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Truck drivers who want to enjoy the out of doors but aren’t interested in hunting or fishing have unique opportunities to either enjoy outdoor opportunities during their off-hours, or use their job to investigate options for future vacations.
Here are some great Kayaking & Canoeing Races and Events for May 2009. Go enjoy the water!
Washington (State):
Go Wild Kayak Event, Saturday, May 2.
Inside Passage Kayak Expedition: The expedition will leave from Gig Harbor, Washington and continue on all the way up the coast of Washington, through the islands of Canada, and into the ports of Alaska.
Reno, Nevada
The 6th annual Reno River Festival, May 8-10.
This festival takes place in the heart of downtown Reno at the Truckee River Whitewater Park. Some of the events scheduled are, most extreme whitewater competition, charity raft race, open free style competition and whitewater clinics.
Michigan:
The Bushwhacker 2009 May 16 - May 21.
There are three different races. Solo or tandem teams and any type of canoe or kayak can be used. These events will start at Lumberjack Park, Riverdale, Michigan. The park is located on the pine river. The Bushwhacker Sprint is a 10 mile paddle down the pine river to Sumner Park. Rental canoes will be available The Bushwhacker Cruise is a 40 mile paddle. Paddle down the pine river to the town of Alma. This paddle is for boaters that do not wish to do the full 150 mile race, but want to spend a little more time on the water than the 10 mile sprint. The Bushwhacker 150, this is a 150 mile race plus 7 miles portage. This race is on the Pine River and the Chippewa River.
New Jersey
The 37 annual Toms River Canoe and Kayak Race, Sunday May 17, 2009.
This event is held annually on the Toms River from Riverwood Park to Huddy Park. The race course is 8 miles. Categories are men’s, women’s, solo, tandem, family, youth, experienced and novice. According to their website, there will be free transportation for you & your boat to the starting point.
Maine
The 2nd Annual Aroostook River 60 mile canoe & kayak race, Sunday, May 17.
Paddlers will put in at the Ashland Boat launch area next to the Ashland Fish and Game Club. Kayaking and canoeing down the river to the finish line located at the boat loading area in Fort Fairfield. According to their website, this is the largest river race in the State Of Maine.
Do you know some great spots for canoeing or kayaking while on the road? Let us know!
The majority of hunting seasons are now over, or about to end. Most hunters put their guns and bows away for the year, with little or no regard to maintenance. Now is a good time for some well-needed, post-season maintenance. Here are a few tips that might help.
Muzzleloader hunters are notorious for putting their guns away loaded. In New Jersey, a muzzleloader is considered unloaded when the cap or primer is removed. We do this almost on a daily basis. It is easy to forget that there is still a charge in the gun, so check your muzzleloader and make sure it is unloaded.
A lot of smoke poll hunters think that as long as the barrel is clean, everything is OK until the next year. As everyone knows, black powder and pyrodex is very corrosive. When you shoot your gun there is some degree of blow back through the breech plug. The powder blows back and gets into everything on your gun.
After cleaning your barrel, don’t stop there. Pull the nipple and breech plug. Clean them good with your powder solvent, then take a good quality bore butter and put it on the threads of both pieces. This will stop the parts from seizing together. If you have an older gun with a bolt or slide action, they must be cleaned and lubed also.
Make sure to clean the area that the bolt or slide travels in. Use bore butter to protect these surfaces. Rusted bolts and the channel they slide in are always overlooked, but cause a lot of misfires because the bolt can’t close hard enough to make the cap or primer fire.
Most guns have removable trigger assemblies. Remove this assembly and clean all the parts with a gun wash. Be sure to use light grease or a good gun lube before reinstalling the assembly on the gun. Last, but not least, go over the entire outside of the gun with quality gun oil or firearm wipes.
Bow hunters have it a lot easier because they do not have as much maintenance to do. Here are a couple of steps to take if you are putting your bow away for the year. Wax all surfaces of the strings and cables. Use a good quality bees wax or a graphite wax. This will stop the fibers from fraying.
Back the limb bolts out three or four turns. Be careful not to go too far or the limbs can pop off and you could get hurt. This will take pressure off the limbs, string and cables. Most importantly, do not store your bow where mice can get to it. You would not believe how many bows I have restrung because of these little critters.
