Talk about way off course. South Louisiana is a popular place for tourists, but this guy came a long way just to sample some cajun cooking.

LARGE STORK FOUND IN LOUISIANA FOR FIRST TIME

The tallest flying bird in Central and South America, a Jabiru, has been spotted for the first time in Louisiana near the Sherburne Wildlife Management Area (WMA) South Farm Complex on the morning of July 31 by Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries (LDWF) personnel.

LDWF Ornithologist Michael Seymour and LDWF technician Joshua Sylvest found the rare stork while performing a shorebird survey in the area. They observed the bird with wood storks and watched it feed in a flock with great blue herons, little blue herons, roseate spoonbills, snowy egrets, great egrets and ibises. After about 45 minutes of observation and documentation, the bird flew off and has not been relocated.

Seymour and Sylvest were able to take photographs and video of the bird that has been submitted with other documentation to the Louisiana Bird Records Committee. The committee is a panel of professional ornithologists and respected birders who vote to accept or reject the claim based on validity of documentation.

“When Josh and I parked the truck to start our shorebird survey, we immediately saw the Jabiru; it towered over all the other wading birds. We were speechless at what we saw, instead quietly, high-fiving to celebrate the discovery,” Seymour said. “Finding a first state record bird is a dream of all birders, and Josh and I didn’t think twice about creeping through a mud-filled impoundment to get documentary proof. I hope other birders are lucky enough to see this rare bird.”

Adult Jabirus are approximately 5 feet tall with a wingspan over 7 feet and a weight of about 17 pounds. The massive, black beak is up to 1 foot long. Body and flight feathers are mostly white, but the head and upper neck are featherless and black with a bare, red stretchable pouch at the base of the neck.

Story from the LDWF

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I am back from vacation, feeling refreshed, although a little under the weather thanks to a cold I picked up from daughter. Nothing like a summertime head cold.

So there I was, thinking about the upcoming seasons, and an idea just jumped into my head – recurve. I am about to learn the in’s and out’s of recurve shooting. There’s just not much of it on television these days, with so many people shooting compound bows. So I thought it would be a perfect addition to our Team Hammerdog Outdoors segments. I can chronicle my progress from start to finish, and show folks the pros and cons of recurve shooting. I’m sure there are many people out there who are interested in shooting a recurve or longbow, and I might inspire a few to give it a try. So if any of you shoot a recurve, please post up any tips and advice that I should be aware of.

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This past weekend the Shreveport Convention Center played host to the annual Hunter’s Expo. It’s the big show that everyone looks forward to around these parts, as it helps to somewhat satisfying the cravings of being back in a deer stand. One of Team Hammerdog’s sponsors, ArrowDynamic Solutions, had a booth there, so my partner Wayne Kendrick came up from Walker, Louisiana, so we could lend a hand. Wayne and I spent our Saturday helping out, and I learned a lot from Matt Futtere. Matt is the man behind ArrowDynamic Solutions – the maker of the Guillotine and The Atom Broadheads. The Guillotine has turned the world of bowhunting upside down with its devastating design. Many shotgunners stay away from targeting turkeys with stick-n-string simply because the vitals offer too small a target, and present to big of an opportunity for error. The Guillotine allows bowhunters to put their pin on the neck of the turkey and either put him down in an instant, or miss him cleanly – very little room for error with the Guillotine’s design. Check out just how devastating the Guillotine is by mashing here (warning: the video is graphic). The Guillotine comes in two sizes for compound bows and crossbows.

ArrowDynamic Solutions also offers The Atom, for big game hunting. The design of The Atom is like nothing else on the market. The Atom eliminates the problems with wind planing and achieving complete pass-throughs associated with fixed-blades, and removes the possibility for mechanical failure associated with mechanical broadheads. The Atom is currently being offered in 75 and 100 grain, with 125 grain to be released later this year or early next year. All you have to do choose your grain, sight in your bow with a field point in matching weight, screw on The Atom and go hunting. The Atom broadheads fly as true as any matched field point, so there’s no need to send one down range into a target. You just have to try them out to believe me. And The Atom is designed so that it punches right through everything – deer, boar, elk, buffalo – nothing will stop The Atom. Matt is particularly proud of the fact that he gets complete pass-throughs on boar – from one shoulder shield through the other. And The Atom is designed to save you money. Each year, bowhunters must buy replacement blades for their broadheads. With The Atom, you can punch through an animal, clean it off, and punch right through another one time and time again – eliminating the need to replace dulled out blades. Matt says the biggest problem his field staffers have is losing their Atom tipped arrows because they blow through an animal and keep right on going.

