Whoops!

Posted November 6, 2009 at 2:01 pm
Filed Under Outdoors | Leave a Comment

Got this e-mail this morning from my outdoor buddy Don “Mosquito Man” Menard down in Grand Lake.

“By the way, I guess you’ve noticed that there was a HURRICANE in the southern Gulf this morning! Seems like I read something on a blog somewhere that: ‘Hurricane Season is O-V-E-R! Say it loud with me: OVER!’ So much for your meteorological aspirations. ”

Yup, you’re right, lol, I apparently am a shoddy meteorologist, but I’m going to blame it on Mother Nature, lol. Honestly, I’m not completely shocked about the tropical system, what with the unseasonably warm weather we had in October. Hopefully it will poof out and that will be the “end” of hurricane season for 2009!

Where’s the Stinkin’ Cold Weather?!

Posted November 4, 2009 at 5:49 pm
Filed Under Outdoors | Leave a Comment

I’m so excited I could…umm, well, lets not even go there, lol, but anyway, Hurricane Season is O-V-E-R! Say it loud with me: “OVER!”

That huge noise you heard Sunday was the collective sigh of the entire Gulf Coast, thanking heavens that we didn’t get a smacking and that all of our homes and citizens were spared from tropical destruction and from having to deal with that four-letter-word agency.

With duck populations looking good and no hurricane, tropical storm or tropical depression strength winds to blow the birds away, hopefully this will be an awesome duck season. My freezer is getting low, lol!

On to the next thing: Now that the tropical days of hurricane season are history, where is the cold weather?

And I don’t mean these lame excuses for cold weather we’ve had the last few weeks. I’m talking temperatures in the 50s during the day and 40s or 30s at night, gumbo-eating, bonfire-burning, ten tons of warm clothes-wearing, hot toddy-drinking, in front of the fireplace-sitting weather. And I guess I’ll toss in Christmas shopping too, as much as I can’t stand everything involved with Christmas except its religious significance, because let’s face it, I don’t think anyone feels all Christmas-y shopping in shorts. I know I don’t. With all that ranting done, I know we don’t get “real” cold weather down here, but hunting in the Louisiana heat, 65 degrees or above, almost feels sacrilegious to me.

Bring it on Mother Nature!

Birds of a feather…

Posted October 26, 2009 at 4:25 pm
Filed Under Outdoors | Leave a Comment

…flock together.

I spent a recent Friday flocked with others of my kind — outdoor writers.

The Louisiana Outdoors Writer’s Association hosted its annual conference in Lake Charles, and writers from around the state including LOWA president Lyle Johnson and writers Joe Macaluso and John Flores were on hand for the event.

About 15 writers attended the conference.

Invasive tilapia in the Mississippi River, great silvania at Lake Bistineau, tracking of speckled trout on Big Lake and in Barataria Bay, the reorganization of the state department of Wildlife and Fisheries and new Berkley products were topics of discussion throughout the day.

I am usually required to stay in the five-parish readership area or within the bumper parish area with my stories, so it was great to hear outdoor news from other corners of the state. I had already at least heard about all the topics, with the exception of the tilapia problem near Port Sulphur, through my outdoor work.

“We are fairly certain where the fish came from,” McElroy said. “The fish were put there by someone, but we are not 100 percent sure who.”

The fish overwintered in the river and also inhabited a lagoon, ditch and marsh in the area.

“These fish have a high salinity tolerance but are a freshwater species,” McElroy said. “They can withstand poor water quality. They also carry their eggs and their young in their mouth, so this also helps the fish survival rate.”

And not only are the tilapia a potent fish, they also cause problems for local fish.

“The tilapia reproduce so much, they overwhelm the native fish,” McElroy said. “Even the native predators can’t withstand them.”

But in the end, the tilapia even snow themselves under.

“There are thousands and thousands of tilapia in the area, and they reproduce so fast that they stunt themselves,” McElroy said.

To treat the problem, the area was treated with Rotenone, an EPA-approved fish toxicant, through various techniques.

“About 1,400 gallons of the toxicant were applied in the closed areas,” McElroy said.

The first round of Rotenone was sprayed on June 9, and the next day, dead fish littered the waters of the area.