Taking these steps now will help you for next year’s season. Doing the proper maintenance now will save you time and money.
Crappie Spawn is an exciting time of the year usually between March and April each year in the Southern regions when water temperatures reach 62 to 68 degrees, however this is not always true, the northern part of the region may take until May or June to reach the right temps for the crappie spawn to take place.
As seasons change, crappie have a migration path that they make their way to the shorelines to lay their eggs for the big crappie spawn when the seasons change to spring time. When the temperature is right I have seen crappie so shallow the top fin is out of the water. Always remember the west side of the lake always warms up first, this is where the first wave come in the shallows for the crappie spawn. Crappie are very similar to Largemouth bass when it comes to spawn, they share the same space at the same time.
When the crappie spawn occurs on your lake or pond they can position themselves anywhere from the bank to shallow underwater ledges, and those drop-offs will fall to 10 feet or more, look for shallow ditches, cuts and gullies, near bank-side bluffs or coves. Also it always helps to scan your sonar to find these areas in your boat. As the crappie spawn takes place there are unlimited places to find them, look around the edges of weed beds, timber stands, brush piles, bridges and boat docks.
Here are some tips to help you locate and catch these fish during the crappie spawn, the best way to fish starting out is to use medium size minnows either straight line or use slip corks on your reel so that you can easily adjust your depth as necessary. You will also want to use 6lb line, the lighter line will not be easily detected in shallow waters for the crappie spawn. You can use a light bait caster rod and reel or an ultra-lite open faced rod and reel setup using a small beetle spin or spinnerbait with a single blade on either bait that mimics baitfish. Be mindful of colors, if one works good, another color may be excellent.
Chartruese/black colors work well in low light conditions, when in clearer water use silver/black or plain white baits for some serious action. Remember what depth you got bit at and return to that same depth, sometimes a one to two foot depth difference will mean getting bit or not, this applies to not only crappie spawn, but when they retreat to deeper waters. Here is a great tip to take to the lake with you, like most of us we are unable to know where the crappie are at all times so you can stop by or call your local marina and ask the marina manager what depth the crappie are being caught, some local fisherman will boast about their catch to the marina managers and this can give you valuable information, sometimes even baits choices.
Remember to carry a certified measuring stick with you to measure your fish, as some states have a 10" minimum length and a limit of 25 crappie per person. Always check with your state parks & wildlife to make sure about length and limits, make sure that you carry your fishing license with you when you are at the lake, it will save you from getting a ticket. A very important tip to remember after the spawn is over, is that they will retreat back to deeper water and generally they will stay at 75 degree waters.
Turkey season is slowly nearing the end...but before we say goodbye to our feathered friends til' next season, below are some tips for cleaning, prepping and cooking your birds.
WILD TURKEY
Wild turkey should be bled and cleaned immediately after shooting. Be sure to remove the oil sacs at the base of the back near the tail.
To keep the wild turkey from spoiling, cook the bird rapidly in the field and keep it cold during the trip home.
Before cooking, be sure to wash out the body cavity of the turkey. There may be some watery looking tissue, and you'll need to be sure to remove this.
An older bird, one that is larger than 12-15 pounds, may be tough. So sprinkle a commercial tenderizer in the body cavity and refrigerate the bird for 12-24 hours.
A wild turkey may be cooked as you would a domestic turkey. The meat is lean and medium-dark with a mild game flavor. However, the low fat content means there is greater danger of drying out, so baste the bird frequently during cooking.
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .Roasted Wild Turkey
A wild turkey should be treated the same as a domestic bird. Keep the stuffing simple and not too highly seasoned. After stuffing the turkey, rub well with butter, salt, and pepper. Place it on a rack in a roasting pan. (You can cover with the bird with foil or cook in a brown-in bag.) Roast in a 325 degree oven and allow 22-25 minutes per pound roasting time. Baste the turkey frequently with equal amounts of butter and white wine to prevent the bird from drying out.
