Tri-State Outdoors November/December 2016

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November/December 2016 • WARRICKNEWS.COM e e r F

What’s inside

BUCK STOPS HERE Bagging that buck is all about looking for the signs.

TALKIN’ TURKEY

Don’t risk a disastrous Thanksgiving.

MILES OF MEMORIES

It started as an idea for a few pictures. It ended with much more.

PERUSING PANAMA Sometimes work and play come together beautifully.

04 08 EAGER BEAVER

Eagle Slough Natural Area is a nature lover’s paradise.

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BACKYARD BIRDING

Look no further than your backyard for bird watching fun this winter.

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MAKING IT PERFECT

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JIG AND PIG

Before you master your shot, you first have to master the dry fire.

Cold weather bass fishing calls for a little pork.

PUBLISHER Gary Neal | gwneal@aol.com MANAGING EDITOR Emily May | emay@warricknews.com GRAPHIC DESIGN Lisa Polk | advertising@warricknews.com STAFF WRITERS Jessica Squires | jsquires@warricknews.com Marisa Patwa | mpatwa@warricknews.com SPECIAL CONTRIBUTORS Tom Fuller Ken McBroom Julie Lockhart Amanda Mosiman L. B. Fox ADVERTISING Karen Hullett | kcraig@warricknews.com Debi Neal | business@warricknews.com In Gibson County: Kelli Nidley | kelli@pdclarion.com Michelle Schumacher | michelle@pdclarion.com Courtney Shuttle | courtney@pdclarion.com In Illinois Ann Foss | afoss@mtcarmelregister.com Sandra Higgins | skhpiglet@mtcarmelregister.com Joey Luecke | jluecke@mtcarmelregister.com Phil Summers | psummers@mtcarmelregister.com CIRCULATION Tammy Franz | circulation@warricknews.com ACCOUNTING Kristina Morris | kmorris@warricknews.com

Warrick Publishing Co. 204 W. Locust Street Boonville, Indiana 47601 (812) 897-2330

A Tri-State Media Publication

4 Tri-State

Outdoors | November/December 2016

L

FO

G N

R

O O

I K

TH

E

SIGNS

By Ken McBroom

M

ost deer hunters know how important big rubs are to locating good bucks in a particular area. Hunting terrain features linking rubs to bedding and feeding areas can be a great way to harvest your next mature whitetail. Terrain features are easy enough to find. Features such as funnels, saddles, points and hubs can be located using a topographical map before you ever scout an area.

Scouting these areas for big rubs will let you know there is a good buck in the area and give you the confidence needed to stay on stand longer. When you know where a buck is traveling and are able to utilize the terrain features linking these areas, you are putting the buck into a corner and with good entry and exit to and from your stand, as well as proper wind direction and serious scent control, the buck should eventually come by, hopefully within bow range.

The area I hunt has a good mixture of hardwoods, swamps and cutovers with lots of ridges and croplands. Over the past several seasons, I have located great terrain features that tend to funnel deer through the area, providing for some great hunting. In the past couple seasons, I have added big rubs to the equation and the outcome has been very rewarding.

You should begin your scouting early in an attempt to locate the first rubs of the season.

Mature bucks almost always make these rubs. When you locate those first good rubs of the season, mark the spot or hang a stand because you are in the living room of a mature buck. These rubs are not easy to locate, as they are few and far between — not to mention the foliage is still thick and visibility is limited in the woods this time of year. Take your time and you can find these important sign posts.

The trick after locating these rubs is to align them within areas of the terrain features already noted. The rubs don’t necessarily have to be in the middle of the terrain feature you are hunting, just nearby. In fact, I prefer the rubs to be away from the terrain feature that links the area where the rubs are located with the buck’s likely bedding area.

Rubs, I have found, can be a double edge sword for the deer hunter. Your initial reaction to a shredded six-inch cedar is to get up a tree and hunt within sight of that rub. Sometimes this works, but most times you should try to locate the area that the buck is likely spending his day. If the rub is in the wide open next to a field or in a stand of mature hardwoods where you can see a mile, then that buck is likely visiting those rubs at night and a sighting

Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

during good shooting light is not likely. In the past, I was hunting areas that were covered up with buck signs, but I was not seeing mature bucks. I continued hunting these areas because I was seeing deer, but decided I had to try something different.

Finally, the decision was made to just tough it out and hunt where I thought the bigger bucks were hiding.

I located the most remote areas of the public land that I hunt and began hunting terrain features that had some low browse and acorns but no deer sign at all — or at least not any that I could detect. Ironically, the very first time I tried this, I had a decent six point meander by my tree well before dark, which was very unusual at my old stands even for a small buck. Needless to say, after many hours on stand, fine tuning this technique to include terrain features, my buck sightings have more than doubled and, just as I suspected, I see very few does now and even though I like seeing deer activity, I would much rather see the horns.

A lake surrounds my hunting area on three sides. I like to find two or three coves fairly close together. These coves form peninsulas where deer bed and feed depending on what is located on these peninsulas. Ideally, I prefer at least one peninsula that contains some thickets for potential beds and remember it need only be big enough for one deer if you are hunting big bucks. A lone brush pile left by a storm can be enough of a bed for these loners.

