Salt on a wound

Yesterday I came back from  my yearly deer hunting trip and I am not a happy camper. There were four of us: my son and a couple of our friends. Usually we are six, but two couldn’t make it. Last year’s trip was a disaster, because we were caught in the snowstorm and had to leave after the second day...without any deer. So this year we had high hopes. The weather was great and there was no snow, except for a little dusting. It did get quite cold and on one day it was uncomfortable with the north wind blowing.

Even though the weather was great, the hunting wasn’t. We left last week on the 6th of November, which means we hunted for 6 full days and a few hours yesterday morning. During all that time I didn’t see any deer. My companions did see deer and even had slim chances to shoot, but nothing compared to other years. The deer are scarce this year in the area we hunt. There are many reasons for that. We hunt on crown land that is used as community pasture, which means farmers use it to keep cattle in the summer. These past few years the farmers have been cutting huge swaths into the wooded area, cutting down all the trees and creating grazing land. Then they began erecting barbed wire fences and electric fences.

I used to have a wonderful and productive spot to hunt. It was a clearing about 350 yards long and about 90 yards wide. My deer stand faced north and I only worried about the north winds blowing into my face. Deer crossed it frequently and I harvested many deer over the years, but that clearing has been destroyed. All the trees are gone and a fence runs right through the middle of the clearing. I did build a new stand in a different clearing a few years back, but it wasn’t as great as the old one. My stand faces west and it is nearly useless on sunny days because of the setting sun. I missed a large buck once because it was 4 o’clock and the sun was right in my face. I saw nothing but bright lights in my scope.

This year the farmers have done even more damage to the beautiful wooded area. More cleared areas and more fences. They were busy in there all summer and it didn’t help to keep the deer in the habitat still left.

Other reasons for the lack of deer are the presence of coyotes, bears, foxes, and timber wolves, and possibly a few lynx. Of course, with fewer deer the coyotes will die out now; they’ll starve, which will help to get the deer population back up. These last few years the winters have been harsh and in 2011 we lost about 60 % of our deer in Manitoba. Last winter was just as bad. Hopefully, we’ll get a milder winter this year, with less snow. High snow makes it difficult for the deer to travel and when the snow develops a hard crust toward the end of winter, deer are in trouble.

To make a long story short, we came home without any deer. No venison this year.

The hunting trip was not successful, but it is not all about the hunt and the shooting of deer. I enjoy the camaraderie with friends and my son, the evenings in the trailer playing cards, the reminiscing about past hunts and the good food and beer we consume. I enjoy sitting in my stand, anticipating the elusive huge buck to make an appearance. I also enjoy the quiet time, listening to the wind in the trees, watching the geese flying above on their way south, the chickadees and woodpeckers visiting me, and hearing the crows making a spectacle as they patiently wait for me to shoot something and provide them with a feast. They clean up the mess afterwards. If they don’t the coyotes will surly eat any remains. Nothing ever gets wasted in nature.

I saw a few grouse and my son even saw a rabbit, a sign that the coyote population has already declined, which gives the grouse and rabbits a chance to multiply and survive. All the mountains of dead trees the farmers piled up everywhere also help to create cover for the grouse and rabbits. Every negative side also has a positive one.

You’ll probably wonder about the title of this blog. Well, today when I looked out of my window there were four deer in my backyard. We used to get deer crossing our yard before all the houses were built all around us, but it’s been years since we saw any deer. So this was a huge surprise. We have no idea where they came from. There are no wooded areas nearby. I guess they just wanted to come by and say hello, possibly to taunt me a bit, but maybe I’m just paranoid.

There is no shooting allowed in this area and the deer must know this. They were safe. The only shooting I could have done was with my camera. Too bad I didn’t get a chance to snap a picture to prove that the deer were actually there, but I swear, I did not suffer from an hallucination, because my wife is a witness. She saw them, too. In fact, she spotted them first.

When I saw them I said, “Sure, go ahead, rub salt into my wound.”

Smoking Goldeyes – again.

The first time I smoked Goldeyes they turned out great. They were of a nice golden color and they didn’t split open. After that, for some unexplained reason, they never turned out as nice. I had them with dark color and wide open bellies and split backs. I also found that smoking them in the summer doesn’t really work, because of the heat. My electric smoker heats up too fast and then shuts down, producing very little smoke, but you pretty much cook them.

The user guide that comes with the smoker suggests to turn on the smoker and let it heat up for about ½ hour before putting in the fish. Well, that is just not right, because it doesn’t work that way. After experimenting with the procedure I found if I put the fish in immediately after I turn on the heater I get good results.

This is how I did it last Saturday and the results were satisfying:

I took 4 Goldeye from the freezer Friday evening and left them in our laundry room until 11:00 p.m. to thaw. Then I put them into the fridge overnight.

