Moose Droppings

I don’t have any in mine but I’ve been in a few offices that do. Is that appropriate? I’m not sure maybe it depends a little on your job. I think there are few offices that I’ve been in that do not have some personal items that reflect the occupants interest.

This topic has come up because it seems a high ranking New York Police official has been ordered to remove his game heads from his office at Police Headquarters.

Chief Michael Scagnelli, an avid hunter in his off-hours, was told his taxidermy trophies - bison, birds, elk, deer - had to be taken down when he moved into a new office in Police Headquarters.
Police Commissioner Raymond Kelly, who gave the order, also said Scagnelli would have to pay movers to cart the offending wildlife out of his 11th-floor offices, sources said.
Scagnelli is popular among the rank-and-file, but some of the Police Headquarters honchos aren’t fans of his stuffed trophies.
“It’s offensive,” one source said. “This is city property and the guy is extolling killing”

Daily News

I’ve never been in Police Headquarters to know for sure but I’d be surprised that others do not have personal items on display that may be offensive to someone. Is this policy being applied equally across the board? Anyone have scripture or a Bible? A Koran? A photo of Bill or Hillary Clinton? Cultural artifacts?
I was in an office one time where a marine reservist had a bayonet hanging on his wall, a clear violation of the no weapons allowed policy for the place we worked but an important item for him. I’ve been in many of offices that have scribbled on sheets of papers hanging on the walls & file cabinets obviously from children and grandchildren of the office occupant but useless ugly art work if you ask me. This day and age it is nearly impossible to avoid offending someone and if that is the line we draw then you better leave all personal items out of the office.

If the real reason is that “guy is extolling killing” then I have an issue with it. My displaying of game trophies is not to extol the act of killing but to honor the creature and the beauty of the animal. I kill animals for food and to maintain a connection with our ancestors who did this as part of their every day life like we hit the grocery store. A few of the animals I take have a special meaning to me for a wide variety of reasons and those I save a part of them for display in a place of honor.

I don’t know if in a public office like a police station whether it is right or wrong to display them I just know for me in my work situation I wouldn’t. What do others think?

I don’t fish nearly as much as I should; I spend most of my time hunting. Today with the weather being so warm I took the day off from hunting and went out to test out my new camera lens that Santa brought me. I hit the local waterways near the house because the migratory flocks are here and I figured they make good subjects to test the new lens out on. Check out Moose’s Wild America over the next few days as I’ll post some of those photos.

At Bass Lake I arrived in time to see a very nice channel cat landed. The new lens is a zoom lens not the best for shooting portraits but I tried. Talking with the anglers it seems that although the fishing is a bit slower then other times of the year those who put in the time are often rewarded with a catch. The feeders on the lake have been taken down because of the danger of the fish over gorging themselves at a time when their metabolism naturally slows down.

The big cat they caught was just shy of the 10 lb mark on the scales at the park office. That is a nice fish and certainly serves as a reminder that I need to get out and fish some more. They tell me that an 11 lb was caught and released not all that long ago so there are some nice fish in the lake. A more typical catch is in the 2lb range which is ideal size for eating.

Bass Lake is part of the community fishing program that has lakes and ponds all over the state to fish in. Many have fishing equipment that can be borrowed by the public if you don’t have your own to use. You will need a state fishing license and check with the particular rules the lake or pond has that you’ll be fishing.

If your like me the lost of the MOR (Men’s Outdoor Recreational channel) earlier this year was a serious blow to your TV watching. I have Dish Network and that left me with the Outdoor Channel that seems to run a fair amount of infomercials and panning for gold as well as hunting and fishing. VS made a move to get some of their viewers back by setting up blocks of time to run hunting shows in between the hockey and the rodeos (fine shows but not hunting). Other networks have tried to come on board to fill the void that MOR left but so far nothing has but hope maybe on the horizon.

Pursuit Network is set to launch in early February on channel 230 on the Dish Network which is a channel everyone on Dish should receive without any type of upgrade. Another words part of the Basic service baby. The Pursuit Network is being run by the same folks who run Country Adventure Network and some names I’m sure folks will recognize; Rusty Falk(CEO), O’Neill Williams (Producer), and an advisory board with some big names in the outdoors; Dr. Grant Woods (Biologist), Kirk Thomas (Founder/ Wheelin’ Sportsman/ Pursuing A Dream), Steve Scruggs (Naturalist & Founder Let’s Get Wild), Kevin King (President of Year One), Dr. Warren Strickland (Cardiologist by trade/ Passionate Bow Hunter @ Heart), and Steve Gruber (President of Wolf Creek Productions).

