A Texas Gem at Colorado Bend

I spent last Thursday and Friday on the Colorado River at Colorado Bend State Park, just west of Lampasas, where the Colorado River forms the border between San Saba and Lampasas counties. It is a beautiful State park in the Colorado River valley bounded by bottom lands and high scenic bluffs. The water runs in long winding pools and shallow, rock-strewn rapids. In places, beautiful waterfalls cascade to the river below. The park is famous for the spring white bass run. The white bass swim up river to spawn out of the depths of Lake Buchanan. Fisherman come from all over the State to fish for the white bass just as we were doing on this trip. We saw lots of wildlife on our trip including a ton of birdlife, feral goats, raccoons, deer, armadillos and a rookery of nesting Great Blue Herons. The purpose of this week’s blog was to tell you about the park and it is really a neat place to go camping, hiking, fishing and exploring. You can hike to Gorman Falls or explore the other trails and caves in the park for days. You can learn more about the park at

http://www.tpwd.state.tx.us/spdest/findadest/parks/colorado_bend/

What I really saw this last week in the park was a place to enjoy friends and family. I saw people enjoying each other and sharing the experience of Colorado Bend. I was witness to a father taking the time to make memories with his very young daughter. He had the patience of Job and spent much of his fishing time helping his young daughter have a great experience even though I do not think this trip was exactly what she wanted to do. I ran into couples older than my wife and I that were still sharing the outdoor experience with each other. We saw some of the typical jerks you experience in such places as public parks but over and over I witnessed people sharing the outdoors and offering help and advice to those around them. Take time to take someone you care about into the wild and share the experience of making memories. Colorado Bend is a great place to start, Wild Ed

Real Free Range Eggs

Farm fresh egg vs commercial egg

How many of you have ever tasted a real egg. I am not talking about the eggs you buy at the grocery store even if they say cage free, organic or whatever label they put on them. I am talking about real farm fresh free range eggs. Eggs from chickens that roam around on pasture eating natural foods like bugs, grasshoppers, worms, greens and such with maybe some grain supplemental food. The yolks of these eggs are not flat and yellow but stand up firm and have a fresh orange color to them. They make wonderful omelets and bakery goods. A couple sunny side up make a great breakfast and the taste is so much better than what we get from commercial layers. It has been some twenty five years since we had our own free range chickens, but I am looking forward to having them again. I still stop and buy free range eggs from chicken farmers every now and then just to enjoy them again. Many local farmers markets have someone that sells real free range eggs and they are worth the money.

With the turn in the economy and everyone going back to green living many towns and municipalities are again allowing residents to have backyard chickens. You might check your area and see if you could have them. A small coop with 3-4 laying hens or even bantams could supply your egg needs and they would not be laced with antibiotics and chemicals. Get out and find a source for some real eggs and see if you agree that they just taste better, Wild Ed

Brazos Boat Works Custom River Boats, Canoes and Kayaks

Two buddies and I recently left early one Saturday morning and made a trip to Gatesville, Texas to spend the day learning boat building techniques from master boat builder Gerald Kennedy, owner of Brazos Boat Works. Gerald had designed and drawn the plans for a 16 foot five panel boat called the Challenger. He guided us through laying out the drawing of the plans on marine plywood, then cutting out the pieces and stitching them together with small gauge wire.

You may follow along on the build at the following link.

http://texaspaddler.com/wordpress/bbw-forum/brazos-boat-works-forum-group3/bbw-projects-forum2/bbw-project-boat-challenger-thread17/

Gerald has all sorts of custom boats and plans for sale and even some free boat plans. You can join his forum and talk with others that paddle some of Gerald’ custom boats or have built some of his designs. Feel free to drop in and look around at the Brazos Boat Works Website. It is pretty amazing, Wild Ed

http://texaspaddler.com/wordpress/brazos-boat-works/

THE FEED MILL GATESVILLE, TEXAS
PS: I always try to let my readers know when I run across a good place to eat as I travel across this great State. Saturday we went to one of Gerald’s favorite places in Gatesville. We paid for our meal just like you will have to do so I can say with all honesty that the food was first class. Hamburgers start at just $3.75, Chicken Fried Steak at $8.95 and the Rib-eye Steak on the lunch was $9.95 The Feed Mill is one of those hole in the wall out of the way places you will want to stop at every time you go through town. They also had Catfish and BBQ on the menu, but I will have to try it another time. The fresh battered onion rings were fantastic. The Feed Mill is located at 108 N. 6th Street in downtown Gatesville. Tell them Wild Ed sent you, like they will know who that is!

