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Spaulding Smails

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Posts posted by Spaulding Smails

  1. Agree on all fronts, @Reagan1k.  I just moved into a rent house, and the deer in our neighborhood are legit. It's amazing what you start to see when deer get some age going.  And, 2,000 acres makes a world of difference in reducing the pressure!  

    As much as I love our spot and the terrain and being with my folks, we're just too small to produce deer of any size.  We've had the place for three years, and we've seen some decent deer (max 3.5 years) on game cameras, but they either turn into ghosts (or presumably sausage) in the first few weeks.  Our place is <200 acres and surrounded by other tracts ranging from 150-600 acres.  The first two years, we saw fairly limited hunting pressure, but last year, that pressure seemed constant.  We've harvested one whitetail buck and one axis buck in three years.  The whitetail was a 3.5 year old 4 point that was a great cull and first buck for my son.  I'm becoming resigned to the fact that, no matter how hard we manage and protein feed, we're not going to ever see anything of a decent size.

  2. Redfish on the half shell while my buddy's cabin on the intracoastal at the edge of Baffin bay.

    Fried alligator gar at Rocha's El Catan in Laredo.

    Fried Opelousas catfish with hushpuppies, crinkle cut fries, homemade tartar sauce and cole slaw at my in-laws' lake house on Toledo Bend.

    Spicy boudin at Robert's in Orange.

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  3. When my folks moved from Houston, they downsized significantly.  I was fortunate enough to inherit my dad's Klipsch Cornwall speakers.  He's a huge audiophile and an amateur musician, but he didn't have room for them when my folks downsized after my sister graduated from HS.  They were late 70s models.  Sounded amazing.  I had them in my first two homes, and to this day, they're still the most impressive sounding speakers for music that I've ever owned.  When we moved in 2013, I ended up refinishing them and giving them back to my dad.  He still has them in his music room.  I need to get some pics the next time I'm there.  

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  4. I'm ready.  Got a dove lease lined up near Geronimo plus a buddy's ranch 15 min from the house that's along a decent flyway.  We've seen a few nice bucks the last few weeks at the ranch.  I'll probably set out game cameras in the next few weeks as well.  Love this time of year!

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  5. I finally joined Onion Creek a few months ago.  Started playing more regularly than I had in the past 15 years.  First time to ever keep a handicap.  Had to take about a month off during our move, but got back out yesterday.  Hadn't touched a club at all.  Proceeded to shoot a 62 on the front including a 14 that was the result of three straight drives OB.  Followed that up with a 39 on the back for a smooth 101.  I'm relatively certain a 23 stroke swing between sides is a record for me.  

     

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    Here's my shop setup.  Pretty simple.  Added a T with filter and spigot for the guys to fill up their coolers.  I'm going to do something smaller / simpler at the ranch in the next year or so as well.

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  7. 37 minutes ago, deadshank said:

    Buying a light commercial grade (500 lbs.) ice maker to set up at deer camp.  Water supplied by our well.  Need to set up a filtration system to take out iron and calcium. 

    Do any of you Appalachian-Americans have any practical experience with this?   Was thinking of 3 in-line filters with the first being the biggest micron filters graduating to two smaller micron filters.   Mount them on a board for easy access to change out. 
    The actual plumbing should be simple enough  

    Thoughts?  Experience?  Doesn’t seem to be a difficult proposition.  

    I just installed one at the shop for my guys.  I'll send pics of the setup.  In the week since we've had it running, just know you're gonna see a ton of condensation runoff from the melting ice, so if it's running constantly, make sure you plan accordingly.

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  8. 13 minutes ago, slorch said:

    yeah. i don't dispute any of that.

    I'm talking about the emotional return/ self-esteem from putting in a  ceiling fan...or a garbage disposal.  Hell i know people who would rather buy a whole new mower than sharpen the fucking blade...for no other reason than they think it's beneath them or too complicated to change it out.

    At a certain point a man looks in the mirror and realizes he can't do shit...or has enough money to ease his conscience.

    Agree completely with both you and @F250.  From a purely rational point, the push of capitalism towards specialization is absolutely correct.  But, the emotional connection is what keeps it in check to a certain degree, at least on an individual basis.  Heck, if it was purely capitalism, then we'd completely lose skills like blacksmithing, wood carving, etc.

    Since a teen, I've always wanted to learn as many skills as I could.  Carpentry, welding, electrical, plumbing, cooking, gardening, working on equipment.  I sincerely enjoy the pride of completing a project well.  And, I'll admit that I like being the one that friends and family ask to help, ask to borrow tools from, and ask for advice on how to do things.  I like at least knowing that I COULD do something if I wanted to.  But, I've finally found myself reaching a point of beginning to defer to others for some of these tasks recently.  For example, I had three relatively minor plumbing issues at my house.  I brought my plumber out to take care of it.  We needed a second A-frame at the ranch.  I hired a welder to build it for me.

    Five years ago, I would have absolutely done those projects myself.  But, I'm at a point in my professional and personal life where I outsource those occasionally.  I try to at least do the things that are manageable and don't snowball.  I like breaking a good sweat working outside and knocking some things off a list while having something productive to show for it at the end of the day.  I'm not sure a purely capitalistic view can account for that sentiment.  

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  9. 15 minutes ago, Nivek said:


    I am looking forward to when my sister and parents take my kids to disney while I fuck off.

    This strategy is brilliant and so worth it.  My wife, mom, MIL and sister took my kids with the cousins three years ago.  I stayed back and GLADY watched the other one.  

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  10. I think you're smart to find someone or something other than you to validate the lack of a reimbursement.  That could be the articles of incorporation or the statute that @Huckleberry referenced.  Make sure this is "them vs the league" not "them vs YOU".  

    To lighten the blow on them financially, can you issue them an 80G certificate so they can at least write off the "donation"?

  11. 7 hours ago, T’Boo Ted Marshall said:

    410a has gone up 5x per jug since February but that rate is about 2x what we charge.  

    I asked my master tech about this today.  Cut and pasted your text.  He said "$800 - $1,000".  So, slightly higher that what we'd charge here, but not outlandish.  

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  12. 5 minutes ago, orange dream said:

    I'll start by saying I'm not a big fisherman and haven't read more than the current page so if the answer to my question is located elsewhere please direct me.

    My 18 YO son has gotten into fishing and I'd like to take him on a trip for a couple of days in mid-August.  He seems most interested in bass fishing and has mentioned Lake Amistad. 

    We're in DFW but I'm willing to travel but don't want to take 2 days to get to a place for a 2 day fishing trip.

    I thought he might be interested in some offshore fishing (Texas or Florida) but he seems hung on lake bass fishing.  I think he has watched too many youtube videos of bass fishing. ha ha 

    Should I try to talk him into offshore or should I just focus on finding the right lake and a good bass guide somewhere?  Amistad seems hard to get to plus I'm guessing it's balls hot there (like most of Texas) in August.

    Thoughts, suggestions, etc.

    There's tons of great bass fishing lakes much closer to Dallas.  I don't have any recommendations, but check out Fork, Ray Roberts, Texoma, Sam Rayburn or Toledo Bend.  Should be plenty of guides to choose from on any of those lakes if you want to give it a shot before embarking on an overnight trip.  

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  13. @troph I have a great referral for fly fishing out of Tavernier if you still need it.  Small skiff, though.  No more than two anglers.

    @DefinitelyNotHollywoodColt you're spot on regarding sharks.  I was fishing Florida Bay in 2018 with my wife.  She caught a nice little mangrove snapper.  She went to pull it into the boat, and our guide reached over to help her.  Just as she swung her line over the hull, a 6' bull shark crested the water and went after the fish.  Our very experienced guide 'bout shit himself.  To the point he had to sit down for a second.  He said the sharks have started to learn that boat = easy pickins.  Not surprising at all to see them near anglers, and you bring up a good point about fish that are released.  

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  14. Anyone have any suggestions for taller tomato cages?  I've used the standard 48" round cages, and every year about this time of year, I swear I'm going to ditch them and build something custom.  My plants outgrow them every year, and they start to tip over pretty easily.  Just curious to see what others have come up with.  

  15. 1 minute ago, NorthLoop said:

    If you start any from seed, when do you start them? July? 

    That sounds about right, but I'd be concerned about putting them in the ground in July.  Assuming your in Central Texas, I think you'll have to start them indoors.  My guess is the heat will zap them that early if they're outside in July / August.

  16. @Both Tacos This is year four of our blackberry bushes.  I think it was year three before they really started to produce.  They're a freaking weed, and I have to be cognizant of shoots coming up in the main garden (they're planted outside the garden in my setup).  They froze back hard after the freeze in February, but came back stronger than ever.  We've picked at least 20 bowls that big so far this year.  Tons of cobbler, blackberry cheesecake and blackberry ice cream.  We've frozen a ton and made several jars of blackberry jam.  

  17. 6 hours ago, Post Oak said:

    Talk to me about fall vegetables in CTX.  What do you plant and when do you plant it?

    We are covered up with tomatoes and my wife has made plenty of bread and butter pickles.  Squash has been good, basil is thriving.  Not much luck with strawberries or watermelons yet.  

    I usually start planting my fall garden around late September.  Tansplants include broccoli, cabbage, brussels sprouts, cauliflower, onions, potatoes and garlic.  For seeds, I'll do carrots, collard greens, spinach and lettuce.  Fall gardening is awesome.  Less weeds to mess with and production always seems to be more spread out over the season.  

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    Any ideas on what this might be?  My mom snapped this pic a few weeks ago at our family ranch in western Kimble County.  They saw him crossing the road, and he quickly traversed to the top of this Oak tree.  It was about 6' long and was green with a yellow belly.  I'm fairly decent with snake identification, but this one stumped me.  Only thing I was thinking of was maybe a rat snake that had recently shed his skin?  I think that's the only thing common in that area of that size, but I've never seen one that color.  Wish I had a better pic.

  19. 19 hours ago, Parliament said:

    106 on the Canadian border over the weekend.  Not good for the barley crop.

    map (1).png

    I happened to call my buddy who lives in Fargo last week to ask him a question about a project I'm working on.  We were shooting the shit, and he said, "It's friggin' hot up here, doncha know."  I immediately started chastising him and calling him a pussy.  He said, "Bro, I looked at the national map today.  You're in the 80's.  It hit 104 here today.  And I'm a pasty white Norwegian in North Dakota."  I stood corrected.  

  20. Production in my garden is hitting on almost all cylinders.  We're canning and pickling multiple times per week and still giving tons away to family, friends and neighbors.  Tomatoes and melons are lagging behind this year.  I'm just now picking tomatoes.  I have to get 'em early because we have a serious raccoon problem, and as soon as they're ripe on the vine, they're toast.  This was tonight's haul.  I'm getting about the same amount as shown every other night or so.  Pretty much this amount of blackberries every day over the last few weeks.  Love it!

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