tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-20967834759573093972024-03-14T07:16:13.379-05:00Ben G. OutdoorsBen G. Outdoors is a blog devoted to hunting, fishing, and outdoor adventure. We provide industry related interviews, product reviews, tips, and share our outdoor adventures.Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.comBlogger152125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-65514369486939011232012-05-07T15:29:00.001-05:002012-05-07T15:29:40.332-05:00Sharing The Love: How to Improve your Blog by Helping Others<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">
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<a href="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NBDN0nsPodk/TvTb1CS8oeI/AAAAAAAABPk/QNLWOt4JDmk/s1600/j00787421.gif" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="181" src="http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-NBDN0nsPodk/TvTb1CS8oeI/AAAAAAAABPk/QNLWOt4JDmk/s200/j00787421.gif" width="200" /></a> I'm going to talk about helping others. Blogging isn't just about writing. Alot of it has to do with helping others help you. </div>
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Start out by following other blogs that intrest you and are related to your blog. After you've sorted through all of the blogs out there, hone in on the one's that are posting most often. Start engaging in conversation with them, by posting comments on their posts. Don't get over whelming and make sure your not just posting come and check out my blog at whocares.com. If you do no one will take you seriously and your comments will be deleted.</div>
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After you have established relationships with other bloggers in your industry make sure you start giving them some love. How do you do that? Add a link to their blog from yours in a few of the following ways. On your links page, in your blog roll, in a related links section, by referring to a blog post bloggerX has posted their blog that relates to the next blog post you are writing. </div>
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The next couple of things take a little extra work, but are well worth it for not only you but your blogging buddies. Ask outdoor bloggerX if they would like to do an interview, if they say yes, interview them, write it up and post it on your blog. Make sure you add at least a link or two back to their blog as well. Example: <a href="http://www.thewilltohunt.com/2012/05/interview-melissa-bachman.html">http://www.thewilltohunt.com/2012/05/interview-melissa-bachman.html</a></div>
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How about asking another blogger to guest post on your blog? Ok, this one may require more work on their end than yours, but in actuality you're still helping them get the word out about their blog. Example: <a href="http://beng-outdoors.blogspot.com/2011/02/old-buck.html">http://beng-outdoors.blogspot.com/2011/02/old-buck.html</a></div>
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Start asking every blogger you know if you can do a guest post on their blog, some will say sure and you won't hear back, some will say sure and give you a topic and post it, and other will say sorry maybe some other time. Now not only does this one help bloggerX out by giving them a break for one post it gives you a chance to get your name on another site and hopefully some links. Example: <a href="http://www.foremosthunting.com/Turkey/Gear/TurkeyGunsandAmmo/CreatingTheUltimateTurkeyGun/tabid/1474/Default.aspx">http://www.foremosthunting.com/Turkey/Gear/TurkeyGunsandAmmo/CreatingTheUltimateTurkeyGun/tabid/1474/Default.aspx</a></div>
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There is one extra step to make this work even better, ok, maybe three extra steps. 1. Blog (on your own blog) about your guest post on outdoor bloggerX's blog and send extra traffic their way. 2. Make sure you mention your guest post on all of your social media outlets. 3. Send an email to all of your friends with a link to your guest post (make sure you tell them how proud you are about it). </div>
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Doing all of this will send extra traffic to bloggerX's Blog and who knows maybe they'll ask you to come back and guest post again or not. Either way you've helped out anther blogger and you'll feel better about yourself.</div>
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One last thing create lists of your favorite blog post, blogs, bloggers, websites, and whatever else you can think of. Make sure you write a brief description of each and provide a link back to website or blog. This way you are giving love to lots of people at once. You'll help them out by giving them publicity, a link, and making them feel proud that you included them. If they like what you had to say, they might even give you a link or mention on one of their social media outlets.</div>
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That's all for now. Keep up the great blogging and I'll see you all next time</div>
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Ben G.</div>
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PS I'm changing my approach to blogging and hope you all like my new angel. I want to help everyone succeed in our industry and I hope all of my tips and tricks can help you out. <b><i>Let me know what you think.</i></b></div>
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</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-18804955665604323532011-05-13T23:57:00.000-05:002011-05-13T23:57:15.837-05:00Human Planet Review<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIf2_kpxjJiH0dLKV9r0azfF6ss_sDXG4ZOW5D5Sw2qxyzSSq5xAeYdlSBHvktJSSSQf2AAlteZuZkPWE62SF6JEJMtm3u1S6_ltHNLGXErt4n62Z_GJH3O5x3-6gnieRddj6-YPtA3_Wh/s1600/1000182914DVDLEF.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjIf2_kpxjJiH0dLKV9r0azfF6ss_sDXG4ZOW5D5Sw2qxyzSSq5xAeYdlSBHvktJSSSQf2AAlteZuZkPWE62SF6JEJMtm3u1S6_ltHNLGXErt4n62Z_GJH3O5x3-6gnieRddj6-YPtA3_Wh/s320/1000182914DVDLEF.JPG" width="252" /></a></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Warner Bros. Entertainment was kind enough to send me a copy of the <a href="http://www.humanplanetblog.com/">Human Planet</a> DVD for review. When I first received the offer I thought well you know this is semi related to the theme of my blog. Well after watching it I proved myself wrong. It was more related to Ben G. Outdoors than I thought. Follow along and I will explain why you should get your own copy.</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I started watching this I first realized it was right up my alley I really enjoy learning about how other people, their cultures and where they live.