The Ranch House Ghost

It was a miserable, bitter cold night along the Colorado River in San Saba County. The wind was howling when my wife and I drove up and parked in front of the old wooden house on top of a hill overlooking the river valley. It was pitch black and not a star was visible due to the Arctic blast that had blown down into the Texas Hill Country. I turned my back to the cold and quickly worked to turn the key in the old lock, get into the house and turn on a light. While my wife was getting her things from the car I rushed into the house and lit a couple of old gas heaters to try and take some of the chill off before we went to bed. We had driven several hours in the dark after work and needed to rise early as we were going deer hunting the next morning.

The old pier and beam ranch house had been home to several generations and told its age by moaning and creaking in the howling winter wind. We piled on the quilts and hurried to bed snuggling to stay warm. I had drifted off into that semiconscious state just before sleep when I heard someone walking across the wood floor in the back of the house. I at first thought my wife had gotten up to get something but as I instinctively reached back I felt her next to me. She also had been awakened by the sound of footsteps. As the footsteps got closer to our room I jumped up in the dark and felt for my bag to retrieve my Colt 1911 .45. I slipped quietly over to the door and felt for the light switch. Light filled the room as I flipped the switch and the footsteps moved to the other end of the house. I jerked open the door and ran into the next room ready to confront an intruder and found nothing. My wife and I then went room to room searching the house looking for an intruder. I checked to make sure all the exterior doors were latched and went back to bed, this time with the pistol and a flashlight by my side.

I had a hard time going back to sleep and lay listening to the moaning and groaning of the old house trying to hear any sound out of place. I finally drifted off to sleep from exhaustion. Something made me sit straight up in bed and I again heard the sound of footsteps walking through the old house. This time they were headed straight towards the bedroom where we lay listening. I picked up the Colt and lay in wait. The sound of steps actually came right into our bedroom yet I heard no sound of a door opening in the dark. I turned on a flashlight expecting to confront the intruder but found the room empty. I leaped to the floor, flipped on the light switch and heard the sound of footsteps running through the house. I was freaking out as I chased the sound through the house. I could hear the sound of footsteps but saw no one. The old house was about 120 feet long so try to imagine what was going through my mind as I ran through the house in the dark with my flashlight and pistol in hand. I could hear every step on the cold wood floor yet no one was there. I ran to the end of the house into a sun room that was mostly glass and had an exterior door that went out into a side yard. I threw on the outside light just in time to see a big Armadillo come running out from under the old house.

The house was built on pier and beam at about 24 inch centers. The old wood floor was nailed directly to the solid beams so any sound was amplified right into the old house. The armadillo roaming around under the old house was hitting his back on the bottom of the beams as he moved under the house making the footstep sounds every 24 inches. When I jumped on the floor the sound must have scared the armadillo and it ran to the other end of the house making the running sounds. As I ran chasing the sound, the armadillo ran faster all the way through the house until it got away from the stomping sounds on the floor above. We had found our intruder. I never did sleep well in that old house again, Wild Ed

Quick and Easy Banana Nut Bread

It seems like we have a banana in every bunch we buy that gets over ripe before we use it. I used to put them in the freezer until I had two or three and then make a banana bread, banana pancakes or banana cake from scratch and try to use the ripe bananas so as to not be wasteful. In a hurry one day I grabbed a plain white cake mix out of the pantry and instead of following the directions I mashed up 2 ripe bananas, put in three eggs and a 1/3 cup of oil. I stirred in the cake mix and started to add the water called for on the box, but when I looked at the bowl the density looked just right for banana bread. I have since made some with the water and it makes a light cake but we like the denser bread type product that is produced by not using the liquid called for in the directions.