9:00 a.m. Saturday: I washed the Goldeye. Sprinkled them with coarse salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Left them in a covered container until 11:30 a.m. Then I washed the fish and put them onto a rack to dry in a cool room (Laundry Room).

1:30 p.m. (after 2 hours of drying), I turned on my electric smoker. I set the temperature to 185 F and hung the fish in immediately. I used cherry wood for the smoke. After 30 minutes I added more cherry wood and again 30 minutes later.

3:00 p.m. After 1 ½ hours I shut off the smoker and opened the door to let the fish cool down. The skin was a beautiful golden color and the bellies had spread open just a little. I left them for 20 minutes to cool and then I removed them from the smoker. We peeled off the skin immediately and scraped the meat from the bones. The meat was solid but moist. We ate the first meal 2 days later. I find that by leaving them sit for a day or so in the fridge the meat becomes nice and firm. They tasted delicious with a wonderful smoky flavor.

My new published book

I finally managed to find the time. I published the eighth book of my Xandra series, Dark World, a few days ago with Smashwords. 'Dark World' is actually the continuation of Book seven 'Alien World'. I set the price at $2.99. I also changed the price of 'Alien World' to $2.99. It just wasn't selling. I'm very disappointed. After all my hard work. I think it is a good story, written, of course, for people who love Science Fiction and a little Erotica. Unfortunately, there are so many books available these days and the problem is to get readers to notice your book. Perhaps the new price will encourage readers to buy it.
Dark World is available from Smashwords: https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/370920

Here is the link to Alien World:  https://www.smashwords.com/books/view/345117

Is there a need for the Senate?

If a private citizen would pull a stunt like that, like overcharging for expenses, they'd be fired, and, possibly, charged with fraud. However, government employees, especially the higher up they are, like being a Senator, get away with it. Two of the 'Three Stooges' complaint they wouldn't be able to carry on if they'd lose their high salaries and pensions. They couldn't buy the expensive drugs they need. Funny, with all those fantastic salaries they didn't manage to save some money for a rainy day the way private citizens do with less money? This whole thing is too comical. Now they're going into the 'attack-mode'. That is just typical. A cornered rat will always show its teeth. I remember a Prime Minister who did the same thing after being accused of taking money and not declaring it. He sued the country for a million dollars and got it. Nice, and I can't get any money from the Compensation Board for my hearing aid that I need. And I paid into the Compensation Board in case I get injured on the job or get other ailments that are job-related. Should I sue?
I wonder how long this will be dragged out, wasting time and money, taxpayers' money. Instead of working and producing something positive, this gang of MPs argues and argues and gets nothing done.
As for the Senate? Do we need so many people at another level of government that cost the country millions of dollars? People who do absolutely nothing, when it really comes down to it? (They only have to work 72 days, if one can call it work.) I don't think so. It is time to abolish the Senate and retire the whole lot of them. They will still cost the taxpayers a fortune with those high pensions, at least eventually that cost will phase out. However we will save on the expenses. That will be an immediate saving.

Is fishing season over?

It seems the fishing season is over for this year. We had a full moon last week and the fish were biting. I went to my, these days, favorite fishing spot in Lockport last week. I was there before 8:00 a.m. It is still dark at that time. I didn't get many bites and what I caught was tiny. Then another fisherman came and fished right beside me. He caught a nice sauger with his first cast and another one with his second. When I asked what he was using he showed me a greenish/yellow jig with gold flecks. He gave me one, and, low and behold, I had a good-sized fish with my first cast. After that we were catching fish, sometimes at the same time. I released all of them except for 4. That's the limit. Sauger are not big fish, but they are tasty, frozen or fresh.  Four fish may yield between 450 to 600 grams. Just enough for a nice meal. We eat them and I'm good to try my luck again another day.

My new angler friend told me it's the full moon that makes the fish bite. The gold flecks were another reason. Apparently, the sauger and walleye hate them.

October brings the walleye, or as the seasoned anglers around here call them: Greenbacks. They come up river from Lake Winnipeg and are stopped by the Lockport dam. They congregate below the dam. It is illegal, though, to fish within 23 meters of the fish ladder. Quite a few people do, either because they are not aware of the law (there is a sign there), or they just ignore it. Apparently, last week somebody was fined $500.00 for fishing too close to the fish ladder. Ouch, that hurts. I am fishing quite far from the ladder near a fence. Plenty of fish there also. Somebody told me that  a few anglers were charged for catching and keeping fish over their limit. It costs $100.00 per fish over the limit. That can become costly. You also lose your gear, license, and the fish you caught.

I haven't caught any Greenbacks yet, but I saw a few anglers catch them. A couple of guys caught walleye that were at least 2 feet long. The big fish are there, but to catch them is another story.