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6 Tri-State

Outdoors | November/December 2016

I had located some big rubs out on one of the peninsulas where there was no food at all and it was fairly open, so I figured the buck must have been making his rounds there under the cover of darkness. Now comes the decision on where to set up for the ambush. The peninsula with the cover is where I felt the buck was spending his days, so you don’t want to get too close to that area, but close enough to get a shot during the day as the buck leaves his bed to patrol his area — which may or may not include the third peninsula, between these two, which consisted of very open hardwoods and lots of acorns.

This is where he probably feeds at night, so you want to be on stand at the entrance to this peninsula. So, I set my stand between the bed and the rubs and at the end of the peninsula with the acorns, with the lake in sight of my stand. Now if the buck decides to leave his bed, I have it covered because the rubs tell me that he prefers that area and gives me a direction I can have confidence the buck is traveling. If I am wrong, I have enough visual coverage of the area to determine if the buck is coming from another direction. It really helps when you have a rub line connecting all the peninsulas, which is what I had in this location.

It took several days at this stand before the first deer was seen. He emerged from out of nowhere at 10:45

a.m. on a hot windy morning. I nearly departed my perch several times that morning, but the rubs gave me the confidence that a good buck was in the area, so I stayed. It was mid November and the does were hot and this buck looked as though he had been out a little late cruising.

The shot was true at 32 yards and I saw the nice eight pointer go down. The buck came down the narrow point I had chosen for this stand. The point proved perfect as drainages skirted both sides and was chocked full of brush, a great place to hide but miserable for travel. Deer will use the easiest route when not pressured and that is where locating good terrain features becomes key. The buck was on the move and had no time to waste crawling through the thick stuff. He came right down the center of the point grunting and I stopped him with a light grunt of my own and sealed the deal.

Coincidentally the buck had just made the turn that would have taken him to the open peninsula to visit his rubs and scrapes. These thick drainages provide great bedding areas for does. The buck was probably checking them out for does and the quickest way was down this point. He could check both sides by smell and sound as he was signaling to any deer in those thickets that he was coming through. Deer know how to use the

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terrain to cover more ground and the sooner the hunter realizes this the more successful they will be.

So get out there and do some early scouting. Look for early rubs and take note. Look at the big picture and imagine where deer are traveling and put together a plan. Locate the terrain features that tend to funnel deer movement into a confined area. Later in the season cautiously scout these locations and some new ones for active and aggressive rubs. Be patient as deer sightings may go down, but big buck sightings should increase.

This approach to hunting may not be for everyone.

It took me several seasons to stay away from all the signs and focus more on where bucks like to hang during the day, which is not with the does that tend to make the more visible sign we see around fields and logging roads. Some hunters will always prefer to hunt where they can see a lot of territory and a lot of deer and I understand this, but if you want to get serious about bagging a good buck, then you should try this approach this season.

----Ken McBroom is a freelance outdoor writer and photographer based in Indiana. For more information, please visit www.ramblingangler.com. Send comments to ken@ramblingangler.com.

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8 Tri-State

Outdoors | November/December 2016

dammed

By Julie Lockhart

O

ne of my favorite places to enjoy the wonders of nature is in the vital habitat of a wetland. Eagle Slough Natural Area (a Sycamore Land Trust property) is located in Vanderburgh County just outside of Indiana’s third largest city — Evansville. It is a great escape to the natural world for visitors and for rural and urban residents of the area.

Eagle Slough Natural Area (ESNA) consists of 127 acres of vital wetland habitat with an extraordinary bottomland hardwood forest that contains some of the few remaining stands of native bald cypress trees in the species mid-west northern region. To date, there are only eight locations in Indiana that hold viable stands of bald cypress; the trees at ESNA are some of the largest in the state.

The bald cypress tree (Taxodium distichum) is a unique conifer that is actually deciduous in nature, because it loses its leaves (becoming “bald”) during the winter months. During summer, the tree sports lovely soft foliage in various hues of green; in fall, the foliage turns a deep burnt sienna. Bald cypress trees depend on the rise and fall of flood water and suitable soil for their seeds to germinate. As with many native plants species, wildlife plays an important role in assisting the tree with its seed dispersal.

When you enter ESNA, you are immediately surrounded by a towering variety of native old growth trees that

form an incredible canopy above the main trail. The wellmaintained trail leads you to large and welcoming observation deck with impressive views of the lush wetland waters framed by the surrounding mystical bald cypress trees. This rich wetland area and the native plant species found here provide a diverse habitat that supports a wide range of native wildlife species including a fairly good sized beaver population.

Beavers are North America’s largest rodents. They can grow to be approximately three feet in length with an additional 9 to 12 inch tail. Their characteristic large and powerful front teeth are a bright showy orange. Beavers are herbivores and their diet consists of mostly wood, some pondweed, sedges and even water lilies. Their webbed hind feet and huge paddle like tail make them proficient swimmers. They can remain underwater for up to 15 minutes at a time.

With their expert dam and lodge building capabilities, beavers are the engineers of the natural world so to speak. Though beaver dams can occasionally cause damage, their dam building more often poses many benefits for wetland areas and for the environment including improving water quality (reducing nitrates, phosphates, herbicides and pesticides), offering some flood control, retaining silt and soils, and creating valuable habitat for other wildlife species.

