the rifle with the stock open sights for the last 15 years so I figured it was time for an optics upgrade.  The scope is relatively inexpensive, less than $50, and comes with mounting rings.  I was impressed with the quality of the metal construction of the scope body, and the coated optics will be sufficient at the yardages afforded by the .22 long rifle round.  The magnification is adjustable between 3x and 9x, and the optics feature a quick focus to fine tune the image to the shooter's eye.  The friendly staff at Dick's Sporting Goods mounted and boresighted the scope.  OK, the staff was friendly because he happens to be my cousin and I would tell his mother if he behaved otherwise.

First shots with the boresighted scope are to the right of the quarter

I dropped by the local indoor range to dial in the scope.  The first seven shots landed about two inches wide and a half inch tall of the target at 25 yards (the maximum distance at the range), but this isn't bad considering some scopes won't even land lead on the paper at first.  I fired off another dozen rounds or so while incrementally adjusting the windage and elevation on the scope.  I quickly moved the shot group exactly where I wanted it and ended up with half-inch groups dead center on the target.  Coincidentally, the orange target is roughly the same size as a squirrel's head, so hopefully Mrs. Woods Hippie can look forward to a tasty pot of squirrel stew since Connecticut's small game season runs through February.  Perhaps Savage can post up a good squirrel recipe to go along with his venison creations... 

The end result.  7 shots in a half inch group.

The true test, of course, will be a moving target in the field without the advantage of a climate-controlled bench rest.  I shot several rounds free-hand at the range and let's just say that the game will have a sporting chance.

Do you trust this man?