“We found one native fish in a 7.5 mile stretch of water,” McElroy said. “The last tilapia to die from the Rotenone treatments were muddy because they had burrowed into mud in an attempt to escape the toxicant.”

After a second round Rotenone was applied on June 29, the area was restocked with native fish like bowfin, spotted gar, sunfish, catfish and largemouth bass.

“We will monitor the area, retreat if needed and continue to stock area with bowfin and alligator gar to control any remaining tilapia,” McElroy said.

Kisatchie Falls

Posted October 22, 2009 at 11:28 am
Filed Under Outdoors | Leave a Comment

Didn’t get to write last week and not too much time to write this week. I’m in the second week of what will be three weeks that are short on “office time.” I was out in the field covering the Louisiana Outdoor Writer’s Conference last week, a deer and squirrel hunting trip this week and will be covering an outdoor assignment next week that I can’t talk about because I don’t want to get scooped, lol!

I took a road trip up to Simpson on Sunday to hunt, and while I was there, my hunting buddy and I cruised up to Kisatchie Falls. I’ve only been up in that neck of the woods three times in my life, and each time, it was to go to Toledo Bend. It was a beautiful drive, but navigating the hills at night was tricky! You never know what way the road is going to curve when you get over it, lol!

Here are a few pictures to make up for the lack of words this week!

Good Company, Good Eats

Posted October 9, 2009 at 11:27 am
Filed Under Outdoors | 1 Comment

A big congratulations to Deanne Biggs of Lake Charles for topping the Cajun Cast Away, the Lafayette Kayack Fishing Club’s tourmament this past weekend on Big Lake!

Biggs won tops for the tourney by acing the SLAM category, two or three fish total weight of redfish, trout and flounder.

“Her 4.7 pound speckled trout helped put her on top,” said LKFC President Greg Sonnier. “She caught it within the first hour of fishing time too.”

Sonnier rigs his line on a July fishing trip in West Cove on Big Lake.

Biggs took home a new Native Ultimate Kayak for her first place win. For results in all four categories, pick the Sunday, Oct. 11 edition of the American Press!

“Of the 38 who participated in the event, 29 weighed in fish,” Sonnier said.

I journeyed down to Hebert’s Landing last Friday night to hang out with the members of the LKFC who had rented almost all of the Big Lake Guest Houses.

After spotting my two familiar faces, Sonnier and the club’s marketing director Valerie Billeaud Gonsoulin, who took me kayack fishing in July, I shook hands and passed the breeze into the evening with club members from Lafayette, Lake Charles, Alexandria, Baton Rouge and New Orleans.

Billeaud Gonsoulin prepares to haul her fish out of the water on our July fishing trip.

As the sun went down, the grills were lit and meat was thrown on the fire. Sonnier pulled out his fiddle, another club member pulled out his accordian, and the pair played Cajun music on the porch of the house. Everyone sat around, swapped fishing stories, passed around maps of Big Lake and talked fishing spots.

Nothing like a good ol’ outdoor get-together!

Nonc Po-Steed and Mornings, Round 2

Posted October 1, 2009 at 10:05 am
Filed Under Outdoors | Leave a Comment

Who’s Nonc (uncle for those of you who don’t speak Cajun French) Po Steed you ask?

Here’s the hunting joke from the community of Vidrine:

“My Nonc Po Steed, he owns a lot of land in every state I can hunt on yeah! You know, he owns all the land with the little yellow signs that say ‘POSTED.’”

Get it? Nonc Posted, just with a little Cajun accent thrown on it.

Speaking of Cajun, if you read my posting “25 Random Things: The OD Version,” here’s a look at what “Outdoor Claudette” looks like, lol.

Here I was, rocking the hip boots, on the road to the saltwater barrier north of the I-10 bridge, shooting Team Green’s Annual Trash Bash.

Anyway, from posted signs to hip boots to jumping towns, I’ll be joining many others this weekend by hitting the woods for the opening weekend of squirrel season. In Evangeline Parish, where I went to school, all schools are closed the first Friday of squirrel season. Say what? Yup, school is closed!