The beavers have been busy at work in and around

Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

the lakes at ESNA downing trees and stripping branches to reinforce their dams on the southwest corner of the lakes. You can see some of their handy work along the Beaver Point Back Country Trail.

From the observation deck (look north), you can check out the channels in the water that the beavers have created and maintained. Remember, beavers are nocturnal.

The best time to view them is at dusk. As always when observing wildlife, please respect the animals space.

Although beavers are not their preferred prey, coyotes are their natural predators. Coyotes can swim, but they are no match for the agile beaver in the water. However, when the beaver heads to land to eat and gather their wood, it is the coyote that has the advantage. The coyote’s diet mainly consists of rodents, rabbits and various other small prey. Sometimes coyotes work together as a group to hunt and take down larger prey — even deer.

Coyotes are predatory carnivores, but they can also be opportunistic feeders. Due to the lack of natural habitat, coyotes are more often moving into urban areas looking for food, raiding trash cans, etc. They will also

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take the opportunity to mate with our domesticated canines. Always keep your distance, and never approach a coyote when it is in or out of its natural habitat. This is not only for human safety, but for the coyote’s as well. It is better if wildlife remain wild.

With so much to do and see at ESNA, be sure to check out the boardwalk and platform at Teal Wetlands.

Thanks to Joshua Collins and his sons, the photography blind has been reinstalled at the platform. It is a beautiful spot to hike, to take photographs of the ares wildlife (especially the birds), or to just observe all that nature has to offer. A special thank you to all the many volunteers that have helped to make this such a special place.

For more information about ESNA or many other properties in southern Indiana that Sycamore Land Trust helps to protect, please visit www.sycamorelandtrust.org.

Enjoy nature. The Winter Solstice takes place on Wednesday, Dec. 21.

----Julie Lockhart is a freelance writer and photographer.

She can be reached at julielockhart13wowway.com.

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

Talkin’

turkey WITH THE

KITCHEN SHRINK

A

hh, it’s that time of year to show an attitude of gratitude for the bounty of seasonal foods and the gathering of close friends and family around the Thanksgiving table. We must also be grateful for a seamless meal without culinary glitches or emotional stress. A few years back, the family was invited to our aunt’s home for a Thanksgiving dinner.

Unfortunately, she misplaced her reading glasses, and with blurred vision, wrongly set the temperature dial on the oven at 150 degrees Fahrenheit instead of 350 degrees. After nearly four hours of roasting, the turkey was so raw it probably could have been revived by a competent veterinarian. That night, we ended up bringing in Chinese food.

With Turkey Day around the corner, here are some simple tips and tricks for pulling off a flawless, fabulous and healthy Thanksgiving feast. Your dinner guests will surely gobble up your scrumptious offerings.

Have Some Skin in the Game

Everyone loves an attention-grabbing centerpiece — a juicy, flavorful turkey with crisp, golden skin. To achieve the latter, simply massage the skin with virgin olive oil, a fresh garlic clove, and season with coarse sea salt and fresh cracked black pepper. With 15 minutes to go on the clock, brush the bird generously with some white vermouth to give a golden glaze thanks to the sugars in this fortified wine. For a crispy result without the booze, unwrap the turkey the day before cooking and expose the skin overnight in the refrigerator.

Also, to prevent the skin from getting overbrowned create a tent by folding a large, damp sheet of parchment paper

Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

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down the center and fanning it loosely over the bird.

Tent the turkey at the start of roasting, and please, no “pepping toms� allowed. Remove the tent toward the end of roasting to allow for even browning, or roast the bird au naturel until the desired golden color is achieved, then tent at the end.

Some Sage Advice

The quintessential herb of the holidays, the mighty sage, a bold member of the mint family, can be overpowering — so use judiciously. A little snip of this musky grayish-green leaf goes a long way with fatty meats and fowls for dialing up flavor, tempering gaminess and aiding digestion. Sage equally enlivens vegetarian dishes from risottos, stuffings and corn breads to roasted roots, potatoes and even ice cream. For the full flavor oomph, add sage toward the end of cooking or use the more pungent dried instead of fresh. Whip up a compound with organic butter, minced sage and spices, and insert under the breast skin of the turkey before roasting to enhance tenderness and juiciness.

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

Easy breezy sweet potato casserole with pecan topping

For the casserole: 4 pounds of sweet potatoes 1/4 cup of maple syrup 1 1/2 tablespoons of butter, melted (optional for cholesterol-conscious) 1 teaspoon of ground cinnamon 1/4 teaspoon each of ground nutmeg and ginger For the topping: 1/4 cup of melted butter (optional for cholesterol-conscious) 1/3 cup of brown sugar 1 cup of pecan pieces or halves

Preheat oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Place sweet potatoes in their jackets on a parchment-lined cookie sheet. Pierce each one two or three times with a fork, and bake for about 45 minutes, or until tender.

In a large mixing bowl, scoop out the flesh and blend with syrup, butter and spices until smooth. Transfer to an oven-safe casserole dish. Sprinkle nuts and brown sugar on top and pour melted better evenly. Refrigerate until ready to bake in a moderate oven for about 25 minutes or until bubbly and brown.

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Turkey tips 1. Allow one pound of meat per person, less for children.

