Moose Droppings

August was a record breaking month for us at Skinny Moose Media and for me personally on Moose Droppings. There was more then 900% increase in visitors in August over my July stats. With success came the spammers so for a while we had to shut down the comment feature on the blog. The comment feature is back up but for now you have to register in order to post a comment. Your comments are greatly appreciated so if you haven’t already please register and post them. Thanks again for visiting my blog.
-Moose-

Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

The bear sitting at the picnic table is pretty cool. Here is a photo I took of an otter just relaxing. Hope you enjoy it.

Photo courtesy of From the Stand

Don’t know who has been following Chesson’s trip to Africa over on his blog but he has some great stories and photos posted. As an outdoor cameraman for a number of the hunting shows we love to watch, he certainly gets to go some great places. Many dream of having a job like his but not me. There is no way I want to go all these places and never get a chance to shoot some myself.

Well I heard from Chesson and they have completed filming and the hunters are flying back home today. Chesson doesn’t have a flight out till Friday so he is going to get a crack at getting behind the gun and get a trophy. Congratulations buddy I look forward to the story of your hunt. Good Luck I hope you get something good if it was me I’d go after the Sable.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Photo of Jody & his boys on our annual tundra swan hunt

We got word this weekend that Jody fell Saturday morning while putting up a treestand. I don’t know much of the details at this point but I do know he remains hospitalized with non life threating injuries. Jody is a good friend of mine we’ve shared a number of hunt camps together and I know many of my readers know him as well. Please keep Jody and his family in your prayers.
He was able to briefly get out of bed yesterday and walk a little bit which is also a very good sign. He is hopeful that he’ll be released today to return home.
Initial reports suggest that he may not have been wearing a safety belt when the mishap happened. The importance of wearing a safety belt while in a treestand or hanging one are paramount.

Story & Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Photo by Moose Right After Rain Stopped

That seems to be me right now I got so many things going that I’m running in circles it seems. A lot has to do with work commitments and just a busy time of year but a lot of other things have added up to a busy few weeks. I got about 6 or 8 blog posts floating around my head that I may or may not get written in the next few days. With all this commotion going on lately I even went on a family vacation last week to the mountains. I was able to put a lot of these other issues aside and enjoy a few days in the mountains.

One of my favorite memories from the trip was sitting on the porch of the house we stayed in with my wife and watch a thunderstorm come across the mountain. The sounds of the storm and the fresh smell the rain brought and the cooler air was great. It has been a long time since I just sat and experienced a storm like that.

This promises to be a busy week but memories of relaxation will help get me through whatever it brings.

Photo by Moose Right After Rain Stopped

If you like to see more of my photography please visit Moose’s Wild America

Photos & Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

The director of the North Carolina Zoo, Dr David Jones, is supporting the lifting of Asheboro’s ban on alcohol sales.

Dr. David Jones says the approval of alcohol sales could generate a substantial increase in attendance and places the zoo in a stronger position to expand.
“It puts us in a situation at the zoo where we can more actively, perhaps more aggressively, pursue a hotel and meeting facilities, a conference facility on-site here, expand our evening functions,” he listed.

News 14

The sale of alcohol is a local issue here in North Carolina but of course the sale of hard liquor is a monopoly controlled operation by the state. I’m just not sure a state public official should be weighing in on this issue in any way that can be viewed as he is endorsing one side or the other.

While I see nothing wrong with drinking I do see a conflict with the state having a monopoly on alcohol as well as state officials pressuring the locals about the law. The reality is that expansion of the zoo is more a numbers game when it comes to the overall attendance and although alcohol sales could affect that there are other influences as well.
Seems like every city and town is banking on attracting conferences and meetings by building these types of venues. I think too much hype by public officials gets put into the “conference facilities” angle at a time when some of those traditional activities could go away. The cost of travel has risen sharply over the last few months and technology is at a place where virtual meetings can happen that travel is no longer a necessity. As business and people look to adjust costs and trim budgets I’m not sure that traditional meetings in one location will continue to take place.

Adding alcohol to the zoo could bring some unwanted changes as well and tarnish the family friendly image. The bottom line is that Dr. Jones is in a position that is supported and paid for by the tax payers of North Carolina I’m not sure that lobbying for the lifting of the sale of alcohol is within the role of what he was hired to do.

Story and Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

August has snuck up on us and the real heat of the summer is probably going to hit us hard the next few days. I’ll tell ya I hate the heat and would much rather see snow falling then the grass growing. If there is a bright spot about August it is that hunting season is just around the bend. In one month doves and geese seasons will open up here in North Carolina and deer will follow shortly after them. I think I’ll move my season up a bit and head to Maine for bear season the end of this month. September will be here soon so now is the time to get ready.

Story & Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

No radio show this week but hopefully I’ll have everything up and running by next week. Computer has been acting up and I think part of it is the amount of digital images I have. They take a lot of space and the memory get filled up quick. I purchased an external hard drive and have begun the long down load process. Well over 200 minutes to download and then I’ll delete them off my computer hard drive. A bit nerve racking when your a photo bug like I am. Speaking of that check out my wildlife photography blog Moose’s Wild America. I’m currently featuring photos I shot in Alaska a few years back.

Dick Hamilton NC Camo Coalition

The Camo Coalition is an advocacy group for outdoor sportsmen assisting with organizing us to speak with one voice on the issues that really matter. The Hog Blog & The Outdoor Smorgasbord both did stories about this recently and that is great. Anything to help us get the word out and get more sportsmen to participate. North Carolina is not alone in this type of organizing there are a number of states that I’m aware of that have Camo Coalitions; SC, MS, and GA I know have them. If your not in one of these states check to see if your state has a Camo Coalition and if not you need to do what you can to organize one. The anti’s are organized and have a strong voice we need to organize to protect the heritage we believe in.

Story & Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

Gabe over at the Outdoor Smorgasbord and a deer scientist has a great article about brain abscess in deer that has been picked up by Realtree. This is not a growth that I’ve seen in any deer I’ve harvested but by the sound of it we may see this more and more as the deer population ages. Check the article out as well as his blog I bet ya can’t visit it without learning something.

Story & Photo by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

I really hate to do this but I just had to test out the new scratch & sniff feature on the blog. You should be able to scratch your monitor screen and smell this wonderful pie and coffee.
This is blueberry season here in North Carolina and we have had a pretty good abundance of the tasty berries. We’ve been eating them by the handful, freezing some, and of course a couple of meals of blueberry pancakes. So tonight I decided to make a blueberry pie. A fresh cup of coffee, a hunk of pie and a good TV show was just the break I needed. I checked out part 2 of the Muzzy Bad To The Bone Bowhunting TV that my good friend and fellow blogger Chesson filmed. What an awesome hunt and what spectacular area that this hunt took place. Chesson followed Michele Eichler of Muzzy Broadheads has she fulfilled her dream of bagging a bull moose.

Photo by Chesson

In case you didn’t see the snow I mean the show Chesson has a diary of the Yukon hunt you should check out
The show will re-air this Wednesday at 1:30pm on the Outdoor Channel

I’d love to chase moose around the Yukon.

Story by Dan McLaughlin AKA Moose

On the day we celebrate our independence and the birth of this great nation take some time to think about how blessed we are to live in this great country. For most of us we were born here so we did not have to pass a test to become a citizen but for those immigrating they do have to take a test. History.com has put the test up on their website so give it a try and see if you’re a well informed citizen.

I scored a 96 so I guess I passed Have a safe 4th of July and enjoy your gatherings with family & friends.