They promise to be a true outdoor network and to not be a “disguised infomercial network”. This could be very good we’ll wait and see what shows decide to join them and how this whole thing develops.

I was reading in the Triangle Business Journal about how much hunters and fisherman contribute to the state’s economy. Do you realize that we have 1 million anglers and hunters in the state and that we spend 1.7 billion dollars a year on our sports? That is a staggering figure when you think about it. Sportsmen (& women) dump 170 million dollars into the state and local tax coffers and support a lot of jobs across the state.

“Spending by sportsmen benefits not only the manufacturers of hunting and fishing related products, but everything from local mom and pop businesses to wildlife conservation,” said Doug Painter, president of National Shooting Sports Foundation. “And because most hunting and fishing takes place in rural areas, much of the spending benefits less affluent parts of the state.”

There you go next time someone gives you heck about going hunting remind them that a good chunk of the State’s economy depends on us. Seriously though a lot of folks don’t realize how much others rely on the spending we do be it the farmer we lease land from, the farmer we buy corn from, the small store we stop in to grab a snack and top off our gas tank, or the dinner we eat at. All that adds up and in many parts of this state that is significant money being spent that if hunting and fishing was to go away that could not be made up.

Not to mention the amount of money we spend to preserve habitat and support conservation. Our outdoor lifestyle is important not only to us as individuals but to the entire state of North Carolina whether they realize it or not.

After a great hunt on Saturday but only ducks in the bag I found myself back at the same Orange County Pond with the hopes of the geese also joining us. As we gathered our decoys and shotguns for the hike into the pond Rick filled me in that about an hour after we left on Saturday about a hundred geese showed up. Some luck I thought but hopefully today would be different as I brought my new Bass Pro motion geese decoys with flocked heads to help close the deal.

As we slipped into the pond under the early morning darkness a flock of geese got up off the water along with a number of ducks as the noisily departed we hoped they would return as we got set up.

Unlike Saturday which was a great waterfowl day weather-wise with the clouds and the wind today was a day more suited for blue birds. The ducks came early and the first event of the magical day unfolded before me when I watched Rick bust two ring necks with one shot. His gun jammed on the first shot and I was ducking dropping ducks as one landed just on the other side of my blind in the mud and the other one crashed a few feet beyond in the water so I never even raised my gun on that flock.

The ducks pretty much shut off once the sun began to make its climb into the sky above the horizon. With the rather slow hunting we were caught by surprise when the flock of 8 geese came in silently to the pond. My new Escort 12 g was loaded with BBB Black Rain so I opened up the semi auto dropping two of the birds with my 3 shots. I was excited because I had some people who really wanted me to cook a goose for Christmas and now I knew I would.

Rex the lab jumped into the pond fetching up the first goose bringing it to me dropping it at my feet. As I picked it up and gave him a pat on the head for a good job I about fell over when I discovered the band on the leg of the goose. This was another magical moment making this hunt so great. We got the other goose and returned to our blinds to see if any other waterfowl would fly into our set up. Nothing else came in so we packed up and called it a day.

Once I got home I called the band in to US Fish & Wildlife so I should be getting a certificate here in the near future and learn a little bit more about this particular goose. This is the first banded bird I have ever killed so it’s pretty exciting. Someone asked me if I was sad about killing a banded bird and I said no. Hunters have been a vital part in funding, restoring, and assisting with research into many waterfowl species. The information I provided will give researches some insight into the travel pattern of Canadian Geese and assist US Fish & Wildlife in establishing seasons and bag limits as well.

I know now why they say if in doubt about what to get for Christmas go with jewelry and you’ll never be wrong.

I’ll post the story about this great hunt soon.

My hope is that you have a safe and very Merry Christmas as we celebrate the birth of the Savior.

-Moose-

Well after work today I’m off to hunt camp for the weekend. In the morning we have plans to hunt ducks and geese I’m hopeful the geese will show up. A goose for Christmas for some is a holiday tradition and one I started a few years back. I like to cook a Apple Hickory BBQ Goose breast for our family gathering on Christmas night. I didn’t have one last year to cook despite my effort to get one so I’m hopeful that the cloudy misty weather forecast for in the morning will aid me in my endeavor.

I enjoy creating recipes and presenting wild game for folks in a unique ways and to get past the standard objection of “I don’t like wild game”. Try this recipe out and I’m sure folks will have a hard time even guessing it is goose never mind wild game.