2. Never put a frozen Thanksgiving turkey in any oven, unless you plan on serving it for Christmas dinner.

Rule of thumb — thaw the bird in the refrigerator, breast side up in a shallow pan in its original wrapper, allowing 24 hours for every four pounds.

So a 20-pounder will take roughly five days in the fridge to thaw.

3. For roasting times, allow 30 minutes to the pound for stuffed, and 20 minutes per pound for unstuffed turkeys, no lower than 325 degrees Fahrenheit. A meat thermometer is a great way to check for doneness.

Stick the thermometer in the thickest part of the thigh without touching the bone. At 180 degrees, the bird is done. Also, the stuffing temperature should reach 165 degrees to indicate doneness.

4. If you must deep-fry your turkey, do the dirty work outside. In any event, make sure your smoke detectors are functioning and keep a fire extinguisher and cholesterol test on hand.

5. After removing the turkey from the oven, allow it to nap for 20 minutes before carving. This lets the juices settle in and makes it easier to carve. Start with the drumstick, then slice the breast meat.

6. If you really don’t know what the heck you’re doing a day or two before Thanksgiving, you can always make reservations.

Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016 Finger on the Pulse

Although mashed potatoes are traditional — and loaded with fat— on Thanksgiving menus, start your own tradition by roasting an assortment of heritage fingerling potatoes doused in a blend of extra virgin olive oil, sea salt and seasonal herbs. Some popular varieties of these cute stubby crescents resembling sausage-shaped fingers include golden-skinned Russian Bananas, Purple Peruvians, Swedish Peanuts and French Redskins that also add an elegant pop of eye candy to the holiday table.

Strut your Stuff

To stuff or not to stuff — that is the big culinary question every Thanksgiving. For those in favor of stove-top stuffings, your bird will roast more quickly and evenly.

For stuffing lover purists, simply pack the dressing in a cheesecloth bag and insert in the cavity. This not only prevents sticking to the insides, but makes for easy removal when the bird is done. Otherwise, if the stuffing isn’t completely scooped out from the cavity within an hour after the turkey is removed from the oven, the environment is rife for the formation of bacteria and foodborne illnesses.

As a healthy change up to traditional high carb dressings, such as bread and rice, try filling the cavity with an assortment of fresh herbs and hearty root vegetables (carrots, parsnips, turnips, celery root and kohlrabi), exotic mushrooms (porcini, oyster, Portobello, crimini), caramelized onions and pecans, roasted French chestnuts, a blend of dried fruits (apricots, prunes, figs, cranberries), chunks of seasonal squashes, or slices of savory and spicy sausages.

Pie in the Sky

Satisfy your sweet tooth without the carbs by swapping out the pumpkin pie for an equally delicious pumpkin nutmeg mousse or flan, or simply make a crust with almond or hazelnut meal. Do a riff on pecan pie with a ground pecan crust, and pure maple instead of corn syrup. Or serve a refreshing dollop of autumnal gelatos, such as apple-cinnamon, gingersnap pecan, spicy pumpkin or cran-raspberry over a heap of fresh berries for your just desserts following the food orgy.

Or, try this divine sweet potato casserole with a blissful crunchy pecan topping as easy as pie that can be whipped up days in advance and served as an elegant side or a crustless festive dessert.

Have a happy, healthy and glitch-free Thanksgiving!

For additional holiday recipes, tips and advice, email me at kitchenshrink@san.rr.com.

Catharine Kaufm an is a nationa cated food colu lly syndimnist and devo ted chef to discriminating teen with the most de age taste buds, along m kid — her husb anding palate — the big and.

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

Backyard

birding

Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

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A

s winter sets in and cabin fever begins, a backyard bird feeding station can offer us a season full of enjoyment as we connect with nature.

Some of the best bird watching can happen right in our own backyards. No matter how big or small the space, a bird feeding station can bring the joy of nature to young and old alike. We can even bring the entire family together by starting a “life list” of all the birds that gather in our area during each season. Getting children involved in viewing nature gives them a lifetime experience of learning and keeps them actively enjoying the outdoors.

Try to locate your feeder and watering area in a place with a little cover — even a shrub will do. If your feeding station is already established, be sure to prepare it for winter. I remove most of the old debris (spent seed hulls from all summer ect.) from underneath the feeders. If you have to scrape to the ground, put down a little fresh mulch or “recycled” leaf debris. If reusing old wooden feeders, make sure to clean all of the feeders inside and out with a biodegradable detergent and water.

In the winter, I put out a suet feeder along with the seed feeder. I use berry or nut suet cakes. These seem to attract a variety of different birds. As far as seeds go, I prefer to use the black oil sunflower seeds mixed with just a handful of finch seeds. It seems to

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

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keep everybody happy.

With the winters we have here in the Midwest, I don’t use a plastic or concrete birdbath for watering. They tend to crack and damage easily. Instead, I prefer cast iron. Although they can be slightly more expensive, I have found that they are well worth the extra bit of cost.

The cast iron one that I have used lasted more than 15 years with no damage and very little maintenance at all.