I went fishing Monday morning and Wednesday morning of this week. I caught nothing but a tiny sauger on each of those days. There were only a few anglers there in the morning. It was cold and the wind blew from the north. In fact, it was so cold, ice formed on the fishing rod guides. I guess it's time to put away the fishing gear for a while until the ice is thick enough to go ice fishing. Until then we'll have to get our fish from the grocery store. Not as much fun and more expensive.

Ice fishing is okay, but I have never been successful fishing through the ice. I just go to spend some time with my son and grandchildren. We have a tent to keep out the wind. We bbq hot dogs. It is always fun. And sometimes we even catch a fish.

Fall

I can't believe that I haven't posted anything for over 2 weeks. The time just flies. This month has gone so fast. We've been busy in the yard getting it ready for winter. October is always a busy month for us. The garden needs to be torn down. That is always a lot of work and takes much time. Then we start cutting down all the dead willows and collect the fallen branches. Willows are not the best trees to have. The branches are really brittle and they break off with every storm. I had to clean the yard twice within a couple of weeks. We had two huge mounts of branches piled up in the garden, the only place where we can burn. Then we have to wait for a windless day, and, ideally, also for a wet morning, because of the burning leaves that will rise into the air and settle down in the grass. If the grass is too dry it may catch fire. It is a race every year. First, the garden needs to be void of all the plants, like tomatoes, peppers, lettuce etc. As soon as that is done we can start piling the branches onto the garden. We were quite lucky this year. We were able to burn the branches the next day after we piled them up. I did that at seven o'clock in the morning when the dew was still on the grass. We had a nice bonfire. It burnt so fast I could barely keep up with throwing the second pile onto the burning branches. It was all over within one hour. Then it is just the ashes. They usually smolder for a couple of days. But this year it rained the next day and that was okay.

After the burning I till the garden. But before that I collected about 16 bags of leaves from the yard and I tilled them into the soil. The leaves make great fertilizer and they are free.

Well, it's all done now and it is time to relax for a bit. But there are plenty of other things still to do, like putting up Christmas lites, getting the snowblower ready for the first big snowfall, and storing away all the summer stuff. It never ends.

Smoked Freshwater Drum

A while ago I caught a Freshwater Drum, also known as Sheepshead and Silver Bass around here. It’s not a popular eating fish. Recently I heard a new term: Manitoba Tilapia. Apparently, that’s what the Filipinos living in Winnipeg call it. We catch lots of Freshwater Drum in Lockport. They are fun to catch, but I usually release them again.

I decided to keep one for smoking. A couple of months ago I made a Freshwater Drum on the bbq. It tasted okay, but it was a bit too greasy. So I put this one into the freezer. Soon after that I read on a website that you should never freeze them, because the meat tends to get tough.

The day before yesterday I decided to finally smoke it. I took it out in the morning and let it thaw in the sink. In the evening I put it into a covered pan and left it in the fridge overnight. Yesterday morning I removed the fish, washed it and rubbed the inside and outside (I removed the scales before I put it into the freezer!) with garlic powder and coarse salt. I left it in a cool room for 2 1/2 hours. Then I washed it again and let it sit in the cool room for another 2 hours to allow the skin to dry. Then I took it to my smoker.

I used Apple wood in my Electric smoker. I adjusted the temperature to 200 F and the time for 2 hours. I hung the fish immediately into the smoker. It was quite warm yesterday and I discovered it is difficult to keep the temperature in the smoker low on warm days. Summer isn’t really the best time to smoke fish (or anything else) in an electric smoker. It tends to get too hot too soon and when the element isn’t on, there will be no smoke, or very little.

By putting the fish in right at the beginning without preheating the smoker, as the instructions tell you to do, the fish is subjected to smoke as soon as the wood begins to burn. I kept close watch on the smoker. I added new wood chips every 30 minutes. When the temperature reached 200 F I opened the door to cool down the inside. Unfortunately, this allows the smoke to escape, but it lowered the temperature and the elements started to glow again, therefore creating new smoke.

I left the Freshwater Drum in the smoker for 90 minutes, and then I took it out. After it cooled down a bit, my wife immediately peeled off the skin and removed the meat from the bones. Once the fish cools down too much it becomes difficult to do that. We put the meat into the fridge to be consumed today.

Well, whoever said the meat would be tough was wrong. The meat was flaky and quite tasty. A bit greasy, though. I should have left it in the smoker for another 15 minutes. That may have helped. But I was pleasantly surprised. There was no fishy or other unpleasant taste to the meat.

It seems Freshwater Drum will be on my menu from now on. I still love smoked Goldeye, but the Sheepshead should not be dismissed or overlooked.