Pam and I with a freshly harvested elk.
Funky Chicken Scores Again
There he is Funky Chicken This decoy has been in my stash of turkey decoys for going on four years. When I first saw this funky looking decoy advertised in Bass Pro, I said, “No way.” Then a friend used one and said it was dynamite. It makes the toms really mad, and like the Charles Atlas advertisements of decades ago, the weakling got sand kicked into his face by the big bully. The manufacturer advised adding a couple of feeder hens to give a feeling of security. There is my spread. The funky and two feeding hens. It can’t get any better than this for Mr. Big Shot to come up the hill and pick a fight. In other words, kick sand in the eyes of the wimp. I set up my gear behind the large bush to the left of the top picture of funky. I set my chair down,
Don’t Feed the Dinosaurs
Don’t feed the Dinosaurs. I have some friends that were asking me about a new rifle scope I bought that was not needed. “How do you get away with that stuff?” The answers is simple. My wife likes to go to faraway places and we make sure we do a trip once or twice a year. The second thing is she likes flowers and the botanical gardens at Lauritzen is one her favorite places to visit. If she wants to go to the gardens, dropping whatever I am doing is the right thing to do. After all, I hunt and fish when and where I want and buy all that equipment that is not really needed. The gardens are a living museum of unique four season plant displays maintained to the highest standards of environmental stewardship. A visit is an escape to an urban oasis of beauty and tranquility. The gardens are a sanctuary in the
Twenty-one Days in S.E. Asia (Thailand)
The White temple.Chiang Rai Thailand We stepped off the boat on the Mekong River and entered Thailand. More than any other Southeast Asian nation, Thailand, situated on the southern end of the Indochina peninsula, has written its own history. This is largely because it is the only country in this region never to have been colonized by Europeans. It acted as a buffer state between British India and French Indochina. Present-day Thai culture evolved from a melding of many disparate influences, most notably southward migration by people living in modern-day China, early Indian cultures and the massive, long-lasting Khmer Empire. After having occupied present-day Thailand for much of the 9th through 13th centuries, the Khmers fell in 1431. A smattering of states comprising Thais, Mongols, Chams, and other peoples thrived in the region. Several dynasties occupied the country over several centuries and in 1767 the Chakri Dynasty was established in the newly formed city of
Twenty-one Days in S.E. Asia (Laos)
Early morning along the Mekong River Laos, officially named the Lao People’s Democratic Republic, is a mountainous and landlocked country in Southeast Asia. The country shares borders with Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, Myanmar, and China. Laos was once a part of the kingdom of Lan Xan Hom Khao (the Kingdom of a Million Elephants Under the White Parasol), which for four centuries stood as one of the largest kingdoms in Southeast Asia. This kingdom split into three factions before being reunited in 1893 under a French protectorate, officially making the three regions the country of Laos. The country struggled for independence during and after the Second World War, finally achieving autonomy in 1949. Four years later, Laos became independent with a constitutional monarchy under Sisavang Vong, only to be plunged into a long civil war resulting in the Communist Pathet Lao movement (backed by the Soviet Union) coming to power in 1975. The