I encourage you, if you’re a bowhunter, to give The Atom a try this fall. You will not be disappointed. To learn more about The Atom, and the Guillotine go to www.arrowds.com.

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When I was a kid I spent my summers breaks outdoors as much as possible. Whether hanging out with friends or fishing all day, I didn’t want to be inside of my house. And that meant that I was always working up a thirst. I was listening to a radio show the other day, and R-C Cola was advertised. I hadn’t thought of R-C in years, but that commercial did just what it was supposed to do – make me want to go out and buy a bottle. It still tastes the same, but I sure wish it was in an ice cold glass bottle instead of this plastic thing. A Moon Pie would’ve complimented it, too. It’s nice to know that while I’m not getting younger, I can step back to my childhood a little as easy as a sip of R-C Cola. Of course, there’s Nehi Grape. And Nehi Peach. Oh, and Big Red. You can keep your Amp Energy, kind sir. I prefer a tall glass of nostalgia.

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Before walking through the door of this chaotic newsroom each morning, I read a passage from a daily devotional I keep in my vehicle. I get these booklets from my church, and a new edition comes out every few months. I can be a little hard of hearing sometimes, and have worried that I wasn’t tuned in to God’s voice. So, for months I prayed, asking God to make his messages really obvious. Lately it seems that the daily passage that I read each morning reveals something God wants to make clear in my life. This is my testament, and for the past few weeks I have really taken on a new outlook. Things in my life are becoming more clear, and I can’t remember the last time I was worried about a situation. Allison and I face financial issues, family problems, little health scares – you know, the typical things all people deal with – every time we turn around. But all I can do is just smile, feeling comforted and calm inside because I know that God is five steps ahead, and has already found the solution. I just tell Allison that we have to pray, trust in Him, and wait for the solution to be revealed.

Today’s passage talked about being grateful. I am truly grateful for what God has done in my life, and thank him on a daily basis. But I learned today a method to help truly recognize all the things that I can thank God for. The author of this little article recommends that at the end of each day, write down 5 things you are grateful for. The idea is that doing this will help a person recognize all the wonderful things about their lives and how God has blessed them, and not focus on the things they don’t have. So instead of waiting for the end of this day to come, I am going to list 5 things for which I am grateful right now…

1) God’s forgiveness
2) My wife, Allison
3) My daughter, Jillie Grace
4) My family
5) My health

The list could go on from here easily, but I am sticking with 5 things. What are you grateful for in your life? Is there something special God has done that you would like to share? Post up. I’ve learned that testimony and expression of faith is very contagious…

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One of my favorite ways to get away from it all and relax is fishing. I don’t care what I catch either, as long as I have a fish willing to put up a fight. I prefer to take on big fish, but even the little scrappers are fun – especially on light tackle. I know this might sound a little crazy, but one of my favorite fish to catch is gar. They are pretty willing to jump on a lure, and put up a great fight. But I have always just let them go, after the catch. That might change…

I did some reading on the ‘net, and evidently gar is pretty popular table fare. I, like so many others, have always considered gar “trash fish”, and full of bones. I even went as far one time to take home a chain pickerel I caught, cleaned it, and baked it. A chain pickerel (jackfish to some) is a southern cousin of the northern pike. People eat pike, so I thought a chain pickerel would be good to eat, too. It was. Very tasty, in fact. Flaky, white meat. But full of tiny bones that I had to pick out as I ate the meat. It was way too much work for me to try again. I assumed a gar filet would be full of bones, too. But I was curious, and it turns out gar filets come off the bone boneless. But how do you get to the meat?

From what I’ve read so far, once you breach a gar’s armor-like scales, it’s all down hill from there. The recommended tools for the process include a hatchet, tin snips and a filet knife. The meat is likened to chicken in texture, and without a fish taste. Gar connoisseurs recommend cutting the filets into chunks, battering them up and fry away, just like other fish.

I am a person who will try pretty much any food at least once. If I don’t like it, I won’t ever eat that particular dish again. So, I am going to catch, clean and then fry up a gar. I know to some of you this might sound like a waste of time and effort, but I am hoping that the end result will be a welcomed surprise.

