The Mad Hatter

[Kevin Mienke]

I will use the phrase “mad as a hatter” here because that is what Momma said. She said I was “mad as a hatter” when I left my warm house and went pheasant hunting this morning. She also said I am as “self destructive as a June bug.”

She has a way with words.

The temperature is negative 6 degrees Fahrenheit, but the weather report says it feels like negative 21. In my estimation, there is really not much difference. Negative 21 is nasty, that’s for sure, but negative 6 is equally capable of numbing your fingers, toes and brain.

The weatherman said it is cold today….I’m not joking here…that is what he said. I think he may have come up a little short on his description.

Cold really isn’t the right word for today. If 32 degrees is cold, then this is something beyond cold and a man really doesn’t need a thermometer to tell him so. Nor does he need a weather report.

Despite the weatherman telling me that it is cold, and despite being called a mad hatter and a June bug, I spent all morning outside anyway…numbing my fingers, toes, and brain.

From where I stand, a simple numbing of the brain is of no concern and could possibly even go undetected in guys like me. Most Power Wagon guys should be able to relate to that. We are all a little unbalanced, or, as Momma would say, “Mad as hatters.”

I may be mad as a hatter, but I’m a happy mad hatter. It could be sunny and 72 and I wouldn’t feel better than I do right now. Fenway has been on jack stands for quite some time. It felt good to have her out again. Life is good.

I think it will make a good story for the back of the magazine.

I should write it today while I feel good. Tomorrow I might have a bad cold.

[Longhunter7]

Pleasant Pheasant?

Kevin,

Well, OK, I'll be the first to ask.......did you get any pheasants, or was your darling bride right as usual?

I'm afflicted with the same disease, Pheasant Phever. It makes you do crazy things like chasing them in all kinds of weather and getting up at 5:00 A.M.

[Kevin Mienke]

No, the ice covered snow did us no favors. The birds could hear us coming from a mile away. We tried hunting the thicket where the trees lined the draws. I thought maybe they would sit for us in the brisk weather. They didn't.

Still, it was good to be out.

[Gordon Maney]

It was -7 here this morning.

My Malamute thinks it is great.

He lays anywhere out in the middle of it and takes naps.

[Kevin Mienke]

Your malamute is a dog after my own heart. I have forgotten his name though.

[Gordon Maney]

Your malamute is a dog after my own heart. I have forgotten his name though.

Kobuk.

Here he is helping me in the shop. You will notice he has a /2 BMW motorcycle valve cover gasket that he is not supposed to have.

[712edf]

It's a balmy 34 degress here. At 4:30 in the morning I'll be crappie fishing under a bridge. You have to get there before the crowd to get the best rocks to set-up on. When I went 3 wks ago I got frustrated from hanging up my line, that I tossed my rod into the lake. I'll be using a borrowed rod tomorrow, as this will keep down the temptation to toss it into the water too. I already have a cold, so what harm can fishing in the 20's do?

I was offered a meal of pheasant just tonight. Unfortunately I had already eaten.

Bucky

[Kevin Mienke]

Kobuk is an awesome name and he is a gem. His eyes!

The dog I hunted with today was named Reload. He was a friendly old German Shorthair, but he didn't like the weather much. He had his feet wrapped to protect them from the cold and hard snow.

He belonged to a retired ironworker I met out in the field. Sweet Dog. It was a good day.

[Kevin Mienke]

I was offered a meal of pheasant just tonight. Unfortunately I had already eaten.

Bucky

We cleaned up the whole year's take of pheasant and duck on New Year's day. This includes the take of my two brothers and my brother-in-law as well. We cut the meat into chunks about 1 inch or so, wrap them in bacon and marinate them overnight. On New Year's day the whole family gets together and we grill them. It's been a family tradition for as long as I can remember.

[712edf]

My boss/co-worker here has in-laws in Oakley,KS....They went out and got some pheasant this weekend as well.
He grilled his meat wrapped in bacon with some jalapeno.
Sounded good.....better than my can of soup.

Bucky

[NNICKB]

There is an old saying, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity."

The same is true of cold. I am more comfortable when it is sunny, dry, and below zero, than when it is gray, slushy, and 34.

Right now it is about 10 here, with high winds. A fine place to be would be the roomy three man cab, with the Southwind heater stoked up.

I remember a pheasant hunting trip when I was in high school. We spent all morning walking a field, with no luck. We then decided to have lunch in the adjoining state park, which is posted "No Hunting."

Of course, there were six big ringnecks huddled under one of the picnic tables. The parks warden's office was a stone's throw away.

We set aside our weapons and spent the better part of an hour, attempting to "herd" the pheasants out of the no hunting zone.

In the end, we did not succeed.

[Gordon Maney]

There is an old saying, "It's not the heat, it's the humidity."

The same is true of cold. I am more comfortable when it is sunny, dry, and below zero, than when it is gray, slushy, and 34.

Right now it is about 10 here, with high winds. A fine place to be would be the roomy three man cab, with the Southwind heater stoked up.

I remember a pheasant hunting trip when I was in high school. We spent all morning walking a field, with no luck. We then decided to have lunch in the adjoining state park, which is posted "No Hunting."

Of course, there were six big ringnecks huddled under one of the picnic tables. The parks warden's office was a stone's throw away.

We set aside our weapons and spent the better part of an hour, attempting to "herd" the pheasants out of the no hunting zone.

In the end, we did not succeed.

That is hilarious....

[Hobcobble]

My first pheasant hunt was 32 years ago with my father. It was probably
just days after completing my NY State Hunter's Safety Course. We didn't
see anything that day. Dad used to do some hunting with his dad when
he was young [near Webster City, IA]. I think there were an abundance of
pheasants for my dad and his dad to hunt. This wasn't so in my hometown
in NY. I think I only hunted with dad two or three times. Pheasants are
kind of sparse in our region nowadays. Some of the state prisons have been
raising pheasants [gives inmates something to do] and releasing them into
certain regions in hopes of building up the population. I see a pheasant
every so often...... I haven't hunted them for many years though.
John

[NNICKB]

I am almost certain the birds in my story were recently stocked. The Game Commission does a lot of that here. They also do it with fish. Part of the "sport" of fishing involves following the stock truck.

[Chewie]

I am almost certain the birds in my story were recently stocked. The Game Commission does a lot of that here. They also do it with fish. Part of the "sport" of fishing involves following the stock truck.

Same thing goes on when they stock trout in NE Iowa.
We usually have plenty of pheasants, though.
We drive deer here, but I hadn't ever thought of driving birds!