By: Bears Butt
I’m not much on politics etc., but this speech is a must see….
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyyHegP255g
Bears Butt
Feb. 8, 2013
Utah Fishing ReportsI’m not much on politics etc., but this speech is a must see….
www.youtube.com/watch?v=vyyHegP255g
Bears Butt
Feb. 8, 2013
Today is February 7 and it’s Charles Dickens Day. Who was Charles Dickens? Well a writer among other things, but he was the guy who invented Scrooge and the other characters in “The Christmas Story”.
I looked up his biography and he was quite the guy. He evidently loved school and learning, but at an early age in his life, his father was thrown into prison for owing too much and not being able to pay for his debts.
Back in the early to mid 1800’s they would toss you into jail in what they called “debtors prison” for having too much money lent to you and you could not pay it back. I don’t think that was the way it was in America at the time, but in England, where he lived that was a common thing.
So, he was forced out of school to help with the finances of his mom and family. It must have been a very hard time back in those days. Child labor laws were non-existent and so the young children were forced to do all sorts of dirty, ugly jobs for little pay. Charles Dickens life was etched by this way of life and so came his stories. The ugly tyrant boss and the little kids in the streets trying their best to find enough food for the family back in the hovel. The disabled child, with a limp and a speech impediment, on the verge of pneumonia because of the cold and of course under nourished and near to die. You get the picture.
And in his books there is always a good ending, so don’t fret too much, just pick up one of his books and read on.
You know, he was only 58 when he died and I suppose back in the mid 1800’s that was considered quite old.
You can see the rough life he lived in his face. But in his day he was considered a wealthy man with a good job and time to write.
In school I was forced to read one of his novels, “David Copperfield”, I got through it, gave my book report and quickly forgot everything I had read. Sorry Chuck! It just wasn’t my sort of read.
He wrote stories that were published in series and they were so interesting that the children who could read, would get a copy of the weekly printing and gather up a crowd of kids and read to them. They were so interested in hearing the next part that they would do what they could to gather enough money to buy the next printing. I thought that was quite a remarkable thing for the kids to do. Gathering up a half cent here and a half cent there.
Well, I have too many things to do today to curl up with a Charles Dickens book, so this will have to do as my celebration of his day and his life.
Bears Butt
Feb. 7, 2013
Painting…still.
So yesterday was a pretty good day for me as far as painting the house goes. It’s the last BIG room to get done and Sherry had to decide on what accent color she wanted and which wall to have as that accent wall. She made her mind up the other day…I was glad.
So the rest of the room gets my favorite color…white! Yes! So I make my plan in my own mind and decided that yesterday was going to be “get the ceiling done” day. In any room there is always more to the preparation than the actual work and the living room was no exception. The two closets that are within the boundaries of this room were cleared of their junk and painted the day before. Closets are always a “paint me good” pain in the butt for me. I get paint on my back, my arms, hair….everywhere. I will paint one of the small walls and then back into it painting another. I hate closet painting, but it has to be done.
So now I start to prep the rest of the room for the big painting that is going to get done and it takes hours, literally, to get this done. In fact I thought I had used up the last of the newspapers and was in a sort of a panic when Sherry suddenly unleashed a whole big old pile on me! Again a happy guy, I proceeded to use that pile up.
For the fireplace I used a big piece of painters plastic I had, that saved several newspapers from having to be used. I also had quite a time getting the masking tape to stick to the bricks. The blue kind would not stick at all and the green magic kind they sold me in buying for about twice the price didn’t stick either. Plain old white masking tape I bought at the dollar store was the winner!
You can tell I like to make sure the paint drippings are going to be caught by the paper and not end up on the carpet.
Well I got to thinking about newspapers in general. We read the paper and then toss the whole thing into the garbage or into a recycle bin (that’s what we do). When painting is coming up we save them for that purpose. But what about the trend to go paperless? Let’s talk about that for a minute.
What would I do without these newspapers? I suppose I would buy up a big roll of painters plastic. But that stuff is expensive. Besides I am accustomed to using newspapers. Someone needs to invent a replacement because newspapers will eventually fade out of vogue and quit being printed.
I’m thinking of an invention sort of like the old pull down blinds. You fasten them up near the top of the window and pull it down and tape it at the bottom. Then when finished they just roll back into the tube and are ready for next time. Good idea huh?
