GUNS R US -- SPIKE SCORES A DOUBLE - - DON'T BE LATE TO THE DINNER FOR NATE

Not too long ago it was time for the 2009 Ducks Unlimited Dinner in Provo. This year it was hosted by the Dude and a couple of the Tiny Terrors were fortunate enough to attend.

Above, Maddi deposits tickets into a raffle bucket hoping to win a prize.

As you can see there are a lot of tickets in the bucket.

My good friend, Windmill Andy, concentrates hard to make sure he spells his name correctly on the silent auction.

Wolf and Little Martha are in attendance and keep the wine steward busy.

Oil Can and Windmill Andy enjoying life. Windmill underwent serious heart bypass surgery earlier this year and is now doing fine. He has had a strenuous recovery period and we are all glad to see him back on his feet and spreading his normal good cheer.

Little Dude sits by Oil Can. Oil Can is very happy whenever anyone is willing to sit by him in public.

Big Dude has a wicked smile on his face.

Alex is called up front to pull the winning ticket out of a bucket. The winner gets a new shotgun.

And the winner is........

The Dude!!!!!!!!!!

Note: This gun and another that the Dude won will be given away along with many other items at a fund raising dinner which will be highlighted later in this posting.

In the next drawing, Maddi wins a BB gun.

Right after that, the Wolf wins a 22 rifle and graciously gives it to Alex.

Wolf and the two Tiny Terrors....

As Aunt Kristeen and Aunt Joanne always say, a family that shoots together stays together.

All in all, it was a fun filled dinner and we all look forward to the next one.










SPIKE SCORES A DOUBLE

What exactly is a double?

In baseball it is a two base hit.

In fishing it is when you and your buddy each have one on at the same time.

It can also mean you are fishing with two flies and have a fish on each one.

In bird hunting it is when you shoot two birds quickly with consecutive shots.

And in the world of dogs it is when you tree two cats up the same tree at the same time.

In all of Spike's life, he has only been able to do this once.

(see below)

It happened the other day while we taking Spike on his daily run AKA known as the cat treeing run AKA known as the Costanza run.

Oil Can spotted a cat and we let Spike out of the the car. Suddenly there was another cat and before we knew it, both cats were up the same tree.

Spike looking up. It was a very proud moment for him.

Both cats looking down. It was a very embarassing moment for them.

After watching these intelligent impaired felines for a few minutes we left them in peace..

Spike was especially proud of his latest, possibly once in a lifetime, achievment.

About six weeks ago, as many of you know, The Dude's son in law, Needles Nate, was involved in a motorcycle accident. He suffered a broken neck and spinal cord injuries. Although Nate had good health insurance he is still in need of financial help for the long recovery process. The Dude and some of his friends are hosting a fundraising dinner on Nate's behalf. It will follow the same format as a Ducks Unlimited dinner with auctions and raffles. If possible, please try and attend, donate a prize, or buy some raffle tickets. Nate, his wife Kendall, and their daughter, Ashlyn are a terrific young family and will really appreciate any help you might be able to give. It also will be a very fun filled evening.

Log on to their blog at:

http://www.nateandkendallfundraiser.blogspot.com/

Thanks to all for tuning in. Next posting will be a report on Thanksgiving weekend.

.......voo

FISH AND PHEASANTS - - NOT MUCH ELSE

MORE FUN UNDER AUTUMN SUN 2009


Fish and Pheasants

The bi-annual bi-sexual Manti guys fishing trip was held this year on the third weekend of October and a good time was had by all. The Manti guys were special guests this year of our good friend, Road Kill AKA Gordon Knudson. Road Kill (RK) has a cabin located in Island Park, Idaho, and we had the privilege of being his guests for several days of excellent fishing and male bonding. Accompanying me were my moderately good friends Uker Shand, Newbee , and last but certainly least, Oil Can. We hooked up with RK in Tremonton,Ut. and convoyed up to Island Park. RK and his wife Patti have a terrific log cabin that we really felt privileged to share.

Newbee and Uker

(below)

Always in a delightful mood......

Oil Can and Road Kill are always in a gay mood....




RK's cabin..........

The Great room of RK's cabin which also includes three bedrooms and six beds.

Dining area.........


Uker and RK relax after a hard day of traveling.....

As most everyone knows, fishing is serious business. We planned to fish Henry's Lake one day with fly rods and fish the Madison River with spinning rods the next day. Planning a fishing excursion requires much thought, careful organization, and implementing the correct procedure...

Planning session number One.........

Planning session number Two......

Planning session number three........



Resting from our planning sessions......

Finally it is time to execute the plans and go fishing........

