Archery

This year I joined my friend and neighbors archery club. I think this is his (Mike) and his wife's (Debi) 3rd year of doing it. It is a real neat archery range with many life size targets of deer, elk, coyote, bob cat, bear and wild boar. Upon my urging Mike started a blog. Here's the link. Diamond Back Archers Mike is the one who helps me with the garbage route as well.

I've never been into hunting other than strictly for the meat, but after getting experience shooting a good bow (I bought Mikes old one) I am way more confident that I could make a clean kill with a bow if i ever wanted to. Mikes archery range is a challenge and mimics real life conditions. I never bow hunted in the past because I was always un-confindent in my shooting skills. I always said I wanted to practice more to become more proficient of a shot. I didn't want to shoot a deer and simply wound it and have it run off.

But, last I heard I was first in this years standings at the range so I reckon I could take up bow hunting and not worry too much about making a bad shot. Mike and his son are usually the top shooters but, Mike has a new bow that he hasn't gotten dialed in yet and his son still has many shoots to make up. However I am more than pleased that I am doing so well. Something I never expected because I've never been good at any kind of target shooting. Yet, I've surprised myself at how many varmints I have taken out. When it comes to protecting our farm I am a way better shot than when I am target shooting. At least most of the time when my sites aren't knocked way off like when I missed that coyote a year or so ago.

Anyway, I am having fun this summer shooting my new bow over at Mikes . If you get a chance stop over at his new blog and say hello. Tell him Russ told you about it.

Sandhill Cranes strolling across the yard

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sandhill_Crane

Weeds

I'm so good at growing weeds they even grow on the pick up truck!

Tastes like chicken

The other day I saw an interesting thing. As I was doing chores I saw a frog next to the chicken yard. It was hanging out near a mud puddle. When I walked past it the frog took a leap and landed right next to the chain link fence. Just on the other side is where the chickens are. I said, "watch out little frog, the chickens might get you!" About ten seconds after I said that a hen spotted it and came running over to the fence. I expected the frog to jump away when the hen put her head down by it. Then all of a sudden with the precision of a skilled marksman the hen snatched the frog by one it's legs then quickly shook it like a pit bull. She dropped it and then plucked it up, doing that several times. By now the frog was certainly dead and the hen ran off with it so as to not share it with the rest of the flock. I watched this from a distance as the hen soon devoured the frog.

I said to the hen, "So hen, what's it taste like?" Hen replies, "Bawk, Bawk Bawk, tastes like chicken".

Lazy days of Summer

Field of daisies

This is a good year for daisies. This field which has been plowed in previous years is grown up and full of thousands of the beautiful flowers.

Goslings and chicks

A mother goose hatched out some goslings a few weeks ago so we put them in our brooder where we raise day old chicks. We had an order of broiler chicks arrive and tried putting them all with the goslings. To our delight they all took well to each other and the young chicks even would huddle around the goslings for warmth. Very cute!

You might wonder why we don't just leave the goslings with their mother. Well, a couple years ago we did that. We had a half dozen or so goslings hatch out and the big male goose wound up clumsily stepping on all but one and killing them. And in fact the only remaining one died just this spring. It was a male and as he aged he would challenge his father. This year their battles grew more fierce. Finally, they had a fight that injured the younger male critically and I had to put it down. So that goofy goose is actually responsible for the deaths of all that years babies!

With that experience we decided to not let that happen again. When these little ones are much bigger we will introduce them back to the the flock.

We just had another baby goose hatch out the other day and it is now with it's older siblings in this brooder. So far we have a total of 4 goslings.