NDR About aging

Al Hansen

Al Hansen

Well-known member
I just delivered a cord of wood and stacked it for a 90 year old lady on Saturday who had lost her husband not too long ago. Well, one day about 5 years ago I happened to be doing the same thing and when I was done they invited me in for a glass of Iced tea. Mr. Dotson at the age of 86 was telling me all about their new pup that wandered onto their property with its mother. The dark brown Chihuahua was cute as a bug's ear sitting on Mr. D's lap. He told me about taking the dog to the vet to find out more about it and when he asked how long they live, the vet told him about 20 years. Without batting an eye he said, "Gee, we will be 106 years old when he passes!"

By the way, Mr. D still holds the air speed record for a B-52 bomber from Elmendorf AFB in Anchorage to Davis Montham AFB in Tucson. He was a great man and I spent many hours talking with him.
Al


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Just beginning to "fine tune" the pups.

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Good morning, Al~

Great thoughts about aging. I have met so many older gunners of late who have set fine examples - planning the next boat, decoy, hunt et cetera - even though getting from one side of the room to the other now looms as a major expedition.

In my case, age 106 will not get me through the first half of my ever-growing To Do list.....

All the best,

SJS
 
Carl, the Rio Grande has never stopped flowing this year however the lowest it has ever been was yesterday at 57cfs. I just checked and it's running at 62cfs. But like all say, "It still is flowing."

We could use a couple more good rains, especially one about Sept 9th or 10th. Our teal season opens on the 12th.

I did see 3 bluewings/cinnamons on Sunday. That was a great sign!
Al

Hey Carl, we got a great rain yesterday (8.25.15). I am going to run over to the spot where I hunt teal and give it a good look this morning when the sun comes up.
 
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I was relating to, with ease, about your list, Steve. Why does it get longer as we get older? In my case, I am slowing down maybe!

Only 18 days until our abbreviated early teal season.
Al
 
Steve, I would be afraid to multiply that number! Nothing better could be said than what you did. Each day is a gift!
Al
 
I don't see Green, Tom. Will you be opening up around the family farm this coming season? How are your pups doing?
Al
 
Al, all I am seeing on inland marshes now is wood ducks-eleven yesterday on some oxbow sloughs I work the dog in and around. I am assuming the blue wing local production is starting to move to stage in the coastal marshes of the Great Lakes prior departure. We don't produce many green wings. We had three male ruby throats still on the feeders (Karen keeps a running tally of "her" hummers.) but only females showing up that last three days.

Suddenly, it seems that Time has started to flow much faster...
 
Rick, I have always found "time" to be such an amazing event especially noticing how quickly it disappears almost as quickly as a gorgeous Alaskan summer day.

Our hummers with the broadtailed and black-chinned still hanging around are now being joined by the rufous females and juveniles. By the way, these birds will hang around until the first part of October before heading south. The Calliope and Rufous males have long since departed for Mexico.
Just think of the trip ahead for those ruby thoated females. Once down at the Gulf Coast they will fatten up prior to taking that 26 hour flight across the the Gulf of Mexico arriving in the Yucatan peninsula. One could consider that a miracle.

Normally when shooting teal in the early season down here, it is 95% juveniles since the majority of adult males are also already through here and in Mexico. Last year of the 46 bluewing/cinnamons that I shot in the early season only 3 were adult males. That info I took off my Wing Bee report. We seldom see adult females down here since they seem to head straight down through Texas or maybe eastern NM.

Will you be able to take woodies in the early part of the season? I am assuming they are long gone by the time your regular duck season begins.

Enjoy every second!
Al
 
I keep wondering around up here looking for an Einstein-Rosen Bridge!

Brandon was on the Citizen's Advisory Council group that helped set the experimental early teal season framework up. From what I recall of his post last year, the principal concern of the MDNR/USFWS was "hunters" shooting non-target species. Hopefully, we have a minimum number of boneheads that will opt to shoot wood ducks, mallards, grebes, etc. and then retrieve them to attempt to identify what they shot. Our resident canada goose early season opens coincidentally with with early teal season, with the regular goose season opener for the U.P. rolling out on their closure. Given the very poor production in Mississippi Valley Canada geese this year(Most of our migrants in this section of the Yoop.), catching as many non-mating giants as they come back across Superior in early September from their summer range in Ontario will likely provide most of our goose dinners and smoking fare for the season. We used to have fabulous goose hunting, now I seldom pull more than my silhouettes and a couple of dozen full body birds out of storage.

Local mallards and wood ducks make up most of the bag for the first two to three weeks of the season, with a smattering of teal.
 
Concerning age, once you stop doing something you used to enjoy very much, it's pretty much over. It can happen at any age, people change lifestyles and priorities. I'm still doing the things I've enjoyed since childhood. Now I'm in no hurry, and they are even more rewarding after all the experiences. I have no desire to be even one day younger than I am...
 
Al, all I am seeing on inland marshes now is wood ducks-eleven yesterday on some oxbow sloughs I work the dog in and around. I am assuming the blue wing local production is starting to move to stage in the coastal marshes of the Great Lakes prior departure. We don't produce many green wings. We had three male ruby throats still on the feeders (Karen keeps a running tally of "her" hummers.) but only females showing up that last three days.

Suddenly, it seems that Time has started to flow much faster...
Click to expand...

Blue-winged teal are on the move here. Every day I see another empty pond that used to hold them. Could be the snow last Friday or maybe the smoke. It has a choke hold on us right now.
 
Been watching for the BWTs down here around Albany, though we don't see them often in this part of the state in numbers. Along the Canadian border where we hunted for many years, we have had at least one "grand passage" of BWTs with an early opener and warm weather. But that day in 1984 was just a day. Many,many hundreds, if not thousands (and I am trying to be conservative in light of my good friends who are waterfowl biologists) were gone the next day. But what a flight. A constant stream of teal in pairs, small flocks, large flocks from 9:00 am till we left at 4:00. I think we caught all the BWTs that had nested in Southern Ontario and other areas coming through. Will never see that again. But what a privilege.
 
Al, I do plan on an Ortonville opener, the only question is which bit of water. As it turns out this will be another 2 dog opener, my wife will be out of town so I "get" to have Charlie along. He is one hell of a good B squad dog so I really don't mind. Booker remains my go to guy and we will have several trips into the fall. ND, Wisc., SD. and of course Minn. Retirement is treating me pretty good so far.
 
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