When I was younger, I didn’t do the “Squirrel Day” thing because my dad wasn’t a squirrel hunter. That was one animal season I missed and did girlie things with my mom instead. Most years, she would take me and my cousin Meagan to the mall in Lafayette or Alexandria. Store clerks were always coming up to us and asking us where our parents were and why we weren’t in school. “It’s Squirrel Day, we’re out of school.” With a bewildered look on his of her face, we’d drag him or her to my mom, just in case they would try to cart us off to the mall security office, so my mom could explain it to her or him. It’s really funny to think back on it now: All the women hit the road and went shopping, and all of the men packed up the boys, campers and four-wheelers, hit the road and headed for the woods.

I once had a college sociology teacher who had previously taught at a small college near where I’m from. One day in class, she got to talking about the days when she taught at that college, and she said she began to notice that many people in class were missing a particular Friday every fall. She finally got smart, or in my opinion, not, and asked one of the students at the college what the deal was. “It’s Squirrel Day,” the student said and proceeded to explain it the teacher. The teacher’s response “Well I think that’s just stupid. I’m going to start giving a test on that day every fall and those who don’t show up will get an “F” on the test.”

You’re a sociology teacher. You, of all people, should be all about understanding good ole American traditions, but I guess that’s not important. Let just go ahead and make every culture around the world exactly the same. Brilliant idea! NOT! I almost dropped the class because a teacher ticked me off with that rant. I just wanted to scream at her “If it weren’t for our ancestors hunting, you probably wouldn’t be here!”

Anyway, on to another subject that doesn’t get me unhinged.

You know how one of the fast food chains touts the “Fourth Meal?” In my world of hunting, I realized that I have “second mornings.”

After a duck hunt last year, I was home by 10 a.m.-ish and I figured “I’ll take a nap from 10:30 a.m. ’til noon, which shouldn’t throw me off of sleeping my regular hours tonight.”

When I woke up, I was like “Did I go hunting this morning or did I dream the whole thing?” I got my answer when I opened the fridge and saw birds waiting to be cleaned.

And then my second morning begins. I make more coffee, eat something brunch-like, read the paper, clean the birds and start transcribing my tapes (cuz let’s face it, it’s hard to take notes in the dark and I’m not turning on a light and scaring away the game) from the hunt because it’s nice and quiet at my house, and I can transcribe uninterrupted.

It’s Beginning to Look a Lot Like…

Posted September 25, 2009 at 4:20 pm
Filed Under Outdoors | Leave a Comment

…duck season.

Or my personal favorite, “Jingle bells, shotgun shells,” which I usually sing to myself whenever I’m shell shopping.

Thanks to Capt. Scott Ritchey of Louisiana Outfitters, I’ve got more than enough birds for a teal gumbo or whatever teal recipe crosses my path after our recent hunting trip. To get the story on the hunt, pick up the Sunday, Sept. 27 American Press!

Here’s Ritchey’s simplest recipe suggestion:

“Brown them on all sides first with a little oil in the bottom of the pot, over medium heat,” Ritchey said. “Then toss in come cut-up onions and bell peppers, pour in some water, cover it and put it in the oven. That meat will just fall apart.”

Ritchey also suggested aging the meat.

“I leave them guts in and feathers on in the fridge for four or five days before I clean them. It gets real tender as the meat breaks down,” Ritchey said. “Friends think I’m nuts when they open my fridge and go, ‘What the heck?’ I tell them, ‘Don’t worry. It will be as tender as filet mignon.’”

In non-recipe news, a big “Yay!,” no hurricane to wreck teal season this year! Only 36 days ’til that junk is over, and if we make it to the finish line with none smoking the coast of Louisiana, I say we throw a hurricane party anyway!

Check out the photos from the hunt below.

25 Random Things: The OD Version

Posted September 16, 2009 at 3:20 pm
Filed Under Outdoors | Leave a Comment

First off, OD, in the newsroom, is short for Outdoors.

Second, I find the Internet to be a great thing, but I’m not a huge fan of it (especially sites where people pander every single stinking detail of their personal lives. You know which ones they are, so don’t make me list them, lol). I am almost ashamed to be using a silly little chain mail-inspired topic as a blog entry, but I’m doing it about my life and the Outdoor beat, not my party schedule, etc.

