Found this image today, and I’m not sure what to make of it, except that taxidermists are a strange bunch.

So what do you think we call this?  Deerabster?  Pheasrabeer?  Cock Rabsant?  Got any other suggestions?

It’s all fun and games until someone gets shot in the head with an arrow…

Fully-Automatic 12 gauge shotgun that can fire 300 rounds per minute.  Strictly for military use, but think of the fun you could snow goose hunting!

Or even better.  Our sporting clays range used to do a thing called The Flurry at the 5-stand.  It was a 2-second delayed firing of sequential stations until 30 birds was reached.  This would make that little even a lot of fun!

Finally, the Brits come up with something you can use.

You see, this guy doesn’t like to get dirty, doesn’t like to get a sore back, and doesn’t seem to mind pointing a shotgun directly at the ground and firing it, putting himself and his workmates in danger.

But, it is a plausible method for removing undesired plants.  (Just don’t try this at home, kids)

I’ve lived in North Dakota most all of my life.  During that time I’ve lived in four different cities, and have hunted and fished in most of the rest.

And yet nearly every weekend during hunting season I get lost… and love every minute of it.

Patrick McMannus wrote several stories about the art of getting lost.

You see, the best part of being lost in North Dakota is that you can only do it once in a particular location.  Our state is criss-crossed with neatly layed out minimum maintenance “section” lines, marking 1 mile units of land.  In the rare case that a landowner has plowed up a section line or the road has disappeared due to non-use, you just drive to the second mile.

And while I have my usual hunting spots and landmarks, occasionally I see that section line I haven’t been on before, and it looks like it will get me where I want to be, so I take it.  But it doesn’t always work out.

Yesterday I ended up on a road I had never been on.  And then another, and another, and another until I ended up taking a 10-mile drive to the very point I had started.

But was it worth the drive?  Yep.  First, I learned never to take that road again.  But more importantly, I saw some amazing country (unfortunatly posted) that was home to some whitetail does, a lonely coyote, a couple of rooster pheasants, and one really big snow owl.  If I hadn’t taken that little detour I wound’t have seen any of those things.

But have I ever been in danger being lost in ND?   Yes.  Hunting in the Badlands of SW North Dakota, I got caught in a freak snow storm.  The day started out at 60 degrees and we were hunting turkeys.  The hunt took us about two miles from the road and then the temp dropped and it started to rain.  And then it started snowing. Not “normal” snow, but that huge-flake, stick-to-anything type of snow.  And within minutes the entire countryside was covered with a sparkling blanket of fresh snow.

For a moment, I was pretty scared.  I tried to find the vehicle, or the road, or anything that might give us a hint on how to get back.  No luck, so I had to scramble up a clay butte, not an easy task carrying a shotgun and in fresh Badlands mud, and start looking.  Minutes went by as I scanned the countryside with my binoculars, and then I saw it… a telephone pole.  That had to be by the road, so I scanned right and saw another, and then a few more, and after a few moments I saw what looked like two tires.   My truck had been completely covered with the sticky snow, except for the tires and a small spot on the windshield.

We started the 2-mile hike back to the truck, got in and got the hell out of there.

That was scary, and could have been life threatening in a more extreme circumstance.  But it illustrates the best part of being lost… the story.  If you don’t get lost, you don’t have any stories.

So go ahead, get lost once in a while.  You might see someting interesting, and you’ll have something to talk about next time you and your buddies get together.

I’m not an overly religious man, so take this little story I’m about to tell you any way you like.

We were hunting west of Dickinson, ND this weekend, and noticed that in the middle of a CRP field there was a stell crucifix welded to a metal fence post and stuck in the ground.  We didn’t think much of it, but asked the landowner when we got back and he told us a little story.

Seems that in the 60′s his grandfather owned the land, and year after year his crop and home were damaged by extreme hail, a staple of mid-summer North Dakota weather.

Out of desperation, he welded a crucifix to a metal fence post and stuck it in the middle of his field. 

And, if you believe him, the field and the house have not been victimized by any hail damage since.  No crop claims, not damage to homes or vehicles, nothing.

Now whether you believe the story or not isn’t important to me.  I’m sure there’s been hail on the property.  There might even been a few storms that left some vehicles dented or some corn knocked over. 

But here’s the real important part.  You don’t get to hear stories like that unless you put yourself in a position to hear them.  I’ve driven past the field 1,000 times and never saw the cross.  Once you’re knee-deep in CRP and see a cross in the center of it you just have to get the story.  Getting outdoors and aquiring stories like this is what makes hunting a unique endeavor.  It provides a mechanism for people of different cultures and livelihoods to mingle and share experiences.

The Bismarck Tribune is reporting that a legend in Dakota hunting and fishing died Sunday at 67 years old.

Tony Dean (pictured) was the host of several television and radio shows, and also contributed to numerous websites and magazines, including TonyDean.com and Dakota Country Magazine.

He was a champion of the North and South Dakota sportsmen, and a staunch defender of conservation.  His mellow voice will be dearly missed on tv and radio, and his biting intelligence will leave a void in the defense of the welfare of habitat and wildlife.

I’ve always said that Mr. Dean had it figured out.  Somehow he managed to figure out a way to make a living hunting and fishing the Great Plains.  It seems unfair that his life was cut short by something as trivial as an appendix surgery.

Dean won more than 160 regional and national awards for his programs. He also served as a press secretary for former South Dakota Gov. Frank Farrar.

Godspeed Tony Dean.  You have enriched the lives of so many, and will live on in our memories.

Below is a link to Tony’s last Dakota Backroads audio show from 10/3/2008.

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Have a fishing tournament coming up that you want posted?

How about excitement over the upcoming North Dakota Deer Rifle Season?

Sign up today for the Blast & Cast Calendar (still in testing) and you can add dates for upcoming seasons, tournaments, events and more.

Signup is free.  All events are automatically posted, at least until I uncover abuse and have to shut that down.

Hey guys.  Just a quick note about licenses, both in-state and out-of-state.

I just spent 45 minutes in line at Scheels Sports in Bismarck because there was a line of out-of-state hunters purchasing waterfowl licenses.  Don’t get me wrong, I understand the lure of ND wildlife and the economic boost that all of you are bringing here.

But, North Dakota has one of the best online licensing systems I’ve heard about.  It’s quick, easy, and will let you print, or even download, your license immediately.  That means you can print multiple copies and store one in the vehicle, one in the tackle box or ammo box, and keep on in a wallet or checkbook.

Why spend nearly a half-hour in line at your favorite store filling out paper forms and licking stickers when you can just be ready to hunt before you even leave for our great state.

You probably took some time online to research your hunt in ND, and probably even booked the trip in part online.  Make full use of the technology next year and purchase the license at http://gf.nd.gov, or click here to go direct to the North Dakota Game & Fish online license purchasing site.

Funny story.

Last night I sat down at my computer and started writing an article about using Google Maps to enhance my hunting.  I was even going to go as far as producing a quick video that showed everyone how to use and save the maps for later.  I still might do that, but as I often do, my mind wandered and I wandered over to FishingBuddy.com.

And what did I see?  An article by Nick Simonson entitled, “Our Outdoors: Google Helps Advance Hunting Maps.”

So I read it, and I’ll be damned if it didn’t seem that Nick was sitting next to me while I was typing my article.  He captured just about everything I did, and made the points I was going to make almost in the same order.  Scary.

So, in the interest of not clogging up the internet with more articles about the same thing, I’ll invite you to wander over to FishingBuddy.com and check out Nick’s article.