With the ceiling painted my job was done…at least my goal was obtained for the day, but it was only 3:30…still lots of day left. I went to making sure the carpet around the edges were masked really good for painting of the walls tomorrow. When I got done with that task, I thought, “Heck, why not slap a coat of paint on right now? It is going to take two coats to cover up that blue/mauve color anyway and that way I will be done tomorrow”. So on went the paint.
I cleaned up the brush and the roller and sat back with a cold one to admire my work. Sherry, in the meantime is in the kitchen gathering up tax stuff for the meeting with the tax lady on Thursday. As I sat there enjoying number two drink, I thought, “I wonder if the paint on the walls is dry”? I checked and sure enough it was! Back downstairs and up with the brush and roller stuff. On went coat number two! NOW I’m done!
This morning it looks great!
Well, my use of old newspapers is just one way to use them as I found out. I went searching for just how much paper is used each day/year in the USA for newspapers in order to get a prospective on how much paper is going to be saved once everyone is on the E-read band wagon, but I found this site instead…more interesting anyway.
http://www.wisebread.com/17-ways-to-use-old-newspaper
OK, enough screwing around, I have to go clean up some of that newspaper I spread around yesterday.
Bears Butt
Feb. 6, 2013
Bones is our Booshway this year for the 30th annual gatherin of the Willow Creekers and she and I met yesterday to briefly discuss the rendezvous and some of the things we need to get done before the big weekend event.
I have been in charge of this event 2 1/2 times before but this one is almost overwhelming. We have grown immensely over these 30 years and we have included a lot of happenings for the event that are now part of the tradition.
With time limited to 24 hours in a day and basically two days to get it all done it has become quite a hectic weekend. We decided we might want to cut some of the events out…but what events?
Kids need the bb gun shoots, adults need the muzz shooting and don’t leave out the shotgun shoot and the mountain man limpics and knife and hawk throws! And the turtle races are always a big deal especially for the kids. We HAVE to have a flag ceremony and a special time to honor our mountain folks who have gone on ahead and we can’t leave out a flint and steel fire starting event (or two). Oh and the standing of the sharnes! Would anyone care to eat once or twice? How about hear from Reverend Billy or Sir Butt? It would be nice to have a few moments to be able to sit down and visit with some of our friends who come to see the happenings and maybe even have a drink. Who needs some sleep? Who would like to sit around and BS for awhile? Let’s include a raffle for some really good prizes and of course No Grimaces chain saw carved bears! He says this is his last year to make them, so we can’t leave those out. And add in the fact that Black Arrow said he would make sure the “rockin horse” was going to be here for the big event! I love that thing and we haven’t seen it for umpteen years…It is a must to include.
Oh Ya! We have a lot of work ahead of us. Do any of you want to help?
We are thinking about sending out a survey of some kind to get your input on what could be done maybe differently. Keep a close eye on your emails.
Bears Butt
Feb. 5, 2013
Crazy game last night.
Today starts a whole nuther week. I have a lot of running around to do today and still have to paint. My goal is to begin trapping by next Monday and a lot of that is going to be weather permitting.
Bob is going to make a trip out to the trapping grounds today or tomorrow to check things out and make sure the ice is beginning to melt away. Without open water we can’t do much trapping. So it’s paint, paint, paint until it is either all painted or I start trapping.
You know which way Sherry wants it to go.
For those of you who don’t know it, Dry Dog has received his order of one Bug-A-Salt weapon! He says that now no matter how big or small the game is, it is in trouble! I am assuming he has already taken some trophy small game animals with his new toy. And I have offered him a seat in the blind for our hunting video.
More will come of both the trapping, painting and hunting later on. Stay tuned for those messages.
Bears Butt
Feb. 4, 2013
The results of yesterdays fishing tournament at Sulpher Creek was not quite what we had hoped. We needed a fish that was 16 inches or longer in order for it to qualify for the contest. Our hopes were very high as we arrived at the lake about 6 a.m. We were the fourth ones to arrive at the parking lot and even the tourney hosts were not there yet.
It was cold, but not as bitterly cold as it has been at that lake in the past. I’d guess it was somewhere around zero degrees. Certainly cold enough to require hot hands warmers and an extra layer of clothing.
We were ready to go by the time the hosts got set up and we went in and made sure we were registered. Then it was off to the secret spot that my friend Tim “WyoGoob” Gorman had told me about. He had even drawn a map, but I was not able to find it…still can’t. But my memory for things like “the hot spot for fishing” was pretty well on and we wandered in that direction.