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>This DVD Series has seven different episodes each focusing on a different places and how humans live in each of them.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It soon dawned on me a lot of the human planet DVD showed how these different Cultures hunted and fished for their food.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The more of these hunting and fishing stories I heard the more I knew that I would not hesitate to put this review up on the blog.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I will give you a brief review of each episode and you can decide for yourself if you want to purchase the Human Planet DVD or Blue Ray disc. (I say two thumbs up for sure).</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Episode one</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Oceans</span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Wow I couldn’t believe some of the stuff I saw here, spearing whales the old fashion way with harpoons that were man powered. (They were crazy).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>My wife actually sat down to watch some of this with me and started to get into it too. Neither one of us could believe how one fellow free dove down 20 meters to the bottom of the ocean to catch a fish. He was under water longer than I thought a human could hold their breath it was just plain amazing. The <span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;">Pa-aling fishermen were nuts. These guys used a diesel engine to pump air through small plastic hoses, so they could stay under water and chase fish into a net. Oh and they didn’t make very much money for risking their lives. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Episode two<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Desert <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I have never been to a real desert before so this episode was the one I had the hardest time relating to. At the same time I learned the most from this watching it. It starts out with a young fellow trying to find water for his cows, but has a run in with a herd of elephants.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another cool part is the Dogon people who don’t fish in the dry season except for one day when thousands of fisher men try and catch fish in a tiny lake filled with fish seems easy right; not at all you will have to get the DVD and see for yourself. The Gobi desert in Mongolia is the scene where a family winter their camels. The only problem, they have to deal with desert wolves (huh kind of sounds familiar doesn’t It.) and pregnant female camels not a good combination.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Episode 3<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Arctic<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">From Ice fishing for four days to catch a Greenland shark just to feed you dogs. To a polar bear patrol in Canada this episode hit home the most, being from Minnesota I could relate to some of the stories, but not nearly to the extremes these folks go through. A couple of my favorite parts of this episode were Narwhal hunting/fishing it’s crazy how stealth these guys have to be to get their prize. My other favorite part is the guy who catches Auks (birds) in a net as they fly past his hiding spot. Oh and he catches at least 500 in a day. This is something I think I would like to try. <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Episode 4<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The Jungles<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">One of the best ways to survive in the Jungle is to hunt for food and there plenty of examples of that in this episode, but hunting in the jungle is very difficult.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Kids learn to hunt goliath trantultia so they can eat, but they have to watch out for the hair on the spiders back.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>These hairs when they get on your skin itch like crazy. Then you have a fellow climbing a giant tree with nothing more than a vine to secure him to get honey for his family. He also has to deal with bees when high above the forest floor. (This one kind of scares me).<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One of my other favorite parts is logging with elephants. Not only is it safer for the jungle, but it is cool to see how strong these elephants are.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Episode 5 <o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Mountains<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I miss the mountains I sometimes wish I live back in north Idaho. The first part of this episode is set in western Mongolia a father and son grab a baby golden eagle chick so they can train it and hunt foxes and wolves with it. You have to see this young boy protect his family’s fields around harvest time from monkeys. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Another of my favorite parts is the guys who catch bats in a giant net. The create a path in the forest which makes a short cut over the mountain for the bats then they put up their net which can’t be detected by the bats.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><o:p><span style="font-family: Calibri;"> </span></o:p></span><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Episode 6<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Grass Lands<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The grass lands typically mean bigger animals, like lions and kudu. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>One part of this episode I just don’t understand it the part with the Dorbo people of Kenya. These guys attempt to steal meat from a pride of lions (they are just plain nuts in my book). One part of this episode did remind me of hunting deer here in the states. A couple of fellows set up a blind near a water hole and waited for the kudu to come in close enough to shoot with their bows. This is the part that I don’t think I could handle they stayed in the blind for at least four days. Now that’s what I call a dedicated hunter. Last but not least the Maasai children speak to a bird called a honey guide and the bird leads them to honey of course if they do end up finding honey the share some with the bird.