Next I chopped up some pecans, poured in a little vanilla and stirred it all together. I then poured it into greased loaf pans and turned out some of the best banana nut bread we ever tasted. I have since used yellow cake mix, strawberry cake mix and pineapple cake mix instead of the plain white. Each taste a little different, my favorite is the strawberry cake mix banana bread with pecans and chopped dates. Everyone that tastes this asks what it is and then wants to know where to get it or how to make it. These also come out wonderful baked in individual mini loaves or muffins. I just bought some fresh blueberries to try in the next batch.

Here are the basic ingredients and you can change them or add whatever you like.

1 box cake mix (I use whatever house brand is at the store where I buy groceries)

2 ripe bananas (mashed)

3 eggs

1/3 cup of oil (butter tastes wonderful, but I usually use olive oil)

½ to 1 cup of nuts ( I like pecans or walnuts)

1/3 to ½ cup of chopped fruit or dates

1 teaspoon of vanilla

Just dump everything in a big bowl and stir it up until mixed thoroughly. Pour into greased pans. I just spray mine with olive oil spray. Bake at 350 degrees until a toothpick comes out clean and the bread is a rich golden color. Cool and remove from pans.





I just found an over ripe pear in the crisper, guess what is going in one of these tasty breads next. Enjoy, Wild Ed

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Tasco Varmint & Target 2.5-10X 42mm Riflescope

Getting ready for a prairie dog hunting trip to New Mexico I had assembled a little Ruger rimfire rifle with a new Green Mountain barrel in 17Mk2. I was anxious to try out the new barrel and this little cartridge for prairie dogs under 100 yards. I did not want to put a cheap rimfire scope on the rifle and really needed an adjustable objective and a mil-dot reticle to handle the wind, distance and parallax problems that come with shooting on the prairies of New Mexico. I just could not justify nor afford to put a Leopold or Nikon on the little rifle. I stopped in at my local Academy Sports store to see what they had available and saw a Tasco on the shelf that was called the Varmint & Target 2.5-10 Variable. It looked the part and had a little prairie dog etched on the side of the scope. I know, what difference does that make, but I am a sucker for signs and omens. I looked the scope over and decided to check out the reviews online before I took a cheaper scope on a hunting trip, as you usually get what you pay for in most cases. I went to Cabelas website reviews to check out the scope and was really surprised at the reviews. There were a couple of not so good reviews but a boat load of 5 star ratings. I have found that even some of the high dollar scopes seem to always have a few bad reviews. It seems as if you can buy a lemon from anyone these days.

By the way Cabelas and Bass Pro reviews on their websites are great places to see what others think of gear and equipment before you lay out your hard earned cash for them.

The retail price of the scope was $96.99 so it was offering a lot for under 100 dollars at 2.5-10 power, Adjustable Objective, a true mil-dot reticle and a lifetime warranty. I was even more surprised when I found out the price at Academy was only $69.99 including the image of the little prairie dog on the side of the scope. To make a long story short I bought the scope and mounted it on my .17MK2 for the trip. I shot it for 4 days and it performed just like my high dollar scopes that I had on my .223 and my .243 rifles. I took over 200 prairie dogs on that trip with that rifle and scope combination and later moved the scope to an AR-15 that I bounce around in the truck and use for predators. I did not want to beat up one of my high dollar scopes on that rifle. It has performed flawlessly for hundreds of shots and just keeps on going. No, it is not as clear or bright as my Nikon, Leopold, Simmons or Weaver scopes but none of the predators, hogs, varmints or deer that have fallen to that little .223 could tell that they were shot with a less expensive scope. I just ordered another one for an airgun to see how it performs on it. I found them for $59.99 including free shipping in the USA. That is a lot of bang for not many bucks in this shooter’s mind. Here is a link if you need an inexpensive scope that has worked well for me.