The feeding station in the National Wildlife Certified Backyard Habitat provides great birdwatching opportunities year round, while also providing food, water and shelter for countless native bird species throughout the years. Some of the many species have included the red-bellied woodpecker with its huge bill that swoops down to the suet feeder located on a huge pine tree. Several downy woodpeckers also climb the trees at the edge of the woods and eventually make their way to the feeder as well. How beautiful they are with their crisp black and white feathers. The white-breasted nuthatch, along with the red-breasted nuthatch, always make many appearances. Not to mention, the very cute brown creeper that is well camouflaged against the tree bark. This little bird is sometimes very hard to spot until it moves in its jerky yet precise way.

The warm growing seasons have passed, but the colder months ahead offer some great opportunities to share birdwatching with our family — to pass on a love of nature to our children. It also gives us time to plan new designs and choose new native plants for our gardens come spring. Winter is a great time to get children involved in decorating projects such as painting flower pots or creating some stepping stones to enhance the garden next year.

Providing native habitat in our gardens and backyards or creating a backyard bird feeding station can benefit all kinds of wildlife throughout the year. Connecting ourselves with nature provides a lifetime of enjoyment, creativity and activity for all ages. Whether you venture out to one of our local parks or stay in your own backyard, take in some birdwatching and some of the beauty that winter has to offer us — and please share it with the child in your life.

For more tips on creating a backyard habitat for birds and other native wildlife species, visit www.indianawildlife.org. The Indiana Wildlife Federation offers many habitat programs from backyards to corporations to entire communities. Please give them your support in this season of giving to ensure that future generation have the opportunity to benefit and enjoy nature.

----Julie Lockhart is a freelance writer and photographer. She can be reached at julielockhart13@wowway.com.

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

6,224 Q R Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

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memories miles of

By L.B. Fox

A

s a child, I have fond memories of Lawrence County, Ill. I remember sitting in the passenger seat of my grandparents Datsun stationwagon as my grandfather and I rode around in the country between St. Francisville, Lawrenceville, Sumner, Bridgeport and Russellville. I remember how the countryside was so peaceful and worries seemed to fade into the past on those backroads.

The year 2009 would find its way to me and it was then I began to think about driving around those same roads and take “some” pictures so I could recall those feelings any time I wanted to flip through a photo album.

Being an accomplished children’s book writer, this was a bit outside of my box, so to speak. I didn’t know anything about taking pictures beyond everyday shots of family and friends.

It would be January of 2011 before I felt so strongly in doing some picture taking that I decided to make this a goal and not just a dream anymore! I had a well-used Kodak Easyshare camera that had already taken its fair share of family pictures and captured many memories.

I recall walking out into the cold, blistering chill of that winter, climbing into my 1995 Mercury Cougar and heading out to the south county line. I spent that Sunday evening with my Cougar running for a couple of hours as I turned off onto the first county road and drove until I saw an image I wanted. By the end of that day, I began thinking about driving all over and taking pictures of the back roads and countryside.

A couple of weeks later, that simple idea had turned into the decision to drive every single road in Lawrence County, Ill., and capture images from every corner. I

picked up a map of the county and began highlighting every road as I drove it. Winter gave way to spring, spring became summer and summer turned into fall. It was then, in the color of falling leaves, I decided to travel every road not just once, but four times and capture the entire county through all four seasons of the year.

I picked up three more maps and marked the header with a different season. I spent every Sunday afternoon loading up my Cougar with my map, highlighter, camera, extra batteries for my camera, a snack (usually mini chocolate donuts) and an RC Cola.

There’s something about being in the country. I would drive at no more than 8 to 10 miles per hour and at that speed you have an opportunity to see a world that you do not notice in the hustle and bustle of 65 m.p.h.

— farm animals, old barns, tractors that find their final resting place in the weeds of an old lot. With every trip, I could feel the serenity of the outdoors and was taken back to a time when the world did not turn so fast and people didn’t drive to make good time, but rather drove to have a good time.

It became even more special when my oldest son, Lynden, became interested in going with me on many of these “adventures,” as we called them. As a father, I was now taking my sons down many of those same roads and experiencing the same joy I did at his age. Lynden got his own camera and began taking some photos of his own. Some of my very best memories are when he would fall asleep, curled up in the passenger seat as we sent dust blowing behind us.

In the middle of this picture project, my Cougar broke down and I bought a 1996 GMC Jimmy and the

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016 four-wheel-drive saw many roads that were long closed and one creek bed where the bridge had long been removed. I enjoyed coming to a road that had been abandoned for years and throwing mud in every direction and covering my Jimmy from top to bottom.

It was during these Sunday evenings that I saw the best of residents of the country life. In a world of security and privacy, it is not commonplace to see a car driving 10 m.p.h and a person getting out and just taking a random picture. Everyone I came across asked me the same question and had the same response every time I explained myself. I would tell them about my project and they would always say that was interesting and wished me a good day.

Near the end of this adventure, my Kodak camera failed and my good friend, Dr. Gage Caudell, a successful surgeon and photographer, gave me a Sony Cybershot. Because of his kindness, I would be able to complete my photo project. This would become a book entitled: Every Road, Every Season!

I now look back and see in pictures of buildings that are no longer standing, machinery that no longer sits in the weeds or trees that no longer exists. That is the power of a photograph, something that an image on a

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screen can not give or replace. An old state road that has long been turned over to the county because the towns it connected have all but disappeared and only a handful of homes remain. An old fence that still stands against the changing times or the passersby that smiles and waves with no knowledge of who you may be are common sights that only the countryside can bring.

