Hunt, Eat, Live!

A Boys First Duck Hunt

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Fri, 30 Oct 2009 06:01:00 +0000

Reports from opening weekend of the California waterfowl season were about as exciting as a Twitter feed from the Pope. Most accounts from friends and fellow hunters reported slow shooting action on this most anticipated weekend of the year. Most reported a smattering of local birds being harvested, but with sunny days and warm temperatures upward of 80 degrees, the birds were fat and happy...

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Duck & Goose Hunting - Canada Style!

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Thu, 01 Oct 2009 06:37:00 +0000

Last week marked the return of a pilgrimage that had been on hiatus for the past couple of years. It was the return to a remarkable land, full of wonderful people and an amazing bounty of wildlife. We began this annual migration in 2004 when I decided to put together the ‘hunt of a lifetime’ for my father, brother and good friend of mine. The kind of hunt that you save for all year and only plan...

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The First of Many Hunts

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 17:46:00 +0000

The dawning of September 1st is always an exciting time of year for hunters. It signals the changing of seasons – literally and figuratively – as we anxiously anticipate the first bird hunting opportunity of the year. Most states throughout the U.S. have a dove hunting season and those seasons traditionally begin on September 1st. The Fish & Wildlife Service says that doves are most-harvested...

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Kudos to the California Fish & Game Commission

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 05:39:00 +0000

Last year I wrote this post about how hunting regulations had become too complex and confusing. My point was that complex regulations don’t serve the purpose for which they are written – that is to protect from damaging wildlife population levels. But overly complicated regs can easily lead to accidental harvest and, as we’ve been told for years from the biologists, harvest is compensatory to...

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OBS Challenge - Fighting for Susan

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Sat, 08 Aug 2009 06:21:00 +0000

Just before I went onto my summer break, I wrote a post about a very personal topic, breast cancer, and how that horrible disease entered my family’s life seven years ago. That post took some effort for me to write, as I am not the greatest at being vulnerable and sharing close personal details. However, as I learned during the process of dealing with my wife’s own battle, it is important to...

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On Youthful Innocence and Good Habits

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Thu, 30 Apr 2009 23:22:00 +0000

Sometimes I am convinced that the hunting gods purposefully present you with certain situations – we’ll call them ‘teachable moments’ - that both inspire and humble. Such was the case a few weeks ago. As previously reported, The Boy passed his hunter safety certification course in February and I have been continuing the lessons at home during ‘dry fire’ exercises out on our property. Basically...

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Someone You Know…

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Wed, 22 Apr 2009 04:47:00 +0000

If it hasn’t done so already, breast cancer will touch you or someone you know. This was the case in my own life when, seven years ago, my 30-year old wife and I sat in a dimly-lit radiologist’s office with x-ray films illuminated in front of us when we heard those dreaded words. “This is bad, this is really bad.” Little did we know it, but that moment in time would be the beginning of a...

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Wild Duck Lettuce Wraps

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Thu, 26 Mar 2009 05:24:00 +0000

One of my favorite annual rituals after the end of the hunting season is to host a duck dinner and invite many of my hunting partners and their significant others over for some wild game cookery. It undoubtedly ends up being as much about good times with outrageous stories from excursions of the past season as well as an introduction to a new way to prepare our favorite quarry. This year I...

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My Two Seconds of Fame

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Tue, 10 Mar 2009 04:03:00 +0000

Well, it isn't the level of fame that fellow outdoor blogger Hunter, Angler, Gardner, Cook achieved with his recent full-page spread in Field & Stream. Nor is it a quote on CNN like Phillip at the Hog Blog. But, for my little blog I am quite proud to announce that Hunt, Eat, Live has been named as one of the Top 50 Blogs for Gun Enthusiasts. Lang over at Fat of the Land first broke the news...

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Hunter Education - Is it Sufficient?

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Sun, 01 Mar 2009 04:16:00 +0000

Last week I wrote a post about The Boy successfully completing his hunter safety certificate and there were a few comments that invited some interesting discussion. One reader wrote, …“As a father of two young boys, I, too, look forward to the time when they can get their hunter's safety certificate. However, I do think we have a serious problem with hunter education today. I think it needs to...

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Adding Hunters to the Ranks

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Sun, 15 Feb 2009 18:38:00 +0000

There are a few keystone moments in a kid’s life that he or she can remember in vivid Technicolor. For me, one of those memories was the weekend that my dad took me and my friend to get our hunter safety certificate. I remember the drive out to the Isaac Walton League and entering that cold, brick meeting hall with all the other fathers and sons (unfortunately there were no huntresses or...

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Emerging from the Funk

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Wed, 11 Feb 2009 02:34:00 +0000

OK, I admit it, I’ve been in a funk for the past two weeks. By now you'd think that I would begin to expect it, but just like clockwork, the end of the hunting season sneaks up on me and POW, I immediately fall into a deep funk. The obvious symptom is that my blog posts came to a screeching halt after my hunting season review post two weeks ago. My gosh, TWO WEEKS! Not good for retaining...

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Every Season Has Its Firsts

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 06:41:00 +0000

Even in the oddest of seasons, there always seems to be a few things that stand as interesting, unique or as a 'first'. After decades of hunting you would think that you've pretty much seen it all, but it never fails that each and every year there is something that causes you to pause, tilt your head to the side and give a verbal "hmm". Here are a few of the things that made the 2008-09 duck...

