Adventures

October 28th 2022

I spent Thursday night at the shack since I had Friday off. I flushed some grouse on the 5 acres of high ground. They are flying fast and hard. They jump early. I made two ham radio contacts....one with Florida and the other with the east coast. The contacts are clear and the antenna works very well. It is so fun to use the ham radio at the shack. I also used the bow with a target that I leave out there. I purchased a single shot 20 gauge that will be my new small game brush gun. The big 12 gauge does not travel through the thick brush well. It is also heavy and overkill for the small game. I am really looking forward to trying the gun next weekend. It is balanced much better and is easier to maneuver in tight spaces. I'm really not too recoil sensitive...but not opposed to reducing 12 gauge recoil.

October 22nd 2022

I spent both Saturday and Sunday at the shack on the 20 acres. It feels like home now and I don't miss the old acre and a half that was closer to Mille Lacs Lake. Just packing down clearings, setting up an antenna, building a fire pit, and establishing some trails make a big difference. It's just a better situation security wise and the access is much better. It's also way more secluded with low traffic on the gravel road by my driveway. The bird hunting has been very good. There seems to be a lot of grouse and woodcock. I got a woodcock on Sunday morning. I am happy with the shot. It was about 15 yards flying staight away and I got him with one shot. I made two long distance contacts on 20 meters. One was to Louisiana and the other was to Conneticut. The antenna works very well.

October 15th 2022

I stayed at the shack on both Friday and Saturday nights. Matt stayed with me on Saturday night. We hunted a little. We spent most of our time building a new 20 meter antenna for ham radio. I should have less trouble with this one than my 34 foot vertical antenna. This one is also 34 ft long but it is horizontal and only 10 ft off the ground. This will be much easier to maintain. I made two contacts. One was to Ontario and the other was Princeton, NJ. Both stations came in like they were sitting next to me. They both said they heard me fine. I was very pleased with the antenna since I was transmitting at only 25 watts. It's pretty fun having the fire going and making distant contacts with only a car battery. No towers or repeaters in between us and a crystal clear conversation over 1100 miles is a cool thing. The last picture is of my buddy Ryan's new building. It is 16 feet by 36 feet. It was delivered this week and placed on his property. He is in the process of making an off grid house out of it. It is 4 times larger than mine and built to the same standards. He and I are planning on placing a solar array this weekend for the building.

October 8th 2022

Matt and I stayed at the shack on both Friday and Saturday nights. Matt got a duck on Saturday at the 40. We cooked it on the grate over the fire. We had some hot sauce...it was very good. We kicked up probably a dozen grouse on the 20 but just did not get a clean shot. Matt had a turkey tag but we didn't see any. It was a full moon and I tried to get it on camera but I could not capture how bright it was. At 2 in the morning it was as bright as day. I cast a very dark sharp shadow. I've see this many times before, but not quite like this. There is no lights, power lines, yard lights, city lights or anything out here. So on clear nights the stars and moon are very bright. In the winter with a fresh snow fall it is incredible. We also saw sun dogs on Saturday night and it did rain on Sunday. It was a fun trip.