By: Bears Butt
My blood is starting to get going toward the upcoming turkey season. I have to share this with you:
Utah Fishing ReportsMy blood is starting to get going toward the upcoming turkey season. I have to share this with you:
Well it looks like Bob is just about finished with his part of the cleanup of the trapping stuff. He announced yesterday that he was putting the “fixed” traps into bags and putting them away until next trapping season. That pretty much wraps up what has to be done with the “end of the line” trapping. Each season takes its toll on the gear needed to do the trapping including the chains, chain loops, dogs, triggers, springs and everything else that deals with it.
Bob also purchased an additional 36 traps to add to his arsenal and so they had to be tagged with his trapper number, cleaned up, adjusted and made ready for the next season. New traps are always a chore as most don’t come ready to use. There are always some adjusting that needs to be done to get them to lay flat, which means bending the main body of the trap, or the dog mounting bracket. A trap that doesn’t lay flat is one that most animals won’t get caught in. A little trick that trappers figure out over time.
Last week “our guy” called Bob about the rats and Bob informed him that we had sent them off to auction, I think I told you that, but he called again after that to tell Bob he was prepared to give us $10 something (Bob couldn’t remember what the something was) for our rats. When Bob told me that I laughed. And said that if he was prepared to offer over $10 for our rats that we must be in for a real treat at auction. There is no way in heck he would give us $10, if he wasn’t expecting to get $13 or more. We will see.
So, now it’s just waiting for the auction time…May 14!
Bears Butt
April 11, 2014
As a bagpiper, I play many gigs. Recently I was asked by a funeral director to play at a graveside service for a homeless man. He had no family or friends, so the service was to be at a pauper’s cemetery in the back country. As I was not familiar with the backwoods, I got lost and, being a typical man, I didn’t stop for directions.
I finally arrived an hour late and saw the funeral guy had evidently gone and the hearse was nowhere in sight. There were only the diggers and crew left and they were eating lunch.
I felt badly and apologized to the men for being late. I went to the side of the grave and looked down and the vault lid was already in place. I didn’t know what else to do, so I started to play.
The workers put down their lunches and began to gather around. I played out my heart and soul for this man with no family and friends. I played like I’ve never played before for this homeless man.
And as I played ‘Amazing Grace,’ the workers began to weep. They wept, I wept, we all wept together. When I finished I packed up my bagpipes and started for my car. Though my head hung low, my heart was full.
As I opened the door to my car, I heard one of the workers say, “I never seen nothin’ like that before and I’ve been putting in septic tanks for twenty years.”
Apparently, I’m still lost… It’s a man thing.
Sheep. Why on earth would Bears Butt write anything about sheep? I can count on one hand the number of times I have eaten sheep meat. Dad always talked about eating lamb and the toughness and fatty taste of mutton so there may have been times while I was growing up and too young to remember eating it, but the few times I do recall eating it are few. Not that it tasted bad or anything, I recall it tasting rather good in fact, but there just wasn’t much to it and it would take a whole bunch of lamb chops to satisfy my hunger. I suppose that is the main reason for me not eating much of it….oh and the fact that Winemaker grew up eating a bunch of it and she didn’t care that much for it. Is this because they were pets and the thought of munching down on a pet for Sunday dinner wasn’t that appealing? Or was it because that is what they had to eat and in order to survive you had to eat it or else?
Questions that can’t be answered at this time.
So, why is Bears Butt writing about sheep? I started my research looking up bacon. Bacon is always at the top of my food list, I like bacon! So I went in search of “bacon alternatives” and found that in the countries making up the United Kingdom (England, Scotland etc.) in World War II, they decided that since they had so many sheep and very few hogs, they would make bacon out of sheep meat. Which they did by brining the sheep meat the same way they would hog meat to make the bacon. They called it “macon” (mutton bacon). To a starving troop on the line, it would be quite good, or at least would sustain them until such time that they could open a can of spam (another story in and of itself). OK, so one look up on the web lead to another and to another and so forth. Pretty soon, I made my mind up that You needed to know what I have found out about sheep.
First off you need to know that the sheep industry in the US is going down. It never was a big deal in the US anyway and it’s becoming less and less of a big deal as of late (2012)….HOWEVER….You never know if the demand will go up and if it does the herds will grow. Texas and California grow the most sheep in the US….I wonder why? You should be able to guess. Utah is 5th in the nation on the number of sheep raised. We see quite a few of them critters on the mountain while muzz deer hunting. Utah raises on average 305,000 sheep. Sounds like quite a few to me and if you are ever traveling toward camp the day before the opener and get stuck behind a sheep drive going down the road, it seems like all 305,000 are in front of you impeding your progress toward camp and a cold brew.
Well, most of these animals are raised for the production of wool, but for the unfortunate young of the flock, they are hustled off to a feed lot for slaughter. They are not held long at the feed lot and will soon be coming to a grocer near you! To the tune of 168 million pounds of yummy young lamb! 168 MILLION pounds! That is a lot of pounds of lamb! Who eats this stuff? Like I said earlier, I can count on one hand the number of times I have eaten sheep meat of any sort and in my mind I can’t think of too many people who eat it on a regular basis either. Now according to the latest census in the US, there are almost 314 million people living here. So, if we were to divide the slaughter figure of lambs by the number of people living here, each of us would be allowed about 1/2 a pound of lamb each year….that would be about 4 lamb chops if I figure correctly. Someone is eating my lamb chops.
Well, are you satisfied with all of this about sheep yet? I’m not done. The story gets bigger and maybe even better, depending on how you look at it. 314 million people and 168 million pounds of sheep meat doesn’t seem to be enough here in the good old U.S. of A. And for the countries of Australia and New Zealand, they are happy campers, because the U.S. demand has them exporting some 130 Million pounds of sheep meat, right to us! Oh Happy are we! So, the U.S. consumes 298 Million pounds of sheep meat each year! Who is eating this meat????? Do the math, that is just short of 1 pound of meat for each resident of the U.S…..or in my words, 8 lamb chops each….still someone is eating my lamb chops.
More research found that when you go to the grocery store and are standing there looking at the meats: beef, pork, chicken, fish and lamb and if you are at any odds as to which one of them is the most healthy for you….besides fish or course….you would be better off choosing the lamb. It is said that it has the capabilities of lowering your risk of cardiovascular disease. Is this why the Mediterranean people look so good out there on the beach? They eat a LOT of lamb meat.
Well, I don’t plan on going out and picking up any lamb chops any time soon, and if I was to raise a sheep for slaughter I would most likely want to do the cutting up myself. Of course I found this masterpiece of some help:
It comes from the British government and the butchers have to report where the cuts they package came from, I think I would pass on the “scrag end” cuts myself, as the name just doesn’t sound very appetizing….”Sir, would you care for another cut of ‘scrag'”?…….But then, the “chump” doesn’t sound too good either. And what cut will you obtain from the “Best End”???? Oh I get it! It’s the “best end of the backstrap”!!! Oh ya! I like that end the best and only a “chump” would like the other end of the backstrap. It’s sure a good thing I have cut up a lot of deer and elk myself over my lifetime. I got this one figured out. But still, someone is eating my lamb chops.
Bears Butt
April 9, 2014
Today, April 8, 2014, we celebrated Reed McBride’s final day on earth. The ceremony took place in Malad, Idaho and in Hyrum, Utah and what a beautiful day it was…warm, very Spring like and everyone in attendance were sad, but still as cheery as could be under the circumstances. Reed touched so many of us in so very many ways, I can not tell you all of them. His wife, Shirley, was surrounded by their family and it was a very nice sight to see.
I was very pleased with the services at the Malad LDS church house. The speakers were excellent and painted such a wonderful tribute to Reed’s life. A life that I knew was going on, but had never imagined how others were perceiving it. I knew Reed as, first off, Shirley’s husband, and secondly as Pale Rider, in our mountain man circle. Reed was a wonderful man, always caring, always giving, always there whenever the need was there. A nicer man could not be found. Actually, I have to back up a little on that statement. He was equal to a lot of nice people I have known in my life who have passed on and in my mind, he has rejoined those other “a nicer person could not be found” who have been a friend or family member of mine and fell into that category.
Reed loved life and he lived it to the fullest. In his work, in his play! When you find an honest man like him with the sense of humor he had, you just can’t help but like him. I can’t say as I EVER saw him with a frown on his face. He might have had a “serious” face a time or two, but never a frown….more often than not a BIG OLD SMILE! He must have slept with a smile on his face…and who wouldn’t sleeping next to a bride like Shirley….Just sayin!
Yes it was a top of the line service for a top of the line guy. The speakers were wonderful, the songs very fitting and in the final minutes of the tribute, he was carried to the cemetery in an old fashioned two horse Hearst, followed by his Good Friend Blair Higley, leading his riderless horse to the grave side services. Reed was one of the last of the real Western Cowboys. He will be missed. I’m very glad I was blessed to be a small part of his life. I was happy to see some of the folks who I met at rendezvous over the years because of Reed and Shirley, what’s not to love about all of them? Nothing.
I’m pleased to know that Reed didn’t have to endure a long struggle with an ugly illness and that he went as quickly as he did. Sometimes it doesn’t seem fair to lose someone so close and so young, but in this temporal life of ours, he is back home and we will someday be reunited with him and the other “a nicer person could not be found”‘s that enter into our lives and then are taken away before we are.
I love you Shirley! I love you all.
Bears Butt
April 8, 2014
This was the sunset the other night…thought you might like to see it.
And now for some punny stuff!
Can you guess this one? Making a VanGogh!
And last but not least!
A beautiful spring day is in store.
Bears Butt
April 8, 2014
Several years ago the Utah Division of Wildlife Resources began a program in which they pay landowners in exchange for the right of the public to trespass for the purpose of wildlife related activities, like hunting, fishing, trapping or just plain sight seeing. In my opinion it is a wonderful program and I’d like to see more landowners join in the program.
As with any program, there are kinks that must be ironed out along the way and most of those kinks are “people” related. Not observing the fact that they are “guests” on this piece of land and destroying the property in various ways. In so doing, the landowner pulls the land out of the program and it becomes a No Trespassing area once again.
The program is called “The Walkin Program” and I have used several of them over the years to hunt turkeys especially and for that same number of years I have sent emails to the DWR asking them to create a map showing me where these walk in areas are located. Well, they finally did it! A state wide map that shows where the walk in lands are located. It goes much farther than I had suggested to them, in that you can click on the outline of the land and it shows you the name of the owner and what can be done on that land (i.e. fishing, hunting, trapping) and what types of animals you can hunt, fish for or trap. Way cool!
On this site, you can also narrow your search down to specific animals and whether you are just sight seeing or hunting/fishing. Once you make your choices up pops those properties in the program that meet your specifics. It’s cool! Go check it out!
http://dwrapps.utah.gov/ram/start2
Bears Butt
April 5, 2014
Our very good friend and Mountain Man, Reed “Pale Rider” McBride passed away suddenly on April 3rd, 2014.
Whenever I think of him, I think of him teaching me how to cook trout over an open fire, using forked green willow branches as my “pan”. I’ll never forget you Reed. Always there to help anyway he could. Never a rendezvous went by without his smiling face present.
Bears Butt
April 3, 2014
People are very resourceful and there is something for everyone. Maybe what I should be saying is, People are crazy and there is something for everyone. Anyway, I was surfing the web today and discovered this. Can you imagine someone who has the time and thoughts to melt aluminum cans to about 1200 degrees Fahrenheit and then pour it down an ant hole. Why would anyone want to do that? Especially the first person that did it. Were they just so bored they wanted to see a million ants come jumping out of the ground all around the ant hill or were they so terrified of ants that they would go to this extreme to get rid of the ants? It’s anyone’s guess about the first guy, but after that and the end results I can now see why someone would do it….it’s cool.
Enjoy!
Bears Butt
April 1, 2014