My recipe for Apple Hickory BBQ Goose
First off we do not pluck the geese we skin and breast the meat out as a boneless cut. Geese come in a wide variety of sizes so you’ll have to adjust cooking times to the size of the geese you have.
Take the boneless skinless goose breasts and put them in a roasting pan with about ¼ inch of apple cider vinegar in the bottom of the pan. Then cover the tops of the skinless goose with strips of bacon. Put the goose in a pre heated oven (375) and let cook till done but not overly down. For me this is usually about 45 minutes (internal temp of 165’f)
BBQ Sauce
Jar of Apple Jelly
Bottle of Hickory BBQ Sauce
½ cup of Apple cider vinegar
Mix all together in saucepan heat slowly stirring often till all the jelly is melted and everything blends together.
Take cooked goose out of oven drain off greases remove bacon and discard. You’ll still have small amount of grease in the pan but that’s fine you just want to dump the majority out. Allow the goose to rest for about 15 minutes and to begin to cool so it is easier to slice. Then slice it up like a roast and then return the slices to the roasting pan. Pour the BBQ sauce over the meat cover the pan with tin foil and return to the oven. Turn the oven down to 300 and leave it in for an hour. I’ve served this and people swear its beef roast or deer roast. No one guesses its Canadian goose.

I so enjoy hunting geese, we have a surplus of them, and we need to kill a lot to keep the population in check and I needed for others to help eat them. I got to admit just plain old goose meat was not my favorite thing so I had to find a way to cook them. Another way that I bet would be good is to use goose instead of Tundra Swan in my Tundra Swan Pot Pie.
If you get a chance maybe you’ll try to add a Christmas Goose to the holiday table.

Brian Collins of Carthage North Carolina was found dead in the woods behind his home a victim of a hunting accident. Authorities believe Mr. Collins fell while climbing into his deer stand last Friday. A police dog led authorities to him when he failed to return home by 11 pm. They found him at the base of his tree with a gunshot wound to the chest and a broken rung on the wooden ladder he used to climb in and out of his stand. This is such a senseless death and something that could have easily been prevented had he not tried to climb with a loaded firearm.
Please remember to unload your gun prior to climbing and use a hoist line or a Gun Triever to get your weapon in and out of your stand. If you won’t practice safe gun handling for yourself at least do it for your family. We need to prevent tragedies like this from ever happening.

Brian Collins was 40 years old and he leaves behind a wife, a son, a daughter, and a stepson.

This is the second time that I’m aware of that a NC deer hunter has accidentally shot himself getting in or out of a treestand this season. We also had the tragic death of a small game hunter dropping a loaded shotgun while driving a golf cart. Remember these are more then just stats these are families that have lost a love one. Please be safe.

Well two years ago today I launched Moose Droppings little did I know how important this little endeavor would become to me. I’ve made a lot of friends on the way and I’ve really been able to see an industry spring up around blogging and the great outdoors. This post will be #621 for me according to the software for the blog I know that there was some stories on the old blog that I didn’t transfer when I came over here but the number is close. A lot of stories over a two year period on a wide variety of subjects and the blog has spun off another blog strictly for my photos called Moose’s Wild America as well as a weekly radio. I thank the readers for stopping by, their comments and emails are an encouragement to me as I try to entertain you as well as inform you about issues and items about the great outdoors. Well let’s begin year 3.

This past week on Moose Droppings the Radio Show I interviewed Billy Mosley from Avery Creek Retrievers and Guide Service on selecting a puppy as well as some training ideas. In addition to his guiding Billy is also a dog trainer and on the Pro Staff for Diamond Pet Food. We also talked a little bit about nutrition especially as it relates to a puppy. Last week’s show is available as a download along with all the other shows I’ve done. If you get the chance please try to catch my show on Friday’s at 1pm est on Skinny Moose Radio.

Also don’t forget that Billy writes a blog dedicated to waterfowl hunting and working with the dogs so check out Blind Ambitions.

We are down to the last couple of weeks of deer season for most of the state and some parts the season has already ended. So whats ya plan? You hunting for bones? Looking to fill the freezer? Or are you pretty much done? I for the most part find myself in the last group although I’ll get out a few more times with the time off around the holidays. I may take another doe if the opportunity is right and the weather remains cool. I still have a buck tag but lately I haven’t seen any I think they are all nocturnal at this point.

The season has been pretty good I’ve killed 3 and seen many others. I certainly haven’t hunted as much this year as I have in the past and the weather has been a bit warm for me. The deer numbers are up but with less foliage on the trees as well as the deer getting chased so much by hunters they have been a bit more scarce the last few weeks.

No matter what your game plan is be safe and I hope you make the most of these last few weeks.