The drifted snow on the lake made it look like a white sand desert as the moons glow sparkled off of it. I was too cold to get the camera out from its warm environment as we proceeded and so you will just have to vision what we saw in your own mind. It was pretty cool to look at. We were trying to make out some features Goob had told me about that were on the shore, but we just were not so sure. I decided we had to be pretty close to the secret spot and so we set up the tent and fired up the heater to wait out the tourney start time (7:30).
The power auger fired up on the first pull, which is always a relief, and we really needed it to drill holes as the ice was a full 20 inches thick! Hand augering that thick of ice would have been a torturous task and would have taxed out rotator cuffs big time.
As light began to brighten up the surroundings I noticed a lone figure walking from the parking lot in our direction, but much closer to the shoreline than we were. Our position was about 300 yards off shore and near an island that was protruding out of the ice. In the darkened light, distance perspective is a hard one to judge. The man walking did not look familiar from that distance, but he was wearing a back pack and carrying his hand auger, a picture I recall from the Strawberry on Ice party the weekend before…It had to be WyoGoob. And so I walked in his direction to intercept him and let him know where we were located.
Sure enough it was Goob and he had his mind set to be right where he was, about 30 yards out from the shoreline. Shipley and I would have to move to fish by him. He left his things and walked with us out to our “camp”. We had already drilled a bunch of holes and tested the depth with the fish finder. There were fish under us and we wanted to catch them. But Goob convinced us quickly that where he had left his things was “THE” place to catch a prize winning trout. We moved!
By the time I got the last of the ice spikes removed from the ice, Goob had already drilled about 20 holes and had run the auger out of fuel. He wanted to drill about 20 more but had to wait until I filled the auger up as he didn’t know where it was located in the sled. All was good however and he was able to drill to his hearts content later.
The contest had begun by the time I got over to where Goob and Shipley were and we began baiting up and dropping lines. This contest had a rule that allowed you to use two poles if you wanted and up to three hooks on each of the lines. I had rigged one of my poles up with three hooks and another with two hooks. Two other poles were in standby mode with one hook on each of them. For some reason whenever I use more than one hook, I get tangled up quite often. And with three hooks I was expecting worse. But my thoughts were that I could cover a larger column of water, at different depths and with different baits by using the three hook idea. I put a bell shaped sinker on the bottom and the three hooks were suspended above that. I lowered the line down until the sinker was just resting on the bottom. That should produce a good trout quickly. Or so I thought.
Shipley had his game face on and started having bites right away. It took a bit to figure out how to hook the little buggers but soon my pocket was free of three of my quarters…we always bet quarters when we fish. The three he caught were not big enough for the contest and so went back into the lake.
Goob and I were also having some biting action but just couldn’t seem to hook those little finned creatures. It took us awhile but soon we had both caught one each and one of my quarters came back. Then Shipley caught another and that quarter drifted back to him. Then it was my turn again and the quarter came back to me. This went on for a couple of hours. Trading that one quarter back and forth.
Shipley has a tool called a “Jaw Jacker”, that automatically sets the hook when a fish bites and we were all excited to see if it actually worked. It did!
He wanted to make sure I made that fish look like a big one and I have to say I did make it look a whole lot bigger…see….
That’s as big as I can make it Shipley!
We had a great time. Tim “Goob” was a great host and even shared some of his Swan salami with us. That was some yummy stuff. I didn’t take any pictures of it, but trust me it was very good. He had promised us some squirrel salami, but I guess he decided since we didn’t eat all the swan, he would save the squirrel for himself…just kiddin Goober.
I learned quickly on my “tri-fecta” line that a fish can make a real mess out of it in a hurry. I did catch three fish using that method, but each time I had to fix the tangle before I could use it again. Finally on the third fish, I decided enough was enough. Shipley took this picture and sent it to me. I’ll be cutting this line to get the hooks back into the tackle box.
The day was a beautiful one with bright sunshine and little or no breeze. We started to take some of the clothing off around 10 a.m. and by noon it was really just a jacket kind of day. Sunburns galore by those who were not prepared for it…me included. And with fishing action coming and going as schools swam through, Shipley decided laying down on the ice was a good way to keep track of his two poles.
As is usual, when you are having a good time the end of the contest was fast approaching. We had eaten our lunches and caught several small fish and were always hoping that the next bite would yield a large fish. It didn’t happen to us however, BUT the rewards of quarters was outweighing the several hundred dollars we could have won in the contest.
My two poles suddenly became the focus of several fish bites in a row. I would have to run to get to the pole at the far end, but I did it when it was getting bit.
With a fish tugging on the other end, you have to be ready when you see the tip of the pole going down. And the reward, if you do it all correctly is this:
And the quarters kept rolling back to me. When the contest was called over, I had regained the three quarters that I had originally given to Shipley and he had given me three of his own! How about that for a fishing story?
Back at the parking lot everyone was gathering for the big fish measuring and awarding of the money promised for first/second and third places. The biggest fish of the day was just over 22 inches, second place was 21 and some change and the third place was right at 16 inches. First place winner walked away with just over $800, second was around $525 and third netted $280 or so. Remember fellas to claim those winning in your income tax reports! HAHAHA!
As for me and my three quarters the IRS will never know.
I did get to see a good buddy from my old work place, Rick Strebel was on hand for the contest and somehow found me among the many contestants standing around. Could it have been my fuzzy face or was it my outstanding height that he recognized? Anyway it was good to see him again.
He is showing us the size of the largest fish he caught today, or was it the size of the bait he was using? Boy my memory is going fast. 😉
I can’t post this story up without a hearty THANK YOU to the folks that pulled this event off. The ring leader wasn’t available when the contest ended, but the second string was there and handed out some really nice raffle prizes. Her name is Kim Barker!
Thanks Kim for allowing us to come up and play! We had a great time and look forward to next year!
Bears Butt
Feb. 3, 2013
YO! February 2, 2013…Ground Hog Day…Punks-ta-wanie (Punxsutawney)Phil will pop out sometime and tell us about how much longer we have to put up with winter.
As for me, I’m heading up into Wyoming for a little fishing day. Spose ta be a nice 40 degree day. Evanston…better yet, Sulpher Creek Reservoir…there is a little fishing contest up there that starts at 7:30 a.m. and goes to 2 p.m. and it has my interest big time.
First off Shipley and I have not played in the fishing tourney in a couple of years. Usually Edjukateer would be joining us, but he has a new job…blah..blah…blah…and can’t go….Edjukateer, this is the one you should be at, we ARE GONNA WIN!!!! Remember, one win..we all win! We are excited to be in this tourney and we plan on winning.
So, this little contest only costs $25 to enter and the proceeds go to a girls softball team for things like beer and clothing and stuff that young girls playing softball really need. So why not hold an ice fishing contest and give away 60% of the total take? Nothing wrong with that at all!
This give me an idea to hold a Bears Butt fishing contest and I’ll keep 40% of the total take for things I need, like, beer and gear! I love the idea. Maybe even give away a Bears Butt T-Shirt in the 50/50 raffle! More to come on that.
Anyway, there won’t be much for sleeping time tonight. My alarm is set for 2:30 a.m….gotta meet Shipley at 4 a.m. for the ride up there.
Now listen folks, all we have to do is land a fish bigger than 16 inches and it qualifies for the contest. 16 inches! That’s all! Last year the guy who caught the winning fish took a whole heap of money home and if my memory is correct his fish was just around 17 inches! Good Grief, that’s nothing! I use bait bigger than that!
So the goal is to catch a 22 inch fish and clinch the deal without any sort of sweat. You know how sweating on the ice can get real sticky and cold and all sorts of things can happen to the sweat-er. We have some secret weapons in our possession and will use them post haste once the contest starts. We hold no prisoners!
If you are up in that neck of the woods, come and look for me and my buddy Shipley and whoever is also close by. We will be the ones in the brown and/or black insulated bib overalls, and the warm hats and dark glasses, wearing our warmest gloves and drinking hot coffee and home made chicken broth (chicken skin and onion). You will know it’s us because we will be right over there……..see the direction my finger is pointing? NO! NOT STRAIGHT UP! It’s my index finger..do you know which one that is?
See you at the weigh in…or is it…measure in? 2:30 to 3 p.m. fellas and gals…come and see our 22 inch Rainbow!
I better go get it out of the freezer now.
Bears Butt
February 1 almost 2, 2013
I must be getting old. Today I logged into my regular Firefox account and expected everything to be same-o, same-o….not so. I was not really happy until I found a little folder looking thingy in the upper left side of the menu bar a thing called “most visited”. I clicked on it and there I found my old favorites…like this site. I was a happy guy once again.
I wish they could leave things the way they were. Old people have a tough time adapting. Maybe they are trying to weed us out by making us frustrated and have heart attacks.
Anyway, back to the reason I’m sitting here.
I am a firm believer that when you get a cold or just about any kind of sickness that puts you out of commission, and especially if you are running a fever, there is nothing better to fix you up than chicken fat and onion. So, here is what I prescribe the next time you are down and out. You can trust Dr. Bears Butt.
You will have to prepare a bit ahead of time and save the skin off a few pieces of chicken. And don’t forget to save those large chunks of fat as well. It’s great to eat healthy, but that is when you ARE healthy, this recipe is for when you are NOT healthy. It will pick you up better than a Z-pack, trust me.
Take that bag of chicken skin and fat out of the freezer and toss it into a pan of water. Bring to a boil and while waiting for the boiling to begin, dice up a whole yellow onion and put it in the pan with the chicken skin. Salt and pepper to taste as things progress.
After about a half hour of boiling, carefully remove each of the pieces of skin and cut them up into smaller pieces and put back into the boiling pan. Once you have all the bigger pieces of skin cut up, that broth you are looking at is ready for you to enjoy!
Pour it into a cup and settle in to a comfy couch with your warmest robe around you, curl your legs up under your butt and sip away. Breath in the vapors wafting out of the cup and smile often. If after one cup you are sleepy, go ahead and take a nap, but don’t forget to turn the stove off first. If you are not sleepy, have another cup and keep drinking it until it’s all gone.
You will begin to feel better almost instantly.
I don’t know what it is that is in chicken fat and onions but those two things always make me a happy guy when combined in a broth and salted down.
Enjoy and good night! You will feel better real soon!
Bears Butt
Feb. 1, 2013 (Oh my heck, it’s already February)
After a week of snow storms, potential snow storms, potential winds and drifting snow, my excitement for snow is in the tank! I can do without snow right now.
Yesterday morning I sat watching it snow, not big snows (new word), but snow none the less. And my anxiety level rose higher and higher as I watched it. Then we had to go see a doctor. Not because of my anxiety, it was a simple check up for Sherry. Then shopping and suddenly I found myself back at home.
A quick look at the weather and the big storm that was predicted earlier in the day had been cancelled and a warming trend was predicted as coming! YES! My anxiety was gone and a new ray of hope surrounded my body!
I can go back to painting! No more snow removal (12 hours this week alone)! My life is saved! And so it went yesterday afternoon, a smile on my face as I prepared to paint the hall and the two closets in that area of the house! I never thought I would ever say I was glad to paint, but here I am almost giddy about it.
As you know trapping season is on hold until I get the painting done and along with that, God has made it a little easier on me by having everything frozen solid in the trapping area. Where usually the warm springs bubble forth and flow down toward the frozen ponds, the springs themselves are frozen over so there is no visible water anywhere. The snow level which normally is one fourth what we have around our homes, is knee deep out there. The cattlemen are even having to go out at night and spot light the herd to make sure they are surviving the bitter cold and the deep snows.
And so, I am back to painting and loving it. In fact I am as happy as Dances With Deer in this picture:
Certainly a ray of sunshine! It’s a good thing you aren’t a drinkin man Bill. Oh my, doesn’t that green grass look nice?
Bears Butt
Jan. 31, 2013…The last day of this month!
It’s been 45 years since I graduated from High School and it’s always nice to get re-aquainted with some of the guys and gals I attended school with. One of the guys I was in school with went on to get his Doctorate in Music and is a high rolling teacher at BYU.
As a fellow student I will never forget at a school assembly he was on stage to perform his usual with some sort of instrument. It seemed to me like he could play them all very well.
This particular time he came on stage with a small drum, a cornet, trombone, bicycle horn, two cymbals, a harmonica and I can’t remember what else. Each instrument was being held against his body somewhere so that he didn’t have to hold on to it, except the cornet and trombone. He was quite a site to see.
If I recall correctly he sat on a chair and when the announcer announced him he began to play, one thing at a time, slowly at first and then the rhythm started to pick up. Before he was done, he was playing all the instruments at the same time and the tune was incredible. Funny I’m sure, as he was a funny sort of guy. I assume he still is, because of this video, which was shot somewhere in France (I think).
Ladys and Gentlemen let me introduce Dr. Steve Call on the tuba.
Give it time to load it is worth the wait!
Bears Butt
Jan. 29, 2013