http://www.bhphotovideo.com/c/product/328858-REG/Tasco_VAR251042M_2_5_10x42_Target_Varmint.html/BI/4851/KBID/5370%22%3E/BI/4851/KBID/5370



Don't just take my word for it, go to the Internet and Goggle reviews for the scope. Check out Cabelas, Bass Pro and any other outdoor review sites and see what others say about the scope. Then you can make up your own mind. I try to tell you about the bargains I find that are worth the money or not. So far this one is a winner.

The prairie dog on the side of the scope is free with purchase, Wild Ed

2.5-10x42mm, Adjustable Objective, Varmint Matte Finish, True Mil- dot reticle
Lifetime Warranty

Specifications
• Magnification: 2.5-10x
• Field-of-View: 35-9ft. at 100 yards
• Exit Pupil: 16.8mm at 2.5x / 42.mm at 10x
• Lens Coating: SuperCon/multi-layered, fully coated
• Focus Type: Eyeball
• Parallax Setting: 10 ft to infinity
• Objective Lens Diameter: 21mm
• Eye Relief: 3in.
• Reticle Type: True Mil-Dot
• Windage/Elevation: 1/4 M.O.A. Glove-Grip Turrets
• Tube DIA: 1in.
• Weight: 19.1 oz.
• Length: 14in.
• Finish: Black Matte.

Determine a Turkey's Age by its Spurs | The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles

Stop by my buddy Albert's page and check out this article.

Determine a Turkey's Age by its Spurs The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles

Texas Spring Turkey Season is Right Around the Corner

When I first started calling turkeys many years ago I had a hard time making a kill. I thought it was my calling but discovered it was that the turkeys would see me before I saw them. Once I learned how important camo and non-movement was to my success I started calling in boss gobblers on a regular basis. I then decided I would try and take a big Rio Grande gobbler with a bow. Now that was more difficult and took some real doing as they seem to always see me draw my bow when they were close enough to hit. I finally took several with a bow and became confident of my ability to call and shoot turkeys. My success rate was boosted by discovering hen decoys. All of a sudden I had something to take the sharp eyes of a gobbler off of me while I drew my bow. I hunted for many years with my bag of tricks and skills I had learned through the years of turkey calling and was happy with my success and methods. Many times I would go hunting with others and just call so that they could take a gobbler and I had just as much fun or even more.

Then the ultimate method to take a turkey was developed. I almost do not want to disclose this to those that have not yet learned this secret but I believe it will give more people the enjoyment and success of calling in a gobbler of their own. If your goal is to take a turkey with a bow this will help you get it done. This big secret is a simple pop-up blind or tent blind. I will not recommend any one brand as there are many good ones out there in all price ranges. The one thing you need to make sure of is that it is big enough to draw your bow and hold whatever gear you plan on using. I also like to have windows with replaceable, shoot through netting so I do not have to have an open window to shoot at anything. Deer and hogs seem to take a while to get used to a pop-up blind and many times you have to brush it in and make it look like a natural part of the landscape. It still may take weeks for them to accept it. Not so with turkeys, just pop it up, set out a hen decoy in shooting range and you are set. One secret I will give you is to use a gobbler or Jake decoy and face it directly at the blind. Gobblers almost always approach a rival head on, so a gobbler facing the decoy will allow you to draw your bow undetected. I have put a pop-up blind in an open field and called gobblers minutes after getting it set up. For some unknown reason turkeys seem to accept these camo tents as a part of the landscape. I have had turkeys actually come up to the blind when I was calling and put their head right next to the net windows and not see a thing. Of course you should not move when they get that close. I have found that black or dark green clothes work best when I am hunting or taking pictures from a blind. They do not show up as well as camo through the net windows because most of the blinds are pretty dark inside. Try one of the new pop-up blinds and I think you will find a new tool that you will want to use more and more. Good hunting, Wild Ed