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Episode 7<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rivers<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This episode starts out with a very dedicated fisher man who uses nets on the very treacherous <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Mekong River in Laos he risks his life everyday to catch only a few fish and feed his family. The other story in this episode that really sticks in my head was the Father, son, and daughter team who follow a frozen river for quite some distance in order for the son and Daughter to go to school.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Episode 8<o:p></o:p></span></span></div><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Cities</span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">This episode has a lot to do with pests New York City kind of takes the cake here with rats. I didn’t realize how many rats actually live there. Let’s just say I won’t be eating in any restaurants there ever. The story about the guy who uses a Peregrine falcon (which by the way is the fastest flying bird in the world) to chase away pigeons has some very awesome camera shots. The falcon however sometimes gets caught up in the game of chasing the pigeons and doesn’t like to come back to its keeper.</span></span><br />
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<span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Over all this is a great DVD series and I want to thank WB for sending me out a copy to review if you get the chance go buy a copy and see for yourself all of the amazing camera footage. Oh I almost forgot to mention the behind the lens stories after each episode they seem to pick the stories that were the hardest to shoot and show you behind the scenes footage of how they made it happen. <o:p></o:p></span></span><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">The series is now avalivle on DVD and Blue-ray at <a href="http://www.humanplanetblog.com/">www.humanplanetblog.com</a></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="mso-bidi-font-family: Calibri;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Thanks Ben G.<o:p></o:p></span></span></div></div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-27135064741302435882011-04-06T10:25:00.000-05:002011-04-06T10:25:56.047-05:00Wyatt Learning to Call<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">My oldest son Wyatt wanted to start using some of my turkey calls so I grabbed my locate call and let him give it a try. It ended up being about a half hour ordeal and he had a blast. He'll be locating Toms for me in no time. Watch out turkeys here comes Wyatt.<br />
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This is just a short clip of Wyatt blowing on the call.</div><object style="height: 390px; width: 640px;"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/AU6rVTP9OX0?version=3"><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"><param name="allowScriptAccess" value="always"><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/AU6rVTP9OX0?version=3" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true" allowScriptAccess="always" width="640" height="390"></object><br />
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Do you know what call he is using?</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-1729786098204634692011-03-26T15:19:00.003-05:002011-03-29T09:58:07.944-05:00Review of Stuffitts Shoe Savers<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2wOXV2cEvr_PY9lyZvyo-0dHx1LjCJFAU5UsC9qEHA4MbewTY-gzzB1YkOUy6lFzuLfExk2hL3NQBJE9YPXOeoV5FcYhfyzsVULLutCI2Gh5kZaCZT382-GGfHEtIzbyNGoZRSdWCljf/s1600/logo.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEir2wOXV2cEvr_PY9lyZvyo-0dHx1LjCJFAU5UsC9qEHA4MbewTY-gzzB1YkOUy6lFzuLfExk2hL3NQBJE9YPXOeoV5FcYhfyzsVULLutCI2Gh5kZaCZT382-GGfHEtIzbyNGoZRSdWCljf/s1600/logo.png" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">My good friend Nicole at <a href="http://www.hanksclothing.com/">Hanks Clothing</a> sent me this new interesting product to try out. They are called </span><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;"><a href="http://www.hanksclothing.com/stuffitts_shoe_savers_-_black_buy.html">Stuffitts Shoe Savers</a>. When Nicole first asked me to do the review I was like what the heck are these funny looking things. After I did a bit of research I agreed and thought they would be great tool to make my wife not cringe every time she walked by my shoes and hunting boots.</span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UXSxupC2DBNrA04v6bwiO6ScXcLB6mg-zPxdfMo5RP_u6H4wPCI8cP0680bRo5dIwoguGLh6kjrqtK66kVAMrEt5AJtOkbrW665ysjbMUNu60BixWvFuGsiaGoLi3saKIttB7o-w0aED/s1600/image3.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="241" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9UXSxupC2DBNrA04v6bwiO6ScXcLB6mg-zPxdfMo5RP_u6H4wPCI8cP0680bRo5dIwoguGLh6kjrqtK66kVAMrEt5AJtOkbrW665ysjbMUNu60BixWvFuGsiaGoLi3saKIttB7o-w0aED/s320/image3.png" width="320" /></a></div><a name='more'></a><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">When the Stuffitts came to my house I was at work and I got a call from my wife saying you got a package and asked if the boys could open it. (This is how it goes every time I receive a package). About ten minutes later I got a call back which is not usually the case Amber said what the heck are these Stuffitt things. After I explained to her what they were for I think she was more excited than me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">As soon as I made it home from work I threw the Stuffitts into the shoes I wore all day. I let them sit over night inside them. To tell you the truth I didn’t think they would help my nasty smelling shoes out in the least. </span></div> <br />
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<tr><><> <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKH8xczYkEoTvJNr0gK2Yw-VSx10daL1-c3yT6l1WD1d4-ICoicoLiL5IL67eLSz7T-7xZc2DWx6Qj2rz5gdELOM2iGNn7R-hPD_KwyWRd9pX_zIJjfiiaUTvH71hYOgHixpJe8fxCwrr/s1600/Stuffitts+nostrap.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="288" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKH8xczYkEoTvJNr0gK2Yw-VSx10daL1-c3yT6l1WD1d4-ICoicoLiL5IL67eLSz7T-7xZc2DWx6Qj2rz5gdELOM2iGNn7R-hPD_KwyWRd9pX_zIJjfiiaUTvH71hYOgHixpJe8fxCwrr/s400/Stuffitts+nostrap.JPG" width="400" /></a> </></></></></></div></></><td style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8K5BLLXSLm-_nK-P3Vn4Xu4H9aVMG57NZg7vjCkrFzxZwgWa4MrLlj0FHKfqhFS7LTdWjTqnGLkL6XVVtriLylURmystIhbQ-4PM60U41Kurn46KgQ-2ZxUiAyEWQgtiQXlCczOt9sFc/s1600/Work+shoes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="340" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgK8K5BLLXSLm-_nK-P3Vn4Xu4H9aVMG57NZg7vjCkrFzxZwgWa4MrLlj0FHKfqhFS7LTdWjTqnGLkL6XVVtriLylURmystIhbQ-4PM60U41Kurn46KgQ-2ZxUiAyEWQgtiQXlCczOt9sFc/s400/Work+shoes.JPG" width="400" /></a></td><><> <div></div><> <div></div></></></></></></></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My work shoes</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKH8xczYkEoTvJNr0gK2Yw-VSx10daL1-c3yT6l1WD1d4-ICoicoLiL5IL67eLSz7T-7xZc2DWx6Qj2rz5gdELOM2iGNn7R-hPD_KwyWRd9pX_zIJjfiiaUTvH71hYOgHixpJe8fxCwrr/s1600/Stuffitts+nostrap.