What began in 2011 as just a few pictures, ended with more than 5,000 photos of every dirt, gravel and blacktop road. A simple little dream turned goal became a journey of 6,224 miles being driven. That is the distance of crossing the United States two and a quarter times, all logged within the boundaries of Lawrence County, Ill. Take a drive in the country sometime for no particular reason and watch yourself feel different returning to town. The world may have changed but the country continues to offer us a chance to slow down, unwind and leave out troubles behind!

----Levi Fox is an accomplished writer under the name L.B. Fox and a photographer who lives in southern Illinois with his three sons, Lynden, Ethan and Rylen.

He spends his time writing and working on his blog www.1imaginaryfox.com.

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

Practice makes

PERFECT

By Tom Fuller

D

o you want an increase in marksmanship skill? Do you want to see tighter groups on your target? Do you want to amaze and astound your friends? For just a few minutes at home each day, you, too, could shoot bullseyes!

This sounds like an old advertisement where the marketing team promises you the easy way out for just a few of your hard earned dollars. Instead, this humble firearms instructor is going to show you the route to shooting success requiring no money - just time and patience.

Success in shooting begins with diligent dry fire practice. Typically done at home, dry fire practice only requires your pistol, time, and a mind for safety (which you should already have cultivated since becoming a firearm owner).

Let’s talk safety first. All previously discussed rules of safety apply with the addition one more: •Always keep the gun pointed in a safe

direction.

•Always keep your finger off the trigger until you are ready to shoot.

•Always keep the gun unloaded until you are ready to use.

•No live ammunition in the dry fire practice room.

Our first step in dry fire practice is to ensure we have a safe environment that is completely free of live ammunition. Let us pretend we will practice in a spare room.

Before we enter that room, we must completely unload our firearm and store that ammunition in a safe place. Check your pockets as well. We should enter the dry fire practice room with only our completely unloaded pistol and if necessary, completely unloaded magazines. Since you triple checked your firearm and magazines before entering the dry fire practice room, it shouldn’t bother you to triple check again once you are inside the room and ready to practice. Remove your magazines and place

Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

them in front of you so you can see they are all empty. Physically touch the follower on each magazine and press down ensuring through a physical and visual check they are all empty.

Lock or pull your slide to the rear then physically and visually check the chamber of your pistol. Turn your pistol over then physically and visually check the magazine well ensuring no magazine is currently in the pistol. If you have a revolver, you should have entered the room with the cylinder open and once again visually and physically check every single chamber in the cylinder to ensure they are completely empty. And now, check yourself again to make sure there are no stray cartridges in a pocket or located elsewhere in the room. You should now be in an environment where there is zero chance of a firearm becoming loaded with live ammunition.

Ideally, you will want a target backstop to use that doesn’t have precious items on the

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

other side. Suggested backstops during dry fire practice include exterior walls that are brick or stoneclad, basement walls, pointing into the end of a closet full of clothes, or any suitable feature that could serve as a sufficient ballistic stop in case you failed to follow the no ammunition rule.

Now that we have a safe environment, what are we going to do here? Essentially, we are going to point the pistol in a safe direction and pull the trigger. Hundreds of times.

Dry fire practice is the single most important tool in your toolbox to achieve greater success in shooting. Dry fire should comprise 60 to 70 percent of all the trigger pulling you do on a firearm. Dry fire is where you get it right and live fire simply ensures your sights are well aligned. In my previous articles, I discussed how everything that is important to accurately firing a pistol occurs before the primer is struck. Dry fire practice is honing those very fundamentals. There is no bang, no flash, no recoil, no smoke and, most importantly, no bullet is leaving your pistol. Therefore, this is where the true skill lies.

Assuming you have a semi-automatic pistol whose functions and manipulations you are familiar with intimately, the most basic of dry fire practice exercises is simply: 1. Extend the pistol into a shooting position.

2. Perform the necessary alignment of eyes, sights, and target into a solid sight picture.

3. Trigger take-up and trigger break.

4. Manually cycle the slide to reset the fire control (not necessary for revolvers).

5. Repeat.

Exactly what are you doing during this exercise? Starting off, you are working on your stable shooting position.

The more you stand in this position, the more comfortable you are holding this position. Next, you are working on acquiring your sight picture and sight focus. Use a target object across the room as your focus. On your safe backstop, you can hang a regular live fire target or focus on any small object, such as a light switch. I use the smallest object I can find because the smaller the object in front of your sights, the more careful you must be in minimizing your wobble zone.

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The next focus of the exercise is paying careful attention to your sight picture during the trigger take-up and break. You should not see any change in the sight picture at all as you press the trigger to the rear and as the trigger breaks.

Sounds easy, right? That one exercise is the fundamental practice from which all other exercises will build on and expand your skill development. You can keep your dry fire practice regimen as simple or as difficult as you like. Advanced concepts are simply the fundamentals performed under greater duress.

How much should you dry fire at home? Like everything, five minutes a day is better than zero minutes a day. Do what you can. Something is better than nothing and dry fire doesn’t have to be an hour long. Start small and build up, adding more layers and challenges to your regimen.

Remember, safety is your responsibility and dry fire requires you to maintain your safety awareness at a higher level.