In the phot0 above I am hooked up with a five pound trout on Henry's Lake. You will notice the gentleman standing next to me. His name is Olaf Oddbjord and he is a retired Norwegian fisherman. I often take him with me to net my fish.




I slowly bring the huge trout close to the boat as Olaf prepares to secure it. Meanwhile, the boat driver, Newbee, skillfully attempts to not run over my line.




Olaf is successful in securing the fish for me....

As a reward for his good netting skills, I allow Olaf to have his photo taken with me....

It may not have been a five pounder, but it was close......

Later that day.....

Newbee nails a nice Cutthroat while trolling.......

As you can see, the fish in Henry's are large sized. Oil wishes that he could be the same...

Uker nabs another nice Cut while trolling........

We wouldn't allow Oil Can in our boat, obviously, so he was forced to rent this pontoon. He did very well, however, and is seen above holding a nice Cut that he caught off a leach fly.....





Dude Boswell stopped by long enough to take this photo of me.....

After some late night planning at local watering holes we went to bed and rose early to take on the mighty Madison River near Quake Lake.....

Below is a nice Brown that I fortunately landed early on in the day....

As you can see it was very cold..........

Releasing a Brown Trout......





Road Kill poses....

Road Kill did very well for his first time on the Madison and caught several nice fish like these pictured above........he is an expert at Henry's Lake.

Oil Can hooked a nice Brown Trout and while taking his own photo,as he so often does, managed to get the hook embedded deeply into his finger.

Oil with a nice Brown on the Madison....

This is not a pleasant photo to look at. Oil was very brave and attempted valiantly to remove the hook.........to no avail. Finally in an act of desperation, Oil flagged down another fisherman who happened be a surgeon. By that time gangerine had set in and the surgeon was forced to use his pocket knife and amputate Oil's arm, right there on the bank of the Madison..........

Being the trooper that Oil is, he continued down the river while fishing with only one arm.

We all had a great experience on the trip and really appreciate the great time that RK showed us. After two thrilling days of fishing it was time to head home. In so doing, we went by a very cool place named Mesa Falls.

Mesa Falls


Mesa Falls

Back in Manti and back to work. Spike was glad to see me because he knew that the pheasant hunt was soon coming up.

In order to get rested up for the pheasant hunt, Spike took a daily nap. On the day before the pheasant opener he took his nap at the office with Wanda Marie Gordon, one of the office assistants....

PHEASANT OPENER 2009

Spike with a rooster....

Spike and another rooster...........

Lunch........

Another rooster.....

Another rooster.............

While were were busy hunting, Tag used his skills and trapped 5 pheasants with the same rope he used to trap me at the cabin...

Tag with both hands fill of tail feathers....

THREE TIRED HUNTERS

Working the fields....
The first weekend proved to be very good. Everyone in our party got at least one bird....




Second Saturday........snow.
Preparing to work some corn........







Matt gets his first pheasant ever....


Snowy retrieve for Spike....



Matt, Spike, and Grandpa Kay.....



Another retrieve.....



Rooster in the corn.
The second Saturday proved to be even better than the first. We had eight hunters and each hunter got his limit of two birds.......


Back at the Dude's lodge in Fayette AKA Fort Fayette, the Dude begins preparing lunch after a fun day of hunting.....

The Dude's big brother, Chris, helps in the kitchen. Chris has a great little pointer named Zoe. Zoe is very proficient in pointing out game birds and full bottles of wine for the benefit of Chris.











Slummin at the Dude's....








Braidin Aka Ravan orders a Bud Light at the Dude's bar....












Somehow a Canadian Goose was able to get into the lodge through an open window. We eventually lured it into the hallway and out the front door.....

Hunting buddies......












Spike and Voo...

Speaking for Spike and myself, autumn is our favorite season of the year. We hate to see it end. Fishing and hunting and spending time with friends and family during September,
October, and November cannot be beat. The next big event is The Ducks Unlimited Dinner in Provo and then Thanksgiving. It is also Marconi's birthday, Nov.15, and Karl's T's birthday on Wednesday. Best wishes to both of these fine gentlemen........ especially Karl. The Marconis will be here for Thanksgiving.

Also I have received several comments from quiz winners who have been fortunate enough to win Lumpy Dick. My quiz sponser, Little Lois, has had several containers of Lumpy Dick delivered to people throughout the inter-mountain west. I, myself, received a special gift of Lumpy Dick and it was fabulous. Tammy Moore is the most recent recepient and shared her treat with the entire staff at the Manti Telephone Company. It turned out to be a big hit. Oil Can is sulking because he really wants some and has never qualified to win any. Thanks to Little Lois for sponsoring the quiz and providing excellent prizes to the winners.




More fun coming soon..... voo