1. I know how to build crawfish traps, and I even used work on my grandparent’s farm crawfishing behind a push boat.

2. I treasure 99 percent of the times and places when I have NO cell reception.

3. I proudly hang my wood duck ring on my keychain. I’m not a big fan of key chains, and it’s one only two I’ve got on my key ring.

4. My schedule, both work and personal, is framed around the hunting and fishing seasons. Some of my friends laugh at me when I tell them things like “I need to be in bed a little early because I’ve got to get up 3 a.m. for a duck hunt,” but they understand.

5. I need a shed or garage for all the outdoor stuff I’ve accumulated in the last two and a half years.

6. I can’t cook, bedsides pancakes and my “everything that ain’t nailed down” omelettes my dad taught me to cook, but I’m trying. My mom and I recently cooked some stuffed flounder, which I caught fishing with Capt. Scott Ritchey of Louisiana Outfitters, and they came out great. I also cooked some stuffed pintails, downed with Hackberry Rod and Gun’s Bobby Stansel, earlier this year, and they came out pretty good. It’s a work in progress.

7. I miss owning a truck (I had a two-tone, long wheel based 1990 Chevy Silverado for my first vehicle) especially when it comes to doing outdoor work.

8. I used to be semi-decent at archery when I went to summer camp, and I would love to get back into it.

9. My friends joke that if I ever have children while covering the outdoor beat, dropping them off for school in the morning would go something like this: “Momma’s gotta go fishing. Get out the truck. I don’t want to hear anything about it being dark outside. The sun will be up in a little bit, and your little friends will be here after that.”

10. I don’t know how to drive a boat, and I want and need to learn to.

11. I was the first granddaughter on either side of my family, and when I came along after six years and three grandsons, I got dragged around through the woods, fields and mud holes by the boys like a little rag doll. They are partially to “blame,” lol, for my occupation today. Petey, Chris, and Matt, I love ya’ll and wouldn’t have had it any other way!

My cousin Matthew Dischler of Rock Wall, Texas, left, and myself with a snake he had killed on my parents property in the late 1980s. Please ignore my haircut, the hideous clown shirt and don’t ask what is up with those pants.

12. I know who to clean frogs and birds — ducks, doves, geese, etc — and have been doing it since I was a child. I also know how to skin a snake and cure the skin. I do not know how to clean fish, but I need to learn that as well.

13. I eat alligator, deer, squirrel, rabbit, ducks, doves, geese and of course, fish, even sushi.

14. I never have and never will mind gettin’ dirty, whether it’s for work or play. My ex-boyfriend and I once went to a friend’s birthday party with our clothes covered in mud from a 4-wheeler ride.

15. I HATE spiders, but I don’t mind snakes (mini ball pythons are my fav) unless they are poisonous.

16. I’ve been driving a 4-wheeler more than half my life and also know how to drive a tractor (comes in handy when making levees for a duck lake, lol).

17. I prefer gas operated shotguns.

18. There are two work versions of me: Office Claudette and Outdoor Claudette. Office Claudette wears stilettos, flat irons her hair, wears make-up and for the most part looks like she works at a bank or is a secretary. Outdoor Claudette doesn’t give a hoot about brushing her hair because it’s either under a hat or thrown into a floppy bun and is usually dressed in a t-shirt, shorts or jeans and whatever pair of shoes was closest to the door that day. Both can be identified by a camo bag slung over one shoulder.

19. I own two shotguns (12 and 16 gauge), one rifle (.22) and one handgun (.357).

20. And I own a gun rack.

21. I like cold and hot weather. Cold weather = hunting, hot weather = fishing and both = a good time.

22. I easily admit that I know more about hunting than I do about fishing, but I’m learning pretty darn fast. I recently found myself explaining the differences between saltwater and freshwater rods to a friends, and I thought to myself, “Wow, I actually know what I’m talking about!”

23. I can clean a shotgun.

24. Obviously I am a fan of the Second Amendment and hunting, but I am against hunting for waste. If you’re going to kill it, please eat it or give it to someone who will.

25. My camera bag always has mosquito repellant, a knife, lip balm, a compass, a whistle, earplugs, a poncho, an emergency blanket, my hunting and fishing licenses, a screw driver and toilet paper in it. And the bag is actually a two-compartment camoflage soft-side ice chest, but it gets the job done.