----Tom Fuller is a mechanical designer with PCI Skanska and an NRA certified pistol instructor and range safety officer. He is available for private and class instruction at Uncle Rudy’s Indoor Firing Range.

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

Perusing

Panama

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I

doubt many people in our small town have seen large commercial container ships traverse the famous Panama Canal. But I have, and it was in this magnificent moment that I reflected back to how I lucky I was to be offered such an opportunity. Two and half years ago, I hesitantly submitted my application to Class 16 of the Indiana Ag Leadership Program. Anecdotally, I was informed I would be in for a life changing experience with some international study, except I didn’t know where I was I going or what that would entail. Fast forward through two years of team building, leadership sessions, analysis of Indiana’s competiveness in global ag markets and much camaraderie, I found myself looking out over one of the largest engineering marvels of the modern world.

In every sense the canal is the lifeblood of Panama, a truly cosmopolitan destination and one I hope to revisit soon.

We began our trip by arriving in Panama City.

Panama City is home to 1.4 million people. It’s very multicultural in nature, full of high-rises, trendy restaurants and convenience stores selling plantain chips in various flavors, world class coffees, European chocolates and paper cups that dissolved if your drink sat in the sun too long. Where the city meets the Pacific Ocean, skyscrapers tower over a sprinkling of small fishing villages – tiny, colorful houses on stilts for high tides with fishing boats docked to the front stoops.

The pace of Panamanian life is slower. People are laid back, meals are events and meetings never start on time. The weather was perfectly tropical and a much-needed respite from Indiana in February. The sea breezes are gentle, a constant reminder that you are never more than a few miles from a coastline.

Where else in the world can you drive 75 minutes and see both a Caribbean and Pacific coastline?

Our first destination in the country was the Panama Canal, a 48-mile manmade waterway that connects

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016 33 the Atlantic and Pacific oceans. It is impressively massive in scale and still is undersized for today’s global commerce needs. A $5.25 billion expansion project is underway at each of the locks to accommodate larger ships that can carry nearly three times the cargo of the current vessels that use the canal.

The sheer size of the ships we watched pass through made it hard to imagine a ship with triple the carrying capacity. The canal is a must-see economic and historically-rich project that is a showcase of pride for the Panamanian people.

For our second destination, we escaped to the rainforest resort of Gamboa, a rustic-yet-elegant resort deep in the heart of Panama’s Sobernia National Park. We were welcomed with the sight of lazy sloths climbing the trees, monkeys swinging from branch to branch and the songs of many beautiful birds. This is an ideal location to start your outdoor adventures in Panama, including fishing, hiking, birdwatching, zip lining, kayaking, night sky viewing and much more.

You can’t visit Panama without enjoying the wonderful assortment of local fruits and vegetables and fresh fish from the market! The freshness, quality and taste of product here is mouthwatering. Pineapple, plantain, bananas, oranges, limes, yucca, papaya, melons, beans, cebolla, grapefruit — the list goes on and on. Visiting a local farmers market is unlike anything you seen in the states. It’s bustling with energy,

many vendors and even more haggling. As part of our trip, we visited Verba Odrec, a 250-acre, family-owned pineapple operation in La Chorrera, Panama. Workers plant and harvest the fruit by hand, a tricky endeavor given the sharp spikes on the plants at harvest time.

I was fascinated watching the entire process from planting to picking, then processing and packaging.

Within hours of leaving the field, the fruit is exported to the U.S. and Turkey. A pineapple field looks much different than the Indiana staple of corn and soybeans, especially with the volcano in the background, but the talk was much the same: prices, yields, soil fertility and, of course, the weather.

Panama City offers much in the way of historical learning as well. By strolling along on centuries old cobblestone streets in historic Old Town, one can gain a better understanding of the unique culture of Panama. So multifaceted and yet all its own. Open air cafes and ethnic restaurants dot the landscape and create a vibrant atmosphere in a historic setting.

Be sure to tour the UNESCO World Heritage sites in Casco Viejo to learn the story of Panama City’s rich history and be dazzled by the dichotomy of new and old construction that melt together in harmony.

----Amanda Mosiman is the Purdue Extension Educator for Warrick County. She is also a world traveler.

She can be reached at bailey1@purdue.edu.

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

Frosty

fishing Jig & Pig The jig and pig is always a popular choice for cold water bass. In the summer, I use plastic trailers. In the winter, the pig is the secret. Pork trailers have a natural feel and flavor, two things vital to light biting cold water bass.

Pork trailers was all there was when I started bass fishing — or at least they were all I knew of — but now pork is hard to find. Uncle Josh has stuck by their product and has only improved the pork trailer and now offer the MEAT series and, as far as I know, is the only trailer made from pork fat. Working the jig and pig slowly down rocky banks can catch you some cold water bass this winter.

Grub Since bass are not likely to eat as much in cold water as they do when it’s warm, grubs can be perfect for cold water bass. Its small and compact profile mimics the size and action of bait fish bass are looking for when the water is cold. Sometimes cold water bass want a

little action in the presentation and when this happens a twister tail grub is great but my favorite is a split tail grub with no action. Casting this along sharp drop-offs and letting it free fall on light line can trigger cold water strikes from bass looking for an easy meal.

Blade Bait The blade bait is a simple bait with features that may not attract anglers in the bait store but the subtle looks and action of these baits are deadly on cold water bass.

These little baits are very versatile and — whether you located bass in deep water and need to jig it like a spoon through suspended fish or found them up shallow where the best presentation is — the pump action blade bait works great. The pump action is where you slowly raise the blade bait off the bottom then allow it to wiggle back to the bottom. This is done on light line and with the table hook on the bait it does take some practice to keep from hanging up every cast but it works so give it a try this winter.

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Lipless Crankbait The lipless crankbait is my favorite all around cold water bass baits. There are several ways to fish this bait from ripping it through grass to stroking it on the flats.

My personal favorite lipless crankbait is the Rapala Rippin Rap. This bait is heavy enough to cast a mile but subtle enough to work slowly through the water column generating that slow action as well as sound that triggers reaction strikes so vital to catching more cold water bass. These reaction strikes oftentimes will result in barely hooking the bass and sometimes hooking it on the outside of its mouth where it just swiped the bait from pure reactionary instincts. Many times, without the right set-up, you will rip the hooks free of the bass without ever knowing you had a bite. The best set-up for cold water lipless crank bait fishing is a slow retrieve with monofilament and a limber rod. The monofilament will stretch along with the limber rod and this will help increase the hook-up ratio and ultimately the number of bass that make it in the boat.

Suspending Jerkbait The suspending jerkbait is no secret to cold water bass anglers. It was a toss up between the jerk bait and the crank bait for this spot but with the lipless crank bait being so versatile, I left the crank bait off the list.

In the winter months most lakes, even those that may be a little dingy in the summer, will clear up. There is little boat traffic and less plankton and other organisms that usually color the water in lakes. For this reason the suspending jerkbait wins as one of the top five cold water bass baits. Work this bait along bluff banks where bass will suspend in the winter so they can move from one depth to another with ease. Get the bait down to the depth it is designed then start a jerk, jerk, pause, retrieve. The pause is usually determined by the water temp but sometimes you just have to experiment and let the bass tell you what they want. You might have to pause for as long as a minute, just be patient and you might be surprised.

The bass are targeting dying shad in the winter and the action of these dying shad, dictated usually by the water temp, is what you will want to emulate with your presentation.

Since you can’t see the action of that days dying shad, you have to try different presentations until you get a bite. You can locate the depth of the shad with your electronics so you know how deep to fish.

Conclusion It can be a challenge to catch bass in the winter but with the right baits and techniques, you can catch bass throughout the cold water months. Cold water bass fishing

is a great way to get out of the house and, while it might be cold out there, when you hook into a big bass every once and awhile you tend to forget about the cold. Winter bass fishing is also a great time to locate some of those secret stumps or boulders that are underwater when spring rolls around.

----Ken McBroom is a freelance outdoor writer and photographer based in Indiana. For more information, please visit www.ramblingangler.com. Send comments to ken@

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lection season is in full swing and with the major candidates in our presidential election closely resembling a television reality show, it can be difficult to take them seriously. Luckily, cyclists have a few things to consider when comparing the two major candidates. More importantly, we have ongoing topics to consider when planning for the future of our sport. With Rocky Mountain majesties above the high Fruita plains, Americans must stay informed and work together to preserve and expand our great riding destinations.

A fan of the sitcom “Parks and Rec,” Hillary Clinton has big plans for outdoor recreation in the United States. Her personal website boasts a plan to double the outdoor industry over the next decade and help Americans gain access to half of the currently inaccessible public lands. This plan will likely see a balance between recreation and conservation as there are many user groups interested in public lands.

That is certainly something to keep in mind considering Clinton’s last known bike ride was in 1994 at Martha’s Vineyard. Donald J. Trump State Park in New York is a 436-acre site with unmaintained grounds, a history of controversy and no known bike

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Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

paths. Commonly compared to the spoiled Bobby Newport on the sitcom Parks and Rec, “the Donald” seems to have experience with cycling by commenting that he last rode when he was 7 or 8 years old. Trump has also made numerous derogatory remarks about cyclists, especially when referring to John Kerry, saying things like, “You say John Kerry’s a joke. No, he’s a bicyclist.” Most notably, Trump was the title sponsor of the east coast’s Tour de Trump road race for two years before financial problems forced him to pull his sponsorship.

While most cyclists just want to ride their bikes, some often experience the political side of the sport. There are many unsung heroes in cycling who attend public meetings, work with land managers and help to create new and better riding opportunities for everyone. Most of these efforts are on the local level but there are also large organizations who are taking action. If you want to join an advocacy group, make sure that their track record and current mission aligns with your personal interests before signing up.

To ensure the longevity of our sport, the best thing is to stay informed and identify how you can provide the most help. If you have concerns, be sure to maintain focus and respect when presenting them to land managers and advocates.

The same goes when taking concerns to your elected representatives. Our country is becoming increasingly divided because, as humans, we are becoming more specialized than ever. We each may be getting better at what we do but in the end, we will realize that we all must work together and “crown thy good with brotherhood.”

Regardless of our elected leaders, we should all be thankful that we live in America the beautiful — where we can all ride our bikes without a care in the world.

----Brad Scales is the owner Boonville Bike Club Inc. and Trail Boss LLC. He is also a member of the Evansville Mountain Bike Association.

Tri-State Outdoors | November/December 2016

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OUTDOORS Magazine

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