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Wild Turkey and Biscuit Casserole
5 cups chopped wild turkey4 eggs
2 cups milk
2 cups biscuit mix
1 1/4 cup shredded cheddar cheese
2 packages chicken gravy mix
1/2 cups celery, chopped
1/2 cups onion, chopped
Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
Beat eggs, milk, biscuit mix and gravy mix in a large bowl. Add turkey, celery, onion and cheese. Pour into a baking dish. Bake one hour or until lightly browned and a knife inserted in the center comes out clean.
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Deep Fried Wild Turkey
(Serves 5-10)
1 wild turkey, whole, dressed
2.5 gallons peanut oil
1 cup Italian salad dressing
1/2 cup lemon juice, fresh squeezed preferred
3 tablespoons onion juice
3 tablespoons garlic juice
2 tablespoons Worcestershire sauce
1 tablespoon liquid smoke
1 1/3 ounces cayenne pepper
1/4 cup salt
Mix all ingredients except turkey, and peanut oil to make a marinade. Let the marinade stand overnight in refrigerator.
After the marinade has been refrigerated overnight, use a meat injecting needle to inject the marinade all through turkey. Put turkey and marinade in a large plastic bag and keep in the refrigerator for 1 to 3 days. Remove in time to bring to room temp before cooking. Do not put a frozen turkey into the hot oil!
Heat the peanut oil in a 40-60 quart deep fryer to 325 degrees. (Use a candy or deep fryer thermometer to check the temperature of the oil.)
Take a disposable pie tin and punch holes in the bottom of the pan. Place the pie tin in the bottom of the deep fryer to prevent the turkey from sticking.
Immerse the turkey completely and cook for 4 minutes per pound.
Send us more cleaning tips and recipes!!!
by Joe Byers
Most spring gobbler seasons are in full swing this month and there’s no time to bag a mate-driven tom like opening day. Every state in the Union has a turkey season except Alaska, and rumor has it, Governor Palin is working on that. Here are half a dozen pieces of gear that will give you a leg up on old tom.
Hazel Creek Decoys
Numerous companies make decoys that resemble turkey hens, jakes and strutting gobblers, yet the taxidermy folks at Hazel Creek have developed the mimic into perfection. Their decoys don’t just look like turkeys, they are real stuffed birds. www.hazelcreekinc.com
Primos Friction Calls
From long range locating to close in soft calling, friction calls stand out consistently as top performers. The Box Cutter is especially designed for making quick sharp cuts and cackles that often cause a breeding tom to explode with ovation, a double whammy of luring it closer and revealing its location. A Primos Crystal pot call has been one of my favorites for 20 years and the Jackpot is the latest in the Primos line. When using friction calls, don’t forget to wear gloves with extended wrist protection so that you watch won’t reflect as you work the caller. www.primos.com
Bone Collector Brotherhood Knee Boot
Although it was designed for deer hunters and archery hunters in particular, the product was so comfortable that I wore it every day of the spring turkey season. The literature says the boot features a “one piece Hi-Def Phylon Injected Upper Compound” which translated means the boots are amazingly light, waterproof, and very comfortable. www.robinsonoutdoors.com
Walker’s Archer’s Ear
Hearing and locating distant gobbles is often critical to spring turkey success. his small device slips over your ear and generates up to 7X hearing enhancement that will enable you to detect distant and concealed gobbles like never before. www.walkersgameear.com
TruGlo Sighting Solutions
TruGlo sights can’t stop turkey fever, yet they can give you a better aiming solution in three ways. First, snap a Magnum Gobble-Dot onto the front bead of your shotgun. Immediately, you get a bright red dot that will help you focus on the head-neck kill zone. If you are still too excited to aim carefully, opt for a rear sight which provided two green dots with enough space in the middle for the front bead red sight. Line them up and you are on target. If you are a hopeless snap shooter, hook up with the Gobbler-Stopper Red-Dot-Scope. Scopes on deer rifles condition hunters to take one good shot and the scope on a shotgun will have the same effect. www.truglo.com
Mossy Oak “Limbhanger” Turkey Vest
A turkey vest is really a tool belt for hunters. Limbhanger is just the vest for the job. It has two properly sized pockets for pot calls, three striker pockets, box call pocket, and ones specially designed for smaller mouth calls. Clad in the popular Mossy Oak Obsession pattern, the vest is as concealing as it is functional. www.mossyoak.com
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