Suburban Waterfowling

Traveling fast and light.

That's the mantra of duck hunting guide Bernie O. Yesterday he dragged Dr. Stan and I to some of his favorite secret stashes along the Susquehanna River. We bushwacked our way down to the water's edge in lots of places in search of the feathered goods, never far from our vehicles, and always with the urban sounds of cars speeding along riverside roadways in the background. Let me tell you, Bernie O knows his stuff. It was a gorgeous day, and despite low water and warm fall temperatures, we saw lots of action jump shooting for mallards and wood ducks.

I fired my first shot at a bird with my brand new Bennelli USA Montefeltro 20 gauge, a semi-auto with a special short pull that fits my petite frame like a dream, and it felt great. No recoil whatsoever, but more on that if you watch the show in two weeks, and we'll let the firearms folks at Cabela's show you why this particular Benelli is a perfect fit for me. Dr. Stan was shooting his own intertia driven Super Black Eagle, a firearm that he submerged and nearly drowned with in pursuit of an elusive bird last year. Needless to say, you'd never know it judging from the looks of his still perfect synthetic camo shotgun, unless you heard the story, which I will leave him to tell.

The day before we were out in the dark with the Hunt Doctor and his dog, who took us to one of his favorite ponds to await the dawn arrival of a flock of hungry ducks. Unfortunately for us, at daybreak they launched off the water and flew in the wrong direction. Too bad. We were unable to shoot safely. Although I didn't get any birds down that morning, I was stoked to meet the Hunt Doctor and learn some really interesting waterfowling facts from him, and Bernie O, who is always a wealth of information. Here's one I can share with you.

It really is an amazing thing to see a flock of geese flying south - they are some of the most aerodynamic inventions ever, smooth and efficient with their bodies and wings as they coast high above in tight V formations. And they always fly in a V. But did you ever wonder why one side of the V is often longer than the other? With the help of the Hunt Doctor and Bernie O, I was able to figure it out yesterday and it is such a no-brainer. Watching them cruise overhead after we missed the ducks, I counted birds and saw that there were about six more geese on the longer leg of the V.

Wow, AMAZING!!!

The Salmon River

Last week I took a ride north to Pulaski, New York with some fly fishing buddies from Northeast PA to spend a few days catching monster salmon and steelhead as they make their annual fall journey upriver to spawn and die. My old friend Dr. Stan and I had a blast with Bernie O and his brother the Cabin Captain, and his crew, and I saw two of the best young local anglers in action hooking, fighting and hauling in some huge fish. These boys caught more fish than the adults, and I was blown away at their skill on and off the water.

Thankfully I was lucky enough to capture some of it with my camera, along with a few fish of my own. I even cooked a just-caught cojo dinner the evening I drove back, and it made for a really special culinary treat for myself and my guy. Maybe not as special as the smoked and pulled pork Dr. Stan contributed to the cabin's menu for the week, but definitely FRESH. Although we had some rainy weather in Pulaski, we managed to capture some great stuff on video and I can't wait to show it to you. Stay tuned!

Tomorrow and Friday I'm doing some duck hunting right here close to home. I have to get up at 5 am and wrap myself in camo layers since it's really getting winterlike now. But that's good for the ducks - I'll let you know if we have any luck and hopefully, I'll get to use my new Benelli USA Montefeltro shotgun that I've been practicing so dilligently with. I hope to have some nice photos to show you when you check back with me over the weekend.

Also, if you are a skier or boarder, check out Country Ski and Sport's HUGE tent sale going on from Thursday through Sunday, with equipment, clothing and all kinds of great deals. For more info, hours and directions visit http://www.countryskiandsports.com/

And finally, don't forget the Camp Kresge Adventure Triathlon Sunday morning- it looks like I'm going to bike, run and kayak solo since my runner secured tickets to the World Series. Don't be afraid to come out and compete in this fun event sponsored by Sicklers Bike and Sport Shops.

See you Sunday on the CW - when I'll take you into the gym for a pre-ski season strength training program.

Welcome!

I'm stoked to let you know that I've finally got it together and have a place to write news about the show, myself, my sponsors, and my co-host Bob Ide.

I've been extremely busy, and I can tell you that you are going to see some crazy stuff on the show in November. And after that ? Well, I am going to be forced to do the show at Elk Mountain this winter - do I sound like I would have to be forced? I am just kidding - I am in nirvana because if you know me, then you know that during most of the winter you will find me at some point during the day ripping turns down Tunkhannock hopefully dusted with fresh and bumped up to the max. I love skiing out West, but when I am home Elk is about as good as it gets for me. On a good powder day in PA I can close my eyes and imagine I am anywhere in the Rockies I want to be. Now I can bring my ski buddies and friends along, record some of those moments to share and show the world what an excellent place Elk really is. I can't wait for the snow, but more on that later. Thanks for making that possible Gregg.


That brings us to my friends -the one thing I've recently discovered is that situations occur where you really find out who your friends are. Sometimes it takes a while and you have to filter out the bad to make room for the good. But I'm happy to say I've made some great new friends and started hanging with some great old ones again, and you'll get to meet some of them on the show in the next months. Also, I am so grateful to the folks at Cabelas, Benelli USA and PrimaLoft for taking such great care of me. I am doing lots of fishing, hunting and just clay and target shooting right now waiting for ski season to start. In the next week or so I'll take you down to Hamburg to the big Cabela's store and show you the hottest gear for the season - warm and dry clothing, lots of camo, Benelli USA firearms and accessories.


Finally, I have to tell you that this weekend - Sunday October 26 - is the Camp Kresge Adventure Triathlon, and anyone is welcome to compete at this strictly fun charity event. Mark and Sue Farrell from Sicklers Bike and Sport are some of the most generous people I know. Can you believe they've been married for 30 years - and will celebrate that a week from today. Anyone who can make a commitment like that to each other and keep the faith for so long proves that there really are people out there in the world of the highest character. Their daughter in law Corinne has gone full out to put together an event to raise money for this wonderful non-profit organization that hosts camps for adults and children. Corrinne proves that the apple doesn't fall far from the tree.

The plan is that our station's local sales manager, Bob Spager, will compete along with me on a team for FOX56 and The Great Outdoors. I'm riding the 7 mile bike leg and kayaking. Bob Ide was supposed to kayak but backed out probably because he didn't train enough. Bob Spager, who did train, will put his hoofs to the trail and run for our team. Thanks to BM, who has supported me in my own training efforts all summer, I'm going to ride my new 29er and hopefully get in a good start for us. I'll finish with the 2 mile kayak - and watch out, I podiumed in 2 races this summer on the Susquehanna under the guidance of Sean and Kevin O'Shea from Country Ski and Sport. It's supposed to be a fun race, and no worries, anyone can do it, but I can't help wanting to be in the front of the pack.


And BM, Shaeff, Mike, Chuck, Larry, Glen, Joe and whoever else I forgot to mention, thanks for a challenging and exhilirating mountain bike ride on some psycho terrain at Keystone last night. I love my new 29er!!!!!