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="288" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhnKH8xczYkEoTvJNr0gK2Yw-VSx10daL1-c3yT6l1WD1d4-ICoicoLiL5IL67eLSz7T-7xZc2DWx6Qj2rz5gdELOM2iGNn7R-hPD_KwyWRd9pX_zIJjfiiaUTvH71hYOgHixpJe8fxCwrr/s400/Stuffitts+nostrap.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Stuffits with out the straps</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYdjs17Nf9s2xa580uyiJRqm82FKFOjajYP7iE2heKDc1Lp4BXhJUItGdCE0hxFfDxesLOHywZXK4u6JL59mNDnisOoeOLligB8pcaOh0KfOcL_crn9Y8AX3czM0aQMmrvTIeWp_r9duqz/s1600/Work+shoes+insert.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="220" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhYdjs17Nf9s2xa580uyiJRqm82FKFOjajYP7iE2heKDc1Lp4BXhJUItGdCE0hxFfDxesLOHywZXK4u6JL59mNDnisOoeOLligB8pcaOh0KfOcL_crn9Y8AX3czM0aQMmrvTIeWp_r9duqz/s400/Work+shoes+insert.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Super easy to insert Stuffits into shoes</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJd3JW8lylgWATtUep6fW5L7SNmRencmkjqyFNSN-syzwA67MxHd_6-XJbgr2F1K3mJ7vUBMqhCjHPkpIDgIsqE2mPe5avsK5mIdVmngivWI6ldxp2JVa7LGKc8pGYD2AWulIAZmavaGHS/s1600/Work+shoes+stuffitts.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJd3JW8lylgWATtUep6fW5L7SNmRencmkjqyFNSN-syzwA67MxHd_6-XJbgr2F1K3mJ7vUBMqhCjHPkpIDgIsqE2mPe5avsK5mIdVmngivWI6ldxp2JVa7LGKc8pGYD2AWulIAZmavaGHS/s400/Work+shoes+stuffitts.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">once the Stuffitts are in your shoes you can put them right back where you normally store them</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The next morning when I went to put my shoes back on I was pleasantly surprised that not only did they work, but my shoes has an almost new smell to them. They got rid of all the sweat and smell left behind from a long day at work. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Now what happened to the smell? To tell you the truth I don’t really know because the Stuffitts still smelled brand new and so did my shoes. It’s a total mystery to me.</span></div> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1GpsILPRxbeKMlpMyBU5VuoIIo78AiFxEtO31tIeZea9fnEf0hy6ZYs-9MlXFcFQ76hqaui5f_qvR5P5fv6K6MQ5LxsK44SR0QtZCtbqmqcYkQg5WaUOxEqqS6q916ZQCnNPx0sBMxmL/s1600/Hunting+boots.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEis1GpsILPRxbeKMlpMyBU5VuoIIo78AiFxEtO31tIeZea9fnEf0hy6ZYs-9MlXFcFQ76hqaui5f_qvR5P5fv6K6MQ5LxsK44SR0QtZCtbqmqcYkQg5WaUOxEqqS6q916ZQCnNPx0sBMxmL/s400/Hunting+boots.JPG" width="261" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">My 13 year old hunting boots</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-4s5nk1I8AMj4g7N2ZdJR2MeUbOzknKGnuaZajz0uBF5SgkIHoxBe-zeN_GsPRLMF_-EYijPp5JCoTiQTQBW9wAu2vlKT7U-Et8Nu9d0zxB711GSZNd7QyVJ1pu8wUath2EjdbENnuY8Q/s1600/Hunting+boots+insert.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="280" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj-4s5nk1I8AMj4g7N2ZdJR2MeUbOzknKGnuaZajz0uBF5SgkIHoxBe-zeN_GsPRLMF_-EYijPp5JCoTiQTQBW9wAu2vlKT7U-Et8Nu9d0zxB711GSZNd7QyVJ1pu8wUath2EjdbENnuY8Q/s320/Hunting+boots+insert.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's even easy to put them in your boots.</td></tr>
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<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">The Stuffitts made it through my work shoes but how would they fair with my old (not water proof) hunting boots after they were soaked inside with melted snow. About two hours after I was done shoveling snow and after my boots began to really smell I put Stuffitts to the test again. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Again I let them sit over night. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Like magic the next morning my boots were dry inside and smelled fresh. At this point I’m beginning to think how the heck can anyone live without these. But..........</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">One last test for the Stuffitts I was going to use my around the house shoes that I use for everything. These guys had been wet for a couple of days and I hate wearing wet shoes, but I also don’t want to wreck any of my other shoes while taking the dog out, cleaning the garage, cutting grass, painting and whatever else I do around the house.</span></div> <br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzKYSZJVcL-T5lyPIlMtTNwI357Qtnp3dDH0Kpp5wZXRO2eSaz6CnBJrwyZtNTSDEhizodfdOOVjiHq2Mz60vh9Il1hkw4UgQibCCH7nwhzRPOwjmQX6otZ9iid57mBjKDrNmknbzG4hdo/s1600/Nasty+shoes.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhzKYSZJVcL-T5lyPIlMtTNwI357Qtnp3dDH0Kpp5wZXRO2eSaz6CnBJrwyZtNTSDEhizodfdOOVjiHq2Mz60vh9Il1hkw4UgQibCCH7nwhzRPOwjmQX6otZ9iid57mBjKDrNmknbzG4hdo/s400/Nasty+shoes.JPG" width="333" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The nastiest shoes in our house</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">Just like the other two times I threw the Stuffitts in my shoes over night and what do you know they were dry as a popcorn fart and selling fresh as ever. I was so glad no more nasty wet shoes for this guy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">One other quick thing to note about the Stuffitts is that they come with this handy carry strap. The strap is not just handy for carrying them but also handy for storage just hang them up on any hook. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Yb1AWoT36OR0tmR4aJ422OePD-b1I6ezHuuGR2sc8BPjQMjzp2IOz6PIUuzfFVEBg8gR3AY290oF3nYDiWhnhy1AsYKVWKyu2m0lrMhnpelT0Xf8kq8pjfTxG__MkTFq5QQ6Hk4jrP8l/s1600/Strap.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" r6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-Yb1AWoT36OR0tmR4aJ422OePD-b1I6ezHuuGR2sc8BPjQMjzp2IOz6PIUuzfFVEBg8gR3AY290oF3nYDiWhnhy1AsYKVWKyu2m0lrMhnpelT0Xf8kq8pjfTxG__MkTFq5QQ6Hk4jrP8l/s400/Strap.JPG" width="377" /></a></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">After testing Stuffitts out and getting great results I can’t wait to try them on my trout fishing trip next fall. I won’t even need to bring my boot dryer. Just think of the room I will save. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">If you are looking for a great way to dry out your hunting boots or every day shoes I suggest you go on over to Hanks Clothing and get yourself a pair of <a href="http://www.hanksclothing.com/stuffitts-shoe-savers.html">Stuffitts shoe savers</a>. Oh by the way they come in five different colors.