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An Uncommon Visitor

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 03:54:00 +0000

A couple months ago I wrote about The Friend who had decided that he wanted to try duck hunting. Although we’ve had an unusually poor season due to a lack of weather, it has been a real privilege to introduce him to the sport and teach him all the basic ins and outs. Today we made plans to go out and see what the fair weather would bring us. If nothing else, we’d have a nice boat ride, see a...

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Doing the Rain Dance

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 06:31:00 +0000

Oh, the weather outside is… beautiful, sunny, warm, dry. Yesterday the thermometer topped out at 74 degrees. Not exactly what you hope for in the middle of what should be the best waterfowling weather of the season. This year’s duck season has felt like an absolute roller coaster. One minute we’re complaining because there is no weather and no ducks. The next we’re singing the praises of arctic...

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Make Mine a Double... A Scotch Double

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 03:43:00 +0000

I was a little apprehensive heading into last Saturday’s waterfowl hunt. After all, I was coming off of a terrible day of gunning Friday in which myself and my two blind mates eventually ended up pulling limits of birds on stormy morning hunt. But just suffice it to say that it was not my most stellar shooting days. I believe at one point there was some smart-ass comment from the other end of the...

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Pheasant Risotto with Chantrelle Mushrooms

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Fri, 02 Jan 2009 01:29:00 +0000

I know I’ve been very slack on posting recipes and all of my hunting buddies have been letting me know it. They have pleaded with me to post the dishes that I’ve had them over to enjoy the last few months. So here is the first of many to come. And guys, I pledge to try and do better. I enjoy cooking immensely, but time is usually the enemy for preparing advanced dishes. Plus, to be honest, most...

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Twas the Days After Christmas

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Sat, 27 Dec 2008 22:51:00 +0000

Twas the days after Christmas, and all through the land, The hunters were stirring with time off work to be had. Their decoys and gadgets were opened and unfurled, All ready to spin; heck some even whirled! The hunters were nestled all snug in new gear, While visions of cupped ducks drew ever nearer. And Hunter Partner in his facemask and I in my camo cap, Had finished setting decoys and...

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They're Heeeeerrreee!

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Sun, 21 Dec 2008 21:11:00 +0000

The first major storm of the West Coast has been a doozie for almost the entirety of last week. Record snowfall in Seattle, Oregon is frozen solid, and the rain/snow started falling in Northern California and stopped for just one day (Saturday). Loving this duck weather. The storm has done the trick to stir up local birds, but more importantly it has brought new birds down from the North. The...

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Fido The Trusty Hunting Partner

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Wed, 17 Dec 2008 06:16:00 +0000

Sunday was a wonderful day of waterfowling, but not for the reasons you may think. Yes, the big northern storm that Terry and I wrote about did indeed come-a-howling. But for some reason the ducks didn’t arrive on the leading edge as I had hoped and predicted. Myself, The Hunting Partner, The Friend and Max (The Dog) went to one of our favorite spots and set up for what we hoped was going to be...

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Feeling Better Now

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Fri, 12 Dec 2008 06:13:00 +0000

Ok, so I was a little cranky earlier this week when I wrote about how bad this waterfowl season was shaping up. I'm sorry I ranted, but I am feeling much better now. Plus, there is a large winter storm brewing for this weekend that should bring a deep freeze up north (YES! New birds) as well as rain and wind to the valley (YES! Local birds get stirred up). So The Hunter Partner and I are going...

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November Doldrums Spill Into December

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Tue, 09 Dec 2008 05:34:00 +0000

Everyone is talking about it, no one is immune to it, and someone put it best, “This season is the worst in recorded history so far.” Yes, the West Coast duck hunting season officially sucks. Oh sure, the first two weekends of the season we enjoyed fantastic shooting on local mallards that were born and raised right here in the Sacramento Valley. But ever since then things have gone down hill...

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Forty Ain’t So Bad After All

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Wed, 03 Dec 2008 07:34:00 +0000

Last week was one of those milestones in one’s life. Yes, I turned 40 years old. There, I said it. Are you happy? I don’t know what it is about turning 40, but there is a certain psychology about it that influences your mind. I don’t know if it is a social dynamic or just folk lore about turning 40 that makes you pause and think a little longer about where you are in life. There is even a blog...

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Thanksgiving Write About the Good Challenge

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Wed, 26 Nov 2008 15:24:00 +0000

Kristine over at Outdoor Blogger Summit threw down a challenge to all her outdoor blogging peeps to write a post during this Thanksgiving holiday about the person who mentored you in hunting or the outdoors. For me, this one is a no-brainer. Growing up with the Colorado wilderness as my backyard playground, I was fortunate to be introduced to hunting and fishing at a very early age. My father...

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Hunt, Eat, Live! Roundup

jon.roth@ncbb.net (Live to Hunt....) — Thu, 20 Nov 2008 06:18:00 +0000

It has been a while since I’ve posted because I was traveling for the last seven days straight for my J.O.B. I took along my laptop and thought, “Oh, this will be great. While I’m sitting in my hotel room or flying from point A to point B, I will bang out a couple of draft posts.” Yeah, right. The days on this latest trip started early and ended around midnight after the ‘mandatory’ social...

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