So, stay tuned for an update to this particular blog, and if any of you are gar eaters, then post up your favorite method of cooking them…

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Some of you might have seen the news headlines about the B-52 that crashed off the coast of Guam Sunday. That B-52 was based out of Barksdale Air Force Base, in Bossier City. I grew up a little south of the runways, and watched countless B-52 take-offs. They were loud, but not annoying, considering it’s just awesome to watch those big planes defy gravity, and take to the sky. I have had several good friends stationed at Barksdale, and have friends who’s family is some way connected to the base. I have not yet learned if anyone I know was on that plane that went down. What we know so far is that two of the six crew members have been found, but even their conditions are not known. This crash is having a huge impact on folks around here, since there are so many people connected to Barksdale in some fashion. Barksdale is its own city, basically, and everyone I know knows an airman or two. So please, send up a prayer for the ill-fated crew and their families, and let’s ask God to bring all six home safely.

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With summer in full swing and the weekend about to kick off, many of you will likely do some grilling or other cooking during the next couple of days. I love to cook, and am always looking for new recipes to try out. But instead of just asking for folks to offer up their favorite ways of cooking wild game, I figured we could do a little swap. Here’s a dish my wife and I whipped up this past week:

BBQ Chopped Venison Sandwiches
About 1lb of deer meat – any portion will do ( we used a bag of stew meat, which is basically pieces of trimmings accumulated while processing a deer for the freezer )
1 can of beef broth
1 clove of garlic, minced
Put the ingredients in a crock pot, stir, turn on high-power, walk away
My wife threw this together before she headed off to work, and it was ready for the next step when she got home that evening
When you get home, drain the broth from the meat
Stir in amounts of your favorite BBQ sauce, until it reaches the level of BBQ flavor you desire
Spoon the mixture between two buns or slices of bread and enjoy

This recipe is easy, and doesn’t require you to stand over it while it cook. That means you can remove a laborous cooking process from your busy schedule, and focus on things that matter.

Okay, it’s your turn…

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It’s Thursday, July 17th, 2008. I haven’t even stepped one foot into the woods yet, to prepare for the upcoming deer season. But I have the spring turkey season on my mind. So does Louisiana’s Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. They released the regs concerning the 2009 season, in which several changes are highlighted. I am pumped, to say the least, since the LDWF extended the season length. Here’s the news release from the LDWF:

2009 TURKEY HUNTING SEASON DATES PROPOSED
Release Date: 07/08/2008
The Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries proposed the season dates for the 2009 turkey hunting season to the Louisiana Wildlife and Fisheries Commission at the commission’s July 8 meeting.
The recommended statewide opening date is Saturday, March 28. The season in Area A would extend to April 26, Area B to April 19, and Area C to April 12. The daily bag limit would be one gobbler, and the season limit would be two gobblers.

Public comment on this issue can be submitted to Kenny Ribbeck, Administrator, Wildlife Division, Department of Wildlife and Fisheries, P.O. Box 98000, Baton Rouge, LA 70898-9000, prior to Sept. 4, 2008.

So while many of you are busy working on food plots, clearing shooting lanes, or whatever else you’re doing right now, ahead of the 2008-2009 fall seasons, I am sitting here with anxious excitement – looking ahead to turkey season. I know, I know, I’ve got it bad. But I just can’t spend enough time chasing gobblers. It’s fun, exciting and good eats…

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I’m at work right now, and one of our reporters is about to head down to Natchitoches, LA. The story: A 4-year-old that accidentally shot himself with a gun he found in the kitchen. I have several guns – not one of which is in my kitchen, let alone in a spot where my daughter can get her hands on one. This little boy went inside to get a drink of water, but obviously the freaking handgun in the kitchen was more appealing. He’s now dead. A 4-year-old is now dead. Who’s to blame? The anti-gun crowd would say “The gun…” I beg to differ. A gun operates like a computer. It reacts to commands administered by the hands of a human. I’ve never seen a gun stand up and pop a shot off at someone on its own. It has to be handled. I blame whoever owns the gun. Negligence. Irresponsibility. A gun is not a toy, but you can bet that little boy sure saw it as a play-thing. What was a gun doing in a kitchen!?!?!?! Why was it within the reach of a child!?!?!?!?! The US Supreme Court ruled that we have a right to bear arms, but it’s obvious that common sense doesn’t come with that right. I am angered by the fact that this little boy is dead because of a stupid, irresponsible person. But I am also deeply saddened by the fact that this little boy’s life was cut short in an instant.

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