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: "Tahoma", "sans-serif"; font-size: 10pt; line-height: 115%;">*Note I received these free of charge form Hank’s Clothing to test and review*</span></div></div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-58414585077678383922011-03-14T16:00:00.002-05:002011-03-14T16:10:43.312-05:00Review of the Magnum Work Pro Ultra WPi CT boots<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">*note: Magnum Boots supplied me Free of charge with a Pair of Work Pro Ultra WPi CT boots to test.*</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaK0BuHNbZ-l3x7CALGVk8ov3VWtkd1mBoXwuEruWrmjEWNkMm8STuiwkP3UZOtdmutS8ukNTrSbncRJJccKYEY8kwYLcNYxxdWCezTE126aeg8IPszgT1r36Un1A9YKnbgIDgs9cVPuz/s1600/magnum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaK0BuHNbZ-l3x7CALGVk8ov3VWtkd1mBoXwuEruWrmjEWNkMm8STuiwkP3UZOtdmutS8ukNTrSbncRJJccKYEY8kwYLcNYxxdWCezTE126aeg8IPszgT1r36Un1A9YKnbgIDgs9cVPuz/s1600/magnum.jpg" /></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">To tell you the truth I have never been much of a boot guy other than of course my hunting boots. After wearing these boots for almost two weeks straight I think I’m beginning to like boots more and more. Follow along as I fill you in on how I put these brand new pair of <a href="http://www.magnumboots.com/us/boots/work-safety/235/work-pro-ultra-wpi-ct/">Magnum Work Pro Ultra WPi CT</a> boots through a series of tests to see how they would hold up.</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"></span><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpf_BYEGWldVogEyENeaAI6bGz-5cjkIRnIKgl1UmnRSQ5zOWPMJCCICjdwsGAAlxR5U9DtNCcQhUyKp2A9wJsgJPN6aAN0gL42t77L411rFesl6-Yi8act9fhTGvJJQf_tYbXxDKCxj1/s1600/Spanking+new.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikpf_BYEGWldVogEyENeaAI6bGz-5cjkIRnIKgl1UmnRSQ5zOWPMJCCICjdwsGAAlxR5U9DtNCcQhUyKp2A9wJsgJPN6aAN0gL42t77L411rFesl6-Yi8act9fhTGvJJQf_tYbXxDKCxj1/s320/Spanking+new.JPG" width="187" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Spanking new just out of the box<br />
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</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">When I first put them on I couldn’t believe how comfortable they were I just couldn’t get over it. They felt like I had a pair of shoes on. As I started to walk around the house with them I realized how light they were and they even have a safety toe. </span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Test 1</strong></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I don’t work in manufacturing, so I had to do my best to see how comfortable they were without being on the plant floor all day. I wore them to work, grocery shopping, snow shoveling, walking the dog, and just about any place I could think of. My feet never once got blisters or even the least bit sore. I would have to say these boots passed test one with flying colors. I also want to add the boots looked very nice and I was able to ware them to work with out being the least bit hesitant.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Test2</strong></span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Would they keep my feet warmer than an ordinary pair of shoes. Being it isn’t fall and I don’t have the opportunity to help my family cut wood in the chilly fall weather. I figured shoveling my drive way after a 3 and ½ inch snow fall would have to suffice. I shoveled for a good 45 minutes in 20 degree weather and my feet never once got cold. Test 2 Pass</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRD5Nw1v0FUDKg07bXIsqP30Ie2ZbRF-K_lw63_HVQbM-KfPJS-0xAbvq-XhS8LH8ikCRAM3rQMu3VcVG3FJxBvXsBfwgRP8QX611GCmoh0fjVD-tcLydUb6AqJvJKnPe8Jyj0Med2Oauk/s1600/Shovel+leftfoot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiRD5Nw1v0FUDKg07bXIsqP30Ie2ZbRF-K_lw63_HVQbM-KfPJS-0xAbvq-XhS8LH8ikCRAM3rQMu3VcVG3FJxBvXsBfwgRP8QX611GCmoh0fjVD-tcLydUb6AqJvJKnPe8Jyj0Med2Oauk/s320/Shovel+leftfoot.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Shoveling away</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibjQqM7hhEqq69qZLkX1wAasflSUYSbaCDxdn4OeTLYQg9DUNaW1JoRFGxOacwPH4jsA27LjBdKKlE7bOQZLeUYgYu9hoseTnHGQIpPQYgqmK7RviNkozp3Vcnl19xVGINGmrB4xOs5oUc/s1600/Shovle+rightfoot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEibjQqM7hhEqq69qZLkX1wAasflSUYSbaCDxdn4OeTLYQg9DUNaW1JoRFGxOacwPH4jsA27LjBdKKlE7bOQZLeUYgYu9hoseTnHGQIpPQYgqmK7RviNkozp3Vcnl19xVGINGmrB4xOs5oUc/s320/Shovle+rightfoot.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Now the right foot</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkoBSVoEEcfqqBpSmDEQwAPTti4FmNgn_TxPGX3r3YLjvhAHPggOTOUYI0P922VeSO3pzkGabBTrr-GVZodqqS-TtfwUaph1xsAxyik7Gavqv8KRdO88CUmzHCgfaWj95T1Cs54otXqgx0/s1600/Driveway+done.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgkoBSVoEEcfqqBpSmDEQwAPTti4FmNgn_TxPGX3r3YLjvhAHPggOTOUYI0P922VeSO3pzkGabBTrr-GVZodqqS-TtfwUaph1xsAxyik7Gavqv8KRdO88CUmzHCgfaWj95T1Cs54otXqgx0/s320/Driveway+done.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">45 Minutes later</td></tr>
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<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Test 3</strong></span><br />
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</span><br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">How water proof are these work boots really. Most of the time when you buy a pair of work boots you sacrifice waterproofing for comfort and safety. </span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjIQ94R9U05qtw575EttmL-BRQ9_I_f9FEoeMqCK_jPDcLhLc1S7HSh2E7-EdPlb7U6FcHBh5N6YT3FOSY8ahT7pHFL8RNfy5Se7jw2rypbIV-oYJXhsWJdxyhOlQN5maIh2EikP7lhjf1/s1600/Water+proof.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="200" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjjIQ94R9U05qtw575EttmL-BRQ9_I_f9FEoeMqCK_jPDcLhLc1S7HSh2E7-EdPlb7U6FcHBh5N6YT3FOSY8ahT7pHFL8RNfy5Se7jw2rypbIV-oYJXhsWJdxyhOlQN5maIh2EikP7lhjf1/s200/Water+proof.JPG" width="145" /></a></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">What did I do beside shoveling snow and walking the dog through snow drifts. I took the Work Pro Ultra WPi CT’s with me to the car wash and sprayed them down with the pressure washer for a good 30 seconds each. Being that these boots aren’t rubber I thought I was surely going home with wet feet. To my amazement when I got home my feet were bone dry. Test 3 Pass </span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBA3swejxCveBGToUEg17nWxhCcKDVadPhN4omlAnmbKNGmDXKKfjaCnhITW0qKPpmReO8o8DiCHogZsBMGMn_aXcTCq_ssiXAb-vapZu6ckBmvW1PXx-BYKfom825wnrF16kKqai1eLa/s1600/Carwash.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="271" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjiBA3swejxCveBGToUEg17nWxhCcKDVadPhN4omlAnmbKNGmDXKKfjaCnhITW0qKPpmReO8o8DiCHogZsBMGMn_aXcTCq_ssiXAb-vapZu6ckBmvW1PXx-BYKfom825wnrF16kKqai1eLa/s320/Carwash.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">At the car wash yeah!</td></tr>
