Best of the Outdoor Bloggers: Wild Ed's Texas Outdoors

© 2010 Albert A Rasch™ and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
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Wild Ed is a prodigious outdoor author and one that I am honored to be friends with. This is his second installment on the Best of the Outdoor Bloggers series with several more to come, as his posts are that good!

Best of the Outdoor Bloggers

Wild Ed's Texas Outdoors:
Turning Canoe Paddles into a Double Blade Kayak Paddle

Recently, I built an all wood boat and have started on my second build, which will be a copy of the Brazos Boat Works design of a 3 panel kayak with stripped decks. The whole boat will be made from cedar strips.

I did not want to paddle these boats with a plastic kayak paddle and decided to go purchase a laminated wood double kayak paddle. Boy was I in for sticker shock. I had no idea that wood kayak paddles would be so expensive. I came home without a paddle and decided to just use the plastic one I had.

I went to Academy several days ago to look for another plastic paddle and while I was browsing the plastic paddles I saw several inexpensive single wood boat paddles. A light bulb went off in my head and I thought why not take a couple of the inexpensive wooden boat paddles and make a double blade kayak paddle. The following pictures will show some of what I did and how it turned out. I am actually quite proud of the results and will be doing some more in the future. Total cost in materials was under $40.00

Here are the two inexpensive canoe paddles I started with.



Clamped the paddles together cut the handles off and cut the blades to shape on the band saw



Here is what the two paddles looked liked when I unclamped them from cutting and shaping the blades.




Sanded blades, cut scarf joint, glued. fiberglassed the joint and clamped up to dry.




Finished paddle sanded and varnished. The upper blade is darker in the photo because it is wet and the final drying is taking place. I did put a bamboo dowel through the scarf joint and also fiberglassed the joint to make sure it was plenty strong. This was my first time to laminate two paddles into one and I am pleased with the result. I want to see how this length works with my style of boat and a high seat. I may make a shorter one later.

My friends, I hope you are as pleased as I with this installment of "Best of the Outdoor Bloggers." I want to thank Wild Ed of Wild Ed's Texas Outdoors for allowing me to share his "Turning Canoe Paddles into Kayak Paddles" with everyone.  If you have a post that you are particularly proud of, or if you want to look at your Analytics and check out what your # 1 post is, please feel free to forward it to me and I will gladly post it and link the snot out of it to your blog!

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch™
Member:Kandahar Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

Best of the Outdoor Bloggers: Fall Roads Archer

© 2010 Albert A Rasch™ and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
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Best of the Outdoor Bloggers

Remember I mentioned a week or so ago I would be going through everyones archives and finding those posts that I thought were interesting and worth revisiting? I found the following post, Saturday Small Game on Fall Roads Archer, really liked the pictures and flow, so I am presenting it here for everyone to view again!

Saturday Small Game

Bill, Fall Roads Archer

"Working my way back uphill, it began to dawn on me just how many buck rubs I was seeing."

I headed out with my older brother yesterday to do some small game hunting along with some scouting for the upcoming rifle season. I packed my fly rod along to try my luck at the creek that flows through the area we'd be hunting. The old single shot 12 gauge was my gun of choice today, and on a side note may be a winter restoration project, as it's showing some wear. It didn't take long to put the first bushytail in the game bag.


Making my way down a hemlock filled hollow that had a small creek flowing through it, something out of place caught my eye. Upon further investigation it turned out to be the remains of a decent seven point. It looked to be from last year as it was just the skull and a pile of bones.



Slowly making my way down to the creek I flushed one grouse along the way, but it happened so fast there was no shot opportunity. Arriving stream side, I stashed the gun and gave it a go with some streamers for awhile but didn't have any luck.


Getting back to hunting, I worked my way upstream through the woods along the creek. I came across something I'd never seen before in all my years of hunting this area, beaver damage.


Working my way back uphill, it began to dawn on me just how many buck rubs I was seeing. They were literally everywhere. It was the same thing everywhere I roamed today.


Just before noon I put the second squirrel of the day in the game bag. With lots of acorns this year it seems to be a banner year for them.


Not too long after, number three fell to the single shot.


Number four came almost immediately after.



Around two o'clock I bagged my fifth squirrel of the day. The limit is six and is something I've never accomplished. Try as I might, I couldn't put one more in the game bag.


All in all, a very enjoyable day. I ended up seeing five deer and also flushed another grouse along the way. My brother, who was scouting for the upcoming bear season, saw two bears but didn't score on any small game. A great day to be out!

Bill, Fall Roads Archer

My friends, I hope you enjoyed this installment of "Best of the Outdoor Bloggers," our new weekly series, as much as I did. I want to thank Bill of Fall Roads Archer for allowing me to share his Saturday Small Game with everyone. If you have a post that you are particularly proud of, or if you want to look at your Analytics and check out what your # 1 post is, please feel free to forward it to me and I will gladly post it and link the snot out of it to your blog!


Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch™
Member:Kandahar Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

Best of the Outdoor Bloggers: I Don't Wear Pink Camo to the Woods

© 2010 Albert A Rasch™ and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
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Best of the Outdoor Bloggers:
Friday Fishing Fun (Knot)

One of the newest blogs for me is Kari Murray's I Don't Wear Pink Camo to the Woods. I actually found her blog through one of my "Blog Hopping" expeditions, and I was so enamored with it that it went straight to my favorites, blog roll, and Saturday Blog Rodeo. Kari is a Toxophilite (Go look it up... I had to!) and we all know what a turn-on that is! She's married to a swell outdoorsman of a guy and has an awful cute little fellow that is bound to be an accomplished fisherman and hunter in his own right before long.

So without further blabbing let's dive right into this installment of The Best of Outdoor Bloggers!

Good Hunting!
Albert Rasch
The Hunt Continues...

Friday Fishing Fun (Knot)

In my last post I had stated that I was recently inspired to count my Blessings in a BIG way. This is the story of that inspiration. Given not by the beauty of nature but rather its wrath. 

It takes place on Friday, April 2nd 2010.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

As the afternoon rolled in they sky looked as if there could be a possibility of perhaps a sprinkle or two heading our way. That’s nothing serious to me though. After many years of being rained on I know, beyond a shadow of a doubt, that I am not sweet enough to melt simply by getting a bit wet. So the day’s plans stood. Little man off to G-Ma’s and Pa’s to decorate Easter eggs and Hubbin’ and I off to the Chippewa River to catch some crappies.

We put the boat in on Lake Wissota then traveled around to the not-so-secret secret spot (given away by all the boats there to drop anchor). It was the perfect day for fishing in my eyes with temps hitting around 70 and the sky being just a bit cloudy. My biggest complaint of the day thus far was without the rays of the sun, I couldn’t properly try out my new X-ray Fish Glasses. Those are the polarized ones for those of you who don’t speak in Kari-izms yet. (And if you think that’s bad, might I add that I also own a Fish Purse, more commonly known as a tackle bag, to those of you who angle.)




As we sit anchored, truly enjoying just the fact that we are outside together, Hubbin’ graciously showed me what I was doing wrong tying on my lures. One loop short, (kind of sounds like the story of my life! lol!) but I’ve certainly got it now and feel well on my way to being more independent when it comes to the things of fishing. In fact I even suggested that it would be nice to be able to run the boat by myself but have since retracted that thought. In a minute you will see why.

My new lures.

We fish for about a half an hour or so without a bite. I have to admit that I was focusing on how to retrieve my new lures so intently that if a fish would have struck, I may have made a fool of myself by screaming like an excited school girl seeing the boy band of her dreams. I’ve never really fished with lures before, just the ol’ trusty bobber and worm combo, so all of this is very new to me. After a bit with no action, Hubbin’ made the decision to try a different spot directly across the river.




As the anchors were set down and I made couple of quick casts, the sky began to grow dark at a rapid pace. I look up from the water to see my Hubbin’ starring off into the distance at the incoming clouds. He casually turned to me and said, “Oh look, lightning.” Well even I’m no dummy when it comes to this.

Metal Boat + electricity coming from the sky + water = Deep Do-Do!

It’s time to close up shop and now. We rush to button up the boat, quickly bringing up the anchors, and make it no more then 20 yards before encountering the inspiration behind me sharing with you the suggestion of taking stock of the good in your life. My own scaled down storm version of Deadliest Catch.

Best of the Outdoor Bloggers: Whitetail Woods: Do it yourself Gravity Fed Deer Feeder

© 2010 Albert A Rasch™ and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
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Best of the Outdoor Bloggers
Do It Yourself Gravity Fed Deer Feeder

From Rick at Whitetail Woods, comes this little gem of a DIY project Whitetail Woods: Do it yourself Gravity Fed Deer Feeder. First appearing on his old blog, he revamped it a bit and put it on Whitetail Woods, and now I have chosen it for another installment of "Best of the Outdoor Bloggers!"

For those of you who don’t have a lot of finances like myself, here is a do it yourself deer feeder that you can make at home.

You do need to check the laws in your area to see if it is permitted. I know in Connecticut you can not hunt deer over bait but, there is nothing that says you can’t take pictures over bait and that is what I am talking about as well as giving them supplemental food over the winter.

I have a feeling that they will need the extra nutrition this winter. I plan to set up a gravity fed feeder for deer and have a deer cam not to far away for the purpose of getting pictures and seeing how the local herd in my area is doing.

This has 3 basic purposes for me:

1. This will give the deer more to eat during the winter months
2. It also acts as a scouting tool by showing me the type and size of deer I have in my area.
3. I can sit back on a cold winters night and browse my photo albums.

Items needed:

1 - 6′ piece of 4″ pvc pipe ( will hold approximately 25 lbs. of corn )

1 - 4″ pvc cap so the feed does not get wet while in the pipe

1 - base tray that the pipe will sit in just like the picture

What you can use for a base tray is a 5 gallon plastic can and cut it down to 6″ then all that you need to do cut a slot in the plastic pipe about 1 to 2 inches wide and about 3 inches in height at the end of the pipe that is going to be in the container.

Fasten the pipe to one side of the container with the slotted portion towards the center. Cut some small holes in the bottom of the container so that it will not hold water when it rains.

This is the best example that I found for a do it yourself deer feeder project. So I would like to thank Whitetail Deer Management and Hunting for giving me another idea of how I can enjoy the whitetail deer.

Rick Kratzke

Whitetail Woods

Albert's Notes:
This is one of those DIY projects that you can but together from scrounged up materials! I would say that at any construction sites dumpster, you are bound to find a piece of four or six inch PVC tossed away. Always ask before you scrounge though! Most guys will gladly allow you to get it, or will fetch it for you, especially if you tell them what your building. The cap on the end though, you will probably have to purchase. Secure it to a tree with a couple of old bicycle inner tubes, and you won't damage the tree either. As Rick mentions, make sure you drill a whole mess of 1/8th to 1/4 inch holes all around the perimeter of the bottom so any water can run out. Use large fender washers on the inside of the pipe to protect the PVC from the bolt heads. If I get home for a couple of weeks this fall, I'll be putting one of these together myself.

Remember to Reuse and Recycle!

My friends, that is the second installment of "Best of the Outdoor Bloggers," which I hope to make a weekly series. I want to thank Rick Kratzke of Whitetail Woods for allowing me to share his great Do it Yourself Gravity Fed Deer Feeder project with everyone. If you have a post that you are particularly proud of, or if you want to look at your Analytics and check out what your # 1 post is, please feel free to forward it to me and I will gladly post it and link the bejeebers out of it to your blog!

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member:Kandahar Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

Best of the Outdoor Bloggers: Wild Ed's Texas Outdoors: Predators, Varmints and the Kiss of Death

© 2010 Albert A Rasch™ and
The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles
$g&m f9bd 45kd q!?5. trochronicles.blogspot.com

Best of the Outdoor Bloggers

Remember I mentioned a week or so ago I would be going through everyones archives and finding those posts that I thought were interesting and worth revisiting? Well, I found the following post, Predators, Varmints and the Kiss of Death, on Wild Ed's Texas Outdoors, dusted it off, and am presenting it here for everyone to view again!

Predators, Varmints and the Kiss of Death

Wild Ed, Wild Ed's Texas Outdoors

Picture Credit: Wild Ed

When I was a small child I spent many holidays with my grandparents. They owned a ranch near Round Mountain, Texas a small community southwest of Marble Falls, Texas. Sometimes my grandfather would go to Marble Falls for cattle feed and supplies and I got to ride along. It was always a special trip to town for we would stop at the Blue Bonnet Cafe, a Texas tradition, for granddad's coffee and pie. I would get a soft drink which I drank as fast a possible so I could ask to go across the street. Permission granted I headed to my favorite shop in the whole world. It was Burnham Brothers Sporting Goods and for a youngster eat up with hunting this place was heaven on earth. They used to have a window full of live rattlesnakes and all the latest hunting gear, but better than that it had Murry and Winston Burnham. They would sit in the shop and tell stories about calling in predators with calls and many times with sounds they made themselves. I considered these two men the superstars of predator calling. I would sit and listen to whatever golden words of advice they would give me and go back to the ranch and practice varmint calling for hours. Two of my most prized possessions were Burnham Brother Predator calls. One day when the Burnham’s were passing out the gospel of varmint calling the subject of lip squeaking came up. I do not remember if it was Murry or Winston that helped show me how to suck on the back of my middle finger and make this wonderful squeak that sounds something like a young squirrel, rodent or even rabbit in distress. Learning to make this magical sound was the beginning of a lifetime of calling animals.

The sound is simply made by making a kissing sound with your lips while pressing them against the palm-side of the middle finger. You can play with the way you do it until you get the best sound and volume. Most people would call me a liar if I told them about the hundreds of animals that have come to this sound.

Picture Credit: Wild Ed

I will never forget one icy cold morning when my uncle and I were going to break ice on the stock pond so the cattle could get water. As we drove through the pasture a grey fox ran across the road. At that time grey fox furs were worth about $30.00 which was a lot of money back then. We cut the truck off and set for a couple of minutes. I then began to squeak on the back of finger and here came the fox running to capture what thing was making such a frantic scream. This was the first time I had a witness to what I could do with this sound.

PictureCredit: Wild Ed

I became a success at squirrel hunting overnight. Squirrels that hear the sound may come running or move from cover. Many squirrels will start barking and chattering upon hearing the squeak. I have called numerous hawks, owls, coyotes, foxes, coons, ringtails, bobcats, feral cats, ground squirrels, rock squirrels, wild dogs and I am sure others I can’t remember. I have had even deer, javelina and feral hogs come to the sound, maybe out of curiosity, but they came. This is one call I always have with me and do not have to remember where I put it. To the Burnham’s wherever you now are I want to say thank you for a lifetime of making memories and instilling the flame of predator calling in my heart. Even 45 years later it still burns. Good calling, Wild Ed

Wild Ed also has a follow up post on the "Kiss of Death." It's a demonstration and you can find it at: Kiss of Death Demo.

My friends, that is the first installment of "Best of the Outdoor Bloggers," which I hope to make a weekly series. I want to thank Wild Ed of Wild Ed's Texas Outdoors for allowing me to share his Predators, Varmints and the Kiss of Death, with everyone.  If you have a post that you are particularly proud of, or if you want to look at your Analytics and check out what your # 1 post is, please feel free to forward it to me and I will gladly post it and link the snot out of it to your blog!

Best Regards,
Albert A Rasch
Member:Kandahar Tent Club
Member: Hunting Sportsmen of the United States HSUS (Let 'em sue me.)
The Hunt Continues...

Keywords: Predator hunting, predator, predators, predator calls, making a predator call, fox hunting, jackel hunting, bobcat hunting, predator shooting, calls for predators

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