Hunting Season Outlook

Posted September 9, 2009 at 3:55 pm
Filed Under Outdoors | Leave a Comment

With teal season mere days away (no hurricanes in sight to mess up that opening! Knock on wood! Only 52 days to go til we’re out of the line of fire!), all signs are a-go that we should have a good hunting season here in Southwest Louisiana.

“We’ve had a bird population increase, and overall, the duck populations are in good shape,” said John Robinette, a wildlife biologist at the Lake Charles office of the Louisiana Department of Wildlife and Fisheries. “With these harvest numbers, we’ll have the seasons we anticipated, as long as the birds and the weather cooperate,”

Robinette cited the recent release of the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey.

“The nesting grounds are in better shape this year. We’ve got about 42 million ducks, up 13 percent from last year, according to the Waterfowl Breeding Population and Habitat Survey,” Robinette said. “Ponds are up a lot too. The total estimate — Prairie Canada and United States — was 6.4 million, up 45 percent from last year and 31 percent above the long-term average.”

The number of days in the season and bag limit — six — will remain the same as last year.

“One new change for his year is that the Canadian goose season has been expanded to 44 days, up from 16,” Robinette said. “The $5 special permit is no longer required to hunt Canadian geese.”

But with the great news, comes the bad.

“We are down to one mottled duck, down from three last year,” Robinette said.

Local waterfowl activity

Ducks are already littering the fields near the Roanoke and Welsh areas.

“I’ve seen quite a few teal around the fields when I’m out getting the blinds ready,” said Capt. Scott Ritchey of Louisiana Outfitters. “The results of the duck population survey sound great. If we have good fronts to push the birds through, I think we’ll have a good year.”

Ritchey, like every other duck hunter in the area, definitely wants a much better year than last year.

“The first split was poor, but during the second split, mid December to mid January, we did well on big ones including pintails, widgeon and mallards,” Ritchey said. “Around Christmas, we started seeing bigger ducks that like to come down here when the weather gets cold enough. We were also pretty consistent on speckled bellies.”

Ritchey’s dog, Hank, hauls in a speck on a hunt last year. Hank’s a fan of oatmeal creme pies and holding down Ritchey’s sofa.

Ritchey holds ole Gustav and Ike responsible for the slow season.

“My theory is that all the birds were gone after Gustav. Those first groups of early birds came through, and too many other birds were already there, so they flew back to Arkansas or on to Mexico,” Ritchey said. “Ike then moved the teal out again, that’s what we usually get the most of in the first split — blue wing and green wing teal.”

Man’s best friend. Ritchey and Hank sit in the blind on a hunting trip in Ardoin Cove last year.

Ducks are also on the move on the west side of Big Lake.

“Our guides have been seeing small flocks of teal crossing the lake, especially near West Cove, when they are out on fishing trips,” said Kirk Stansel, co-owner of Hackberry Rod and Gun. “Blue wing’s are up from last year, so we’re looking for a good teal season this year. I’ve also seen a few teal near my blind in the afternoons.”

Like Ritchey, Stansel also likes, overall, the results of the duck population survey.

“I like the liberal limits and liberal seasons. We should have a real good duck season,” Stansel said. “The submerged aquatic vegetation (duck groceries) and marsh rebounded a lot from hurricanes. Last year, by our usual count, we were down on the number of bagged birds due to hurricane issues.”

The only damper in the duck pop Stansel saw was the low number of widgeon.

“Those numbers are down and that’s what we usually get a lot of in the marsh,” Stansel said.

For more information, on waterfowl dates and bag limits, visit www.wlf.louisiana.go. For more information on the population survey, visit www.fws.gov/migratorybirds.

My outlook for hunting this year is rosy — I’ve got a higher power to help me this season.

For those of you who haven’t heard, my dad, an avid duck, dove and goose hunter, passed away Wednesday, Aug. 26. My mom, brother and I knew it was coming, but he knew it was coming even quicker than he let on.

Hey Big Craig (my nick-name for him because he was about my size)! You better scare some birds my way this year, especially some doves! Mom said she wants to make some dove jambalaya, and you know how good that stuff is!