</tbody></table><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHOtnQeniiNDQovuisdh-VeLV8fKVAEXhyphenhyphen7cTe3fhM4pTsk6VFLGHGlwoSo_bPlmHDlQ9t00v3SmI1TH3ik-lVsGHuqEVRAj79RZ4g72XfjHgiMRXb22yCuW1wQ4n0SLonx6S2mGLgY2co/s1600/Pressure.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhHOtnQeniiNDQovuisdh-VeLV8fKVAEXhyphenhyphen7cTe3fhM4pTsk6VFLGHGlwoSo_bPlmHDlQ9t00v3SmI1TH3ik-lVsGHuqEVRAj79RZ4g72XfjHgiMRXb22yCuW1wQ4n0SLonx6S2mGLgY2co/s320/Pressure.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Weapon of choice</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchcpRqnsp4dp1qWA2ED47dzuEWfeM2A7Gd_ldgSFoCGtDxS2VnwCqN38heEh7A00NF1g5RqX76EmA-qfRxmHv3NHtej4V-HkjdGPTKKditHQKxEcUxB78zzTRJvf5-zkKoFKAwDANqLfD/s1600/Pressure+on+boot.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgchcpRqnsp4dp1qWA2ED47dzuEWfeM2A7Gd_ldgSFoCGtDxS2VnwCqN38heEh7A00NF1g5RqX76EmA-qfRxmHv3NHtej4V-HkjdGPTKKditHQKxEcUxB78zzTRJvf5-zkKoFKAwDANqLfD/s320/Pressure+on+boot.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Work Pro Ultra WPi CT's are like the Super Man of work boots nothing can stop them</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Test 4</strong></span><br />
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</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">How good is this composite Safety toe. I wanted to try and simulate a tool or a block of wood falling on my toe. I searched around the house and found a five pound weight. I figured tools don’t very often weight more than five pounds, but wood blocks and steel can weigh a lot. I guess I didn’t want to find anything heavier just for the fact that I didn’t want to miss my toe and accidental hit my leg and injure myself. </span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;">I dropped the weight roughly about 2 and ½ feet down to my toe on each foot to see how well the boots actually worked. Well need less to say I didn’t have to go to the doctor for a broken toe, so the boots pass Test 4 as well.</span><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikWuJCRj3xk5FXWc4kH4wfVEDnae-uTjg_IvOdJ1SH7Chh6O5QqWCrXXouB8UVDzWyCoVQbCnAWju-wchUwwZWmx7NEXBwl6ZtHyFq7t0uZaQ3BjagLSQj9_KtSeMYT0vxiVaHLgJcftiQ/s1600/Weight.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="292" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEikWuJCRj3xk5FXWc4kH4wfVEDnae-uTjg_IvOdJ1SH7Chh6O5QqWCrXXouB8UVDzWyCoVQbCnAWju-wchUwwZWmx7NEXBwl6ZtHyFq7t0uZaQ3BjagLSQj9_KtSeMYT0vxiVaHLgJcftiQ/s320/Weight.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">5 LBS. and it's ready to work</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9SfpOQiiEPdOECIQ9WI6IdhTldq_fiRxBc2a_-F1151dmRL624NJCF6OBbHlqlf6tErLzLePC7AWlr14No4kOZHKHFnZPXV6pfOTgiy2xVvmMyNCQMeTkR6_O5hVuxR30Bbun7JT3Pbg0/s1600/Weight+left.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi9SfpOQiiEPdOECIQ9WI6IdhTldq_fiRxBc2a_-F1151dmRL624NJCF6OBbHlqlf6tErLzLePC7AWlr14No4kOZHKHFnZPXV6pfOTgiy2xVvmMyNCQMeTkR6_O5hVuxR30Bbun7JT3Pbg0/s320/Weight+left.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Left foot, no chance. I didn't feel that</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-A-uIcMhx6NBhPFDIwAEMI9REc2AiFka5GUl0uj60s1bkPIclKfmJ6RDvcbWIA9BBldj_P9lmqbTP9jkl63wfccnh_0iQsj4NztWyqqmi6msV-JoKYs4I066C2hGEQwIli5LzoveP7rZ/s1600/Weight+right.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjy-A-uIcMhx6NBhPFDIwAEMI9REc2AiFka5GUl0uj60s1bkPIclKfmJ6RDvcbWIA9BBldj_P9lmqbTP9jkl63wfccnh_0iQsj4NztWyqqmi6msV-JoKYs4I066C2hGEQwIli5LzoveP7rZ/s320/Weight+right.JPG" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The boot was so tough even the weight had to stand up and applaud it.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span><br />
<span style="font-family: inherit;"><strong>Here are a few other features I discovered while testing out these great work boots.</strong></span><br />
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Check out the sole on these boots, no loss of traction here I know you could take these bad boys out on a hike and be just fine.</span></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH3DqvYVWFsKm3Tr4LQoKXZRaPeTj3Y5jO0uS6Z7RAuYqUce46FgKjQI1ys1dQ9ZlJso2ZXWNAdKQLKbK4h1DqMPC8Z3Jr6F0YEbG7cj2lg1oUZPDvtw1bRyDLQlU3pbEjvoKVreoGhNm_/s1600/Grip.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="143" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjH3DqvYVWFsKm3Tr4LQoKXZRaPeTj3Y5jO0uS6Z7RAuYqUce46FgKjQI1ys1dQ9ZlJso2ZXWNAdKQLKbK4h1DqMPC8Z3Jr6F0YEbG7cj2lg1oUZPDvtw1bRyDLQlU3pbEjvoKVreoGhNm_/s320/Grip.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Just so you know there is no way you're falling down with these bad boys on</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The boots are slip ons and without any laces. At first I was thinking no way will this even be comfortable I need to be able to tie my boots tight to my foot. I was wrong super comfort and great when you’re in a hurry.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The finger loops on the either side of each boot. These loops make putting your boots on super easy.</span></div> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkBN1EYpyKv-zYAmZJP-No5Xq7Lce-pcz6KlLELrsEEqq-3nMy9bUaAMpwwShI5CW1vxKIIHCXLwRLhfZEi0b3u5dAzqvJPT1LoRNqNv53g0FhKfYua7_z_efVSbguXgW-YOW8SoQFrMPl/s1600/Finger+loops.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="169" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjkBN1EYpyKv-zYAmZJP-No5Xq7Lce-pcz6KlLELrsEEqq-3nMy9bUaAMpwwShI5CW1vxKIIHCXLwRLhfZEi0b3u5dAzqvJPT1LoRNqNv53g0FhKfYua7_z_efVSbguXgW-YOW8SoQFrMPl/s320/Finger+loops.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">super easy to put on </td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The Moisture wicking lining is great me feet never got all sweaty.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The M-PACT sock liner with memory foam as is awesome like I said before the boots are very comfortable.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">You know how I mentioned how light these boots were the reason it the <a href="http://www.magnumboots.com/us/advantage/technological-advantage/ionmask/">ion-mask technology</a>. I won't go into details but it protects the boot without being bothersome. Follow the link for more info. </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Last but not least the boots are Electrical-hazard resistant.</span> </div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">Here is one last cool thing about The <a href="http://www.magnumboots.com/us/">Magnum</a> Work Pro Ultra WPi CT. Say you just got off of work and you have to stop at the bank. Your boots are all marked up and look funky no need to worry check out the images below to see why.</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_lD9NglpYe9YbCA5xM0Hq0MLF8j9anZ6hSnOWfbgZBNLjfgp5JxFMu5sLZ4UHxP6JpDvGCo85j_stKcAjPNWzFLnjHSuk3p-73l-sUjZa-xU1MhbMr4X-OpUhtmBfSTrjaXRKkJgnKcTt/s1600/Left+scuffed.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_lD9NglpYe9YbCA5xM0Hq0MLF8j9anZ6hSnOWfbgZBNLjfgp5JxFMu5sLZ4UHxP6JpDvGCo85j_stKcAjPNWzFLnjHSuk3p-73l-sUjZa-xU1MhbMr4X-OpUhtmBfSTrjaXRKkJgnKcTt/s320/Left+scuffed.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">All scuffed up</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhX0z3X2OdW9L2ZkKkagQ40C3YgGkfjliLm0lkhlrf4-0ObbZtGoKdo69f58TYwssVXpF1D64Us0EZzsr0naadjhlyoo2rklNCikhhLO0ad663C2kmizHn8tYs5oxE1mwWmQdcB_81nJ3U/s1600/Left+scuffed+rub.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjhX0z3X2OdW9L2ZkKkagQ40C3YgGkfjliLm0lkhlrf4-0ObbZtGoKdo69f58TYwssVXpF1D64Us0EZzsr0naadjhlyoo2rklNCikhhLO0ad663C2kmizHn8tYs5oxE1mwWmQdcB_81nJ3U/s320/Left+scuffed+rub.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The boot about to be magic with the help of my thumb</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06Bj2KYaGkBauffWu5hauj4nj5jEf3828Uvq5WPIKMSOie71SDnPD2YWioxNbXY5rZaX6wMwj0ng9PrPr0aNfBY9RYIg80GBJqb-1qNy97rM7XE7mcPyahZvDkg5QGjP04fqlgyOnrLHX/s1600/Left+scuff+clean.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh06Bj2KYaGkBauffWu5hauj4nj5jEf3828Uvq5WPIKMSOie71SDnPD2YWioxNbXY5rZaX6wMwj0ng9PrPr0aNfBY9RYIg80GBJqb-1qNy97rM7XE7mcPyahZvDkg5QGjP04fqlgyOnrLHX/s320/Left+scuff+clean.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">and there you have it all ready for the bank</td></tr>
</tbody></table><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">If you are looking for a new pair of work boots your search should start and stop here with The Magnum Work Pro Ultra WPi CT. </div></div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-55302381232757476692011-03-14T08:23:00.000-05:002011-03-14T08:23:45.583-05:00Breaking Cabbin Fever Winners Are........................<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">We hope you enjoyed our little contest and you were able to find a few new blogs that interested you. <br />
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</div><div align="left" class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"></div><div align="left">Third place goes to Nathan Huss</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">Second place goes to William C.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">First place goes to Trey</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">Congratulations to all three winners.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">Thanks for checking out our contest.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">Winners will be contacted by days end so we can ship your prizes out to you.</div><div align="left"><br />
</div><div align="left">Thanks</div></div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-41880552287802985452011-03-12T11:26:00.001-06:002011-03-12T11:27:48.799-06:00The Leap Frog Bloggers Prompt (1.2)<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFIxUNxeKQ1V6A07qxkDfus41oGuqidrjCnK207GQMb4P5tFhtywO9UJOSTdfHjTjefTVcsuYCqUKGlOzYpMgsa2SfpclJ3HCAjtdt1VNKHh350xnBhNYhEkbycmUpQk1WQ8AP_G0xQumY/s1600/Fishing+Poles.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" q6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiFIxUNxeKQ1V6A07qxkDfus41oGuqidrjCnK207GQMb4P5tFhtywO9UJOSTdfHjTjefTVcsuYCqUKGlOzYpMgsa2SfpclJ3HCAjtdt1VNKHh350xnBhNYhEkbycmUpQk1WQ8AP_G0xQumY/s320/Fishing+Poles.jpg" width="213" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;">image credit <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/dmushrush/"><span style="color: purple; font-size: x-small;">dmushrush</span></a></span><span style="color: white; line-height: 115%; mso-bidi-font-size: 11.0pt; mso-themecolor: background1;"></span></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Okay if you don’t know how this works here are the details. I am going to post a prompt whether it is writing, photo, or recipe (not likely as I’m not a good cook). If you would like to partake just fulfill the topic I select, link back to this post, leave a comment with the link to your post and I will pick my favorite one by Thursday of next week. Then who ever I pick will do the next prompt with the same rules. By the way this was started by Rory at </span><a href="http://methowgeartesting.blogspot.com/"><span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;">R-Dub Outdoors</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;">. I hope you enjoy.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">My topic is </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Lost, Stolen, or Malfunction Gear which altered your hunting or fishing trip, and how did you overcome it?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">I know this has happened to me on several occasions. Having my gun jam or my reel not function properly when I have a big fish on. The one that sticks in my mind the most is my first trout fishing trip with my Father-in-law and Brother-in-law.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">It was about three years ago and I was super pumped to go on this fishing trip, so I went out and purchased a bunch of<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>new gear, a small tackle box, a bunch of new spinners, a new net, a fishing rod that came apart in the middle, a new reel, and some new sun glasses.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">After a four hour drive we stopped at the first river. I was so excited to use all of my new gear I forgot to zip my back pack all the way.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I was fishing and having a blast when I decided to change my spinner. I looked into my bag and realized the top half of my new fishing pole was gone. At this point we had already walked a mile and a half up the river bank and let me tell you it wasn’t an easy walk.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Feeling rather deflated I walked back down stream looking for the top of my new pole with no luck. At least I had my ultra light which I had been fishing with the first hour of our trip and would have to use for the next three days. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">On the way back down river I look all over again, but nothing I was so bummed. I was so looking forward to using my new pole. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What did I do to overcome this unfortunate situation? I was thankful I had brought two rods along, and concentrated on trout fishing and enjoying my time with my pals.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;">Good luck and let's generate some traffic to each others blogs.</div></div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-10933666562787748232011-03-05T12:20:00.000-06:002011-03-05T12:20:43.904-06:00A Brush with the Other Side<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Rory over at <a href="http://methowgeartesting.blogspot.com/">R-Dub Outdoors</a> has a cool little thing going on called a Leap Frog bloggers prompt. For more details about the Leap Frog bloggers prompt check out Rory’s post </span><a href="http://methowgeartesting.blogspot.com/2011/03/leap-frog-bloggers-prompt.html"><span style="color: purple; font-family: Calibri;">The Leap Frog Bloggers Prompt</span></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I could go into great detail about my near fall into raging rapids last fall while trout fishing, or the time I almost got run over by a bull moose while deer hunting in Idaho, but I’ll leave those for another time besides they aren’t nearly as chilling as the story I am about to tell. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">If you don’t know I hunt public land very often I would say about 90% of the time.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div> <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq_EEx2byfcU4D2dqsm-vDU13zBuq8ZKaO3b-2HTPCxuiRB6oP0EG8PKM2mw3XKrkHn4WDdjaUG_nFPkHQAAgnmLOR6VC2uVmLTqSvcjd0pUh-qvszCjITnS2TeacvKds-QUIl1gULgRzw/s1600/Slugs.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="266" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgq_EEx2byfcU4D2dqsm-vDU13zBuq8ZKaO3b-2HTPCxuiRB6oP0EG8PKM2mw3XKrkHn4WDdjaUG_nFPkHQAAgnmLOR6VC2uVmLTqSvcjd0pUh-qvszCjITnS2TeacvKds-QUIl1gULgRzw/s400/Slugs.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">image credit<a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/wmode/"> mr.smashy</a> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><b><span style="color: black; font-family: 'Arial','sans-serif'; font-size: 18pt; line-height: 115%; mso-font-kerning: 18.0pt;"></span></b></div></td></tr>
</tbody></table> <div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Gosh it must have been about five or six years ago now.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was just like any other deer season except for the fact that I had actually harvested a deer opening weekend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span><a href="" name="_GoBack"></a><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Typically when I take a deer early in the season I spend more time walking around trying to sneak up on deer and scouting for new areas to place my stand.</span> </div><a name='more'></a><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">It was Sunday morning I had stayed in my stand only until about 9:30 when I decided to get down.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I walked around trying to push deer in the direction of others in my party. After an hour of not seeing any deer or hearing any shots from the others in my party I chose to try out some other areas I’ve had luck pushing deer out of in the past.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was walking through small patches of thick brush hoping to scare out a deer and wasn’t catching any breaks. With lunch fast approaching I headed in the direction of the parking lot, but I had one last spot I wanted to check out. It was a small swamp with a bunch of willows and downed trees. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">I was trudging through the swamp when thought I heard a deer get up and run to my left. I immediately exited the swamp and went to the higher ground on my left. Hoping to get a shot at the deer unfortunately I didn’t see anything.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">With my stomach growling, and me being a bit warn out I opted to stay on the high ground and get back to the truck sooner, so I could eat.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As always when I’m deer hunting my head was down looking for fresh deer sign. When out of now where I heard a shot ring off and it was close. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">A brief instant later I heard a slug zing through the air not more than two feet from my head. Talk about an adrenalin rush. Then a split second later another shot went off. I immediately hit the ground in order to avoid being hit by the slug. I heard that slug fly by about five feet away this time. As I lay on the ground there were a few more shots, but I heard only one more slug whistle past. <span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After lying in the dirt for a good five minutes with my heart still pounding I decided it would be safe to get up and go eat some grub. As I emerged from the woods on to the trail I saw a group of three guys who seemed to be gutting out a deer. </span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">As I approached them I looked to see a very old and graying doe. I didn’t even bother telling them they almost shot me, because in hind sight it was really my mistake. I should have known better, I was hunting on public land, and they really had no way of knowing I was back there.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">What would I have done differently? I wouldn’t have even walked into that swamp, and to this day I don’t walk through that swamp unless I’m heading out to the woods in the afternoon. Needless to say I am always a more mindful of the decisions I make while hunting on public land after my brush with the other side.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><br />
</div>Ben G.</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-83674538835330494892011-03-02T11:48:00.000-06:002011-03-02T11:48:44.146-06:00My favorite outdoor Tool: OBN Photo Prompt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Over the years I have had many different guns, boots, coats, hats, fishing rods, and reels the list could go on and on, but one thing I seem to never go without no matter where I go is a pocket knife. I have had a lot of them and they seem to always be the most used tool I have. Here is a picture of my most current favorite tool.<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZmaapAXiiPjtp4QhAN5XNVBgAxlyGrYQVwyuