New World Record Squirrel

Garth T. McGillicuddy and Henry A. (Bubba) Jablonski were deer hunting on Maryland's Eastern Shore on Bubba's farm last Thursday when they were attacked by "the biggest dang squirrel I ever seen in my life" according to Mr. McGillicuddy. The animal has been identified by a biologist from the MD Department of Natural Resources as a Delmarva Colossus Squirrel. These large tree dwellers had not been seen in over a hundred years and were presumed to be extinct. The biologist also stated that the hunters were lucky to be carrying deer rifles as these squirrels had been known to attack humans and carry off dogs and small children. As this is the only known specimen of the Delmarva Colossus Squirrel, it is likely that the world record trophy will never be broken. When asked what he planned to do with the animal, Mr. Jablonski replied "That baby's going on the wall. I don't know of nobody who's got a giant squirrel on the wall." He further stated that he might be willing to loan it to the Bass Pro Shops or Cabelas outdoor stores for a touring show "if they throw in a bass boat."

My Christmas Deer

After many hours spent in the woods searching for the elusive whitetail deer, this is the best that I could do. I had to have something hanging from my tree this year. Actually, a friend emailed this to me last year and I thought I would share it. I still have the archery season to find a deer. I have forgotten what venison tastes like.

WV hunting trip

I went to West Virginia for a couple of days this past week to go deer hunting. I have been able to hunt the opening couple of days of the rifle season for all but one of the past six years. A family friend has a farm with about 150 acres of mostly woods with some open fields. The farm belonged to his father and he plans on leaving it to his children. I have had success on three occasions and brought home some venison. The largest deer I have taken on this particular place was a small seven point I got three or four years ago. Two years ago, I was able to take my son on his first deer hunting outing to this farm. He wasn't able to get one, but we both had a good time. Last year I had to work and wasn't able to get away. As I was making plans for my trip this year, my sister called and asked if I would mind if she brought her second son JR over to WV and for me to take him hunting. JR really enjoys the outdoors and his father and grandfather do not hunt so I try to help him out in this area if I can. I said "sure" and ammended my packing list to include another rifle and other items we would need. I stay with my mom's sister when I go to WV and this trip was no different. I got in Sunday evening and gave JR the mandatory safety briefing on the rifle he would be using. I had quizzed him on previous trips and just wanted to reinforce the idea of gun/hunting safety. We got up bright and early on Monday morning and drove out to the farm. I knew that there might be another person hunting on the farm, but when we arrived we were the only ones there. We headed out to the woods and began to climb the hill. I was looking for an open area in the woods where I had been successful before. It was slow going in the dark. As I was climbing the hill, I made a resolution to spend more time on my elliptical exercise machine. I was huffing and puffing. We found a spot and waited for daylight. Nothing was moving in the woods. I decided to try an relocate to another spot with a better view of the area. As we were moving I noticed another hunter also on the top of the ridge. I figured this was the fellow my friend had told me about. I decided to let him have the ridgetop and we would move to another area across the field. As we were moving to the new area, I noticed another truck next to ours. This put another wrinkle in the plan. We walked through the area I wanted to try and sat down. After waiting for another hour and seeing and hearing nothing I thought we might try and check out the feeder my friend has. We moved toward the feeder and as we got close I discovered where the other hunter was sitting. Right where I wanted to be. Well, the best laid plans and all that. I thought we might give the area a rest and so we went back to my aunt's house and had some lunch. We went back out that afternoon with much of the same. Tuesday morning was even colder and still not even the sight of a white tail disappearing over the hill. I hope JR wasn't too disappointed, but as I told him, I was twenty-eight before I shot my first deer and he is beginning much sooner than I was able to. I did my hunting when I was his age in my imagination on the pages of "Outdoor Life" and "Field and Stream." I returned home on Wednesday. I will still be able to get out this year in Maryland where I am stationed. I will try and post my successes or failures for those and future trips.

My nerd factor

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Just for curiosity's sake, I took the quiz. I know my brothers in law are much nerdier than I, but that's why I have brothers in law. When I have a computer question they save me money on IT support.

Faith of our Fathers

Check out this link to National Review Online written by Michael Novak. It is a great response to the secularists of today.

Please share this with friends

I got this story at Michelle Malkin.com. She is a conservative blogger. Please check this out and share this story with your friends.

My thoughts on the World Wide Web

The World Wide Web is a wonderful and terrible thing. Used responsibly and it is a research tool that is unparalleled in the annals of history. Used deviously and it has enabled child predators unprecedented access into the homes of unsuspecting families. The internet has enabled scientists and ordinary citizens to access data and study obscure texts, whether in a lab at a large prestigious university or in a cabin in the Alaska wilds. The scope of the material is mind-boggling as well. By using one of the plethora of search engines, anyone can type in a word, or series of words and instantly have available tens, hundreds and thousands of texts referencing the word or words. There is also a dark side to the internet. According to Family Safe Media, surveys have shown that the major purveyors of internet porn are children age 12-17. All of the internet filters are non-affective against sites that are not considered porn sites. These include several of the photo sharing sites. These sites are at the mercy of their users to correctly identify offensive photos and other content. Parents must take a very active role in monitoring their children’s internet usage. I think that some of the content on sites like Myspace and others is going to come back and haunt some of these kids in the future. Content posted to these sites can be downloaded and stored forever. What happens when ten or fifteen years down the road and one of these kids wants to apply for a job or run for office. His or her prospective boss can perform a search and voila, there is Johnny or Susie on camera in a very provocative pose or worse. I will admit, I have done some pretty ignorant things in my past, but thankfully none that I know were captured on film. Young people today are acting in the moment and are not realizing the consequences of their actions. My advice; have fun, but be responsible and be prepared to answer serious questions about any content you post to a web site. The last comment I will make regarding the internet concerns child predators. Recently, there have been several television shows, in which journalists, in conjunction with local law enforcement purport to be children on the internet. These law enforcement officials enter chat sessions and invite predators to a house where the journalists and law enforcement are located. When the predator shows up, he (all of the creeps I have seen have been male) is confronted by the journalist, who has a copy of the chat sessions. These predators have come up with every excuse imaginable as to why they were in the house. The kid seemed lonely, I thought they were older, are some of those used. After watching one of these shows I saw the crucial role the internet played in granting access to these predators. Without the anonymity of the internet, these guys would not have the unfettered access to children. So, even if these guys had the urges to molest children, they previously had no way to meet them. Via the internet a man in town A, can meet a child in town B several miles away and arrange a meeting. The child’s parents are unaware of the contact and the child is left unprotected. The man can then go to town B where he is unknown and commit his crime and return home, leaving the devastated victim to deal with the damage. I strongly believe that without the internet, a majority of these crimes would not be committed. I am not suggesting that we do away with the internet. That would be impossible. I am simply suggesting that parents take precautions with the internet just as they would any other potentially dangerous thing in their home. You would no sooner let your child drink poison as you would knowingly let a predator into your home. The internet is a great and wonderful tool as long as it is harnessed and monitored effectively.

Fishing Friday

I think when I grow up, I want to be a fishing guide. Whenever I take someone fishing I get as big a kick watching them catch fish as I do catching fish myself. The latest victim, er friend I took fishing was my friend Matt. Matt was my platoon leader when I was stationed in Colorado. In fact he is the one who took the picture of the big rainbow trout featured earlier. Well, we loaded up the boat and headed out to the bay. This was my first trip in my boat out into the main part of the Chesapeake Bay. I had taken the boat into some of the larger rivers, but never out in the really big sections. It is a fifteen foot wooden skiff with a fifteen horsepower Honda outboard. Its not exactly a yacht. Well, Matt, me and my dog Gus headed out to see what we could find. I wanted to head up toward the Kent Narrows to fish a breakwater wall, so we started in that direction. We stopped when we saw some breaking fish. Rockfish (striped bass) will chase baitfish in the fall and when this happens you can see the water boil as the baitfish clears the water with the rockfish close behind. We cast some jerkbaits into the boiling water and I was rewarded with a small (15") fish. The melee was over too quickly and so we once more began our way north. When we reached the breakwater, Matt began to cast his lure up against the wall and retrieve slowly. He caught and released two smaller fish. He then hooked up with a nice keeper. A rockfish has to be at least 18" to keep. This fish (pictured) was around 19". He caught another keeper and a couple of throwbacks. I hooked another one, but wasn't able to land it. We had wanted to fly-fish, but I was unable to locate the flybox with my striper flies. Oh well, it was a good day anyway. The ramp was about 9.5 miles from where we were fishing and the tide was coming in so it took us about an hour to get back to the truck. Matt, Gus and I had a great time.

More Fishing Friday

Yes, I know it is not Friday yet. I have to be out of town tomorrow and will not be able to post. Now, on to the story. My wife and I took some friends to Assateague Island, MD this past Saturday. My stepson joined us as well. I had been reading some on-line fishing reports and knew that the bluefish were hitting on finger mullet rigs. I made sure to stop at the shop next to the beach to load up on fresh finger mullet. The day was rather chilly and the wind blew non-stop the entire day. It would have been a great day to have a kite on the beach. We also picked up some firewood for a fire on the beach. My stepson had purchased some live eels to try and catch some of the large striped bass migrating down the coast. He rigged up and began the wait and see that is surf fishing. After about fifteen minutes, he checked his bait only to find out that something had bitten off the tail of his eel. We both figured it was a bluefish. Not long after this, I got a bite on one of the finger mullet rigs. I set the hook and soon had my prize. My first blue of the day. When I went to put the fish in the cooler, he spit out the eel tail. Greedy little bugger was gorging. The fishing stayed pretty constant on the mullet rigs and I caught about a dozen keepers. My friend Dale only managed to hook and land one little blue. I didn't feel too bad though as he caught this 17 pound drum back in April and I got nary a bite. Somedays you get the bear, and somedays the bear gets you. All in all it was a great day with good friends and a lovely fire on the beach.

Fishing Friday Again

With as much activity that was going on in the house this week, this is the first I have been able to post. This is a photo that was taken when I was stationed in Colorado. I was fishing in Spinney Mountain Reservoir with a good friend, when this big hen rainbow trout took my olive wooly bugger. This is the biggest trout I have caught to date, and the largest fish I have taken on a fly. I am going fishing on Assateague Island tomorrow, so hopefully I will have more to write about next Friday.

Fishing Friday

I am going to call this Fishing Friday. I don't know if I'll post something on fishing every Friday, but I will today. I caught this little dude earlier this week on one of my days off. Not a great big one, but he put up a good fight on my ultra-light rod. I have also included a poem I had to write for a creative writing class I am taking.

The Brook Trout

Slipping closer to the edge
the boy spies the small trout.
Back and forth, back and
forth they glide silently feeding;
perfect predators in their environment.

The boy observes intently.
Edging back from his perch,
he searches for the right imitation.
He ties the fly on the end of his leader
and asks himself.
Is this the right one?

Slowly, the boy eases back
to the lip of the rock
and gently daps his
imitation on the
surface of the stream.

One colorful little native
noiselessly slides below the fly
and gently sips.
The boy guessed correctly.
The predator becomes the prey.

Melissa's Birthday

I wrote this on the occasion of my wife's birthday. I don't claim to be Shelley, but here goes.

Thirty Years Ago

Oh, that we would have met
thirty years ago.
We could have then been sweethearts
and watched each other grow.
To see each passing day as
a gift from God above.
Growing in grace and knowledge
and in the wonder of His love.
We could have gone to dances
and other such occasions.
Helping to shield each other
from life’s careless abrasions..
We could have shared each others triumphs
as well as all the sorrows.
Though yesterdays were sad
there’s always the tomorrows.
You’re certainly a gift from God
I thank Him for every day.
I know that I’ve enjoyed the time we’ve spent
up till this very day.
I have but one regret
and I’ll say it once again.
Oh, that we would have met
thirty years ago.

Self-Heating Coffee Product

A co-worker has just showed me this product and I think it is terrific. As a soldier who has brewed many pots of coffee in the field, this is a breakthrough who's time has come. I have strained lots of coffee grounds through my teeth after the coffee boiled over in the percolater. I have also had to suffer through cold, stale or the worst, coffee that had cooked in the pot all day. With this product from Hillside, you just pop the tab and voila, six minutes later, a fresh latte. Okay, so it isn't a manly double shot americano, but you have to start somewhere.

Hillside Coffee

My First Bluefish

I have been fishing along the Maryland coast for the past three years without ever catching a bluefish. Well, yesterday I caught my first blue. Needless to say, this particular fish has a long way to go before he approaches the MD state record of 23.5 pounds. It was still great to finally catch one. I ended up catching a total of three, all about the same size. The one in the picture hit a whole finger mullet that was just a bit smaller than he was. I told my wife that this was one optimistic little fish.

Dolphins at the Assageague Island

My wife and I went to Assateague Island yesterday. She had put in for a day off in anticipation of us going to WV to help her mother move into a new apartment. The apartment wasn't ready yet, so we went to the beach instead. Not long after we arrived at the beach these dolphins showed up. There were between 20 and 30 of them swimming north along the shore less than 100 yards off the beach. It was definitely a nice surprise.

Happy Birthday Sis

My little sister turns 25 today. I am proud of her. She has a great family, with her husband Nathan and three great kids, Andrew, Joshua and Aria. I am proud of you Rachel.

Mountaineer Football

Fall is my favorite time of year. I love the crispness in the air, and the color in the trees. I love walking through the woods and fields looking for critters to put on the table. But I especially love West Virginia Mountaineer Football. I am very excited about this year. We have some great young players and some solid senior leaders. As long as coach Rod can keep the players grounded we should have a great season, and if all goes well culminate with a National Championship. We open with Marshall today. I hope we pound the pretenders from Huntington. Anyway, enjoy the game with a nice plate of nachos or maybe some wings and GO MOUNTAINEERS!

Colorado Vacation

This is my wife, my son and I at Rocky Mountain National Park. This was taken last summer on our trip from Arizona to Maryland. What an awesome place to spend a few days and soak in the grandeur of God's creation.

Anniversary

This is my fifth year anniversary. I have spent the previous five years with the most wonderful woman in the world. She is beautiful, intelligent, Godly and a great cook. These past five years have been the best five years of my life. She inspires me to reach for the stars, and also keeps me securely grounded. I pray that the next five years are at least as good as the previous five. I love you Sweetheart.

Rockfish

Rockfish
Originally uploaded by mandmgarman.

I caught this beautiful summer rockfish trolling in the Chesapeake Bay on the first day of the regular season 2006. She was 36" and just over 17 lbs. She hit an umbrella rig trailing a 12" chartruese sassy shad in 48' on the eastern edge of the channel across from the gas docks. This was my first trip trolling in the bay. What a great time.

Immigration Analogy

This is what I posted back in June at the height of the immigration debate.

I wonder how many people who wish for open borders would support the following scenario: I come to their house and gently force open a window, or maybe the window was unlocked. I climb in and start living in the attic. No one lives in the attic, so I'm not taking anyone's living space. I do "all the jobs that you don't want to do", like washing the dishes, laundry, etc. I make use of your "social programs" like your refrigerator and your medicine cabinet. I sometimes borrow your car while you're not using it. I generally stay out of your way, but you know I'm there. I might get into a confrontation with your wife or children from time to time, but I'm really pretty harmless. I may even be there at the invitation of your children who appreciate the fact that I am doing their chores. America is my house, and I don't want the non- invited intruders any more than the homeowner wants a non-invited guest in his house.

Getting started

I began a blog back in June, but I didn't post anything after the first post. Then my sisters began blogs, so I thought I had better get with the program. I love giving people my opinion on matters, so this should be fun.