My dad, Craig, in his late teens, after a hunting trip with his father on the family farm.

I had my first “I really miss him” moment last Friday.

When I realized I wouldn’t be able hunt doves at a LDWF hunt near DeRidder last Sunday (this weekend’s Outdoor story, so pick up this Sunday’s American Press if you want the deets on the hunt) because I didn’t have any 7 and 1/2, 8, or 9 shot for my 16-gauge, I wanted to call and ask him what he thought I should do. And then I remembered I couldn’t and would never again be able to call him and ask him hunting questions.

I know he probably would have hopped in his truck and brought his 12-gauge, now mine, to me if I had needed it.

Taxidermy Art Expands

Posted August 19, 2009 at 10:09 am
Filed Under Outdoors | 1 Comment

Nothing like trying to play football in a 2,100 square foot building filled with taxidermy artwork, walls, desks and work areas.

“In our old building, it was like we were playing in the NFL,” said Steve German of Taxidermy Art in Westlake. “Josh and I were always running into each other in our old building.”

This spring, Steve and his son Josh moved their father-son taxidermy business from its Rita-wrecked and space-limited location to a new 7,000 square foot building right next to their old stomping ground.

“We’ve got a 2,000 square foot work area and a 2,000 square foot lean-to outside so we can work on driftwood and alter forms and not have to wait on the rain,” Steve said. “We’ve also got a 1,500 square foot showroom and 1,500 square feet of office space and storage. Josh designed the building.”

The elder German has been in the taxidermy business for more than 36 years and has even judged taxidermy contests.

“I hunted, and I wanted my birds to look like to birds,” Steve said. “Taxidermy was still in the dark ages then.”

In 1984, Steven shed a little light on the situation in the form of the Louisiana Taxidermy Association.

“The association hosted competitions and seminars,” Steve said. “It was a great chance to hang out with other taxidermists, compare and share ideas and show off your work.”

Steve went on to win awards, even nationally, for his work and has even judged the work of others all over the United States.

“I’ve stopped judging the last few years — it costs too much to close up the shop,” Steve said, laughing.

Josh’s taxidermy know-how goes back to his childhood — he was winning awards for his work when he was just eight.

“Josh is a good flat canvas artist,” the father said. “He gets the little details that make a work of taxidermy even better.”

Josh works on fish, birds, alligators and big game and together they sometimes tag-team larger mounts.

The shop’s work area features plenty of space for things to take shape.

“We’ve got tables on rollers to do habitat spaces, big roll-up doors to the outside so we can move large mounts easily and much higher ceilings,” Josh said. “We work better and faster. We’ve got more space to get a better prospective and see structure and depth.”

A walk around the shop showed several different mounts underway: an alligator skin stretched out on a table, ducks already mounted on their driftwood but still in the finishing touches stage with blue tape holding feathers in place and many, many fish drying out.

“We unfreeze the fish, pickle them for two weeks so there’s no fish smell and let them dry for a week,” Josh said. “I paint them one at a time, and I’ve got about 60 to do right now.”

I also watched as Steve set the eyes on a whitetail deer.

“I’m going to do the nose and mouth, and then I’ll be finished,” Steve said.

The new shop also has natural gas generators to keep the freezers running should the power go out, and you know the main reason why the power would be off longer than a few hours: a hurricane (by the way, we’ve still got 73 days of hurricane season left. Ugh.).

“After Rita, the power was out for 14 days, and we lost between $30,000-$40,000 of mounts that were frozen,” Steve said. “With the generators, the trophies will be fine, and our customers won’t lose things that have a sentimental value to them.”

The shop’s showroom is decorated with trophies ranging from bears, a baboon and birds from places like Argentina and Africa, camouflage furniture and a beautiful fireplace, definitely a place to sit a swap fishing and hunting stories.

“There’s nothing in the showroom that the Josh and I didn’t kill,” Steve said. “People come by just to see the new building, and kids like it too.”

The Germans said they welcome anyone who would like to visit their new shop.

“It would be a great opportunity for field trips,” Steve said “We didn’t have space to do things like that in our old building. We’d love for people to come by for the neat experience and see things they’ve never seen before.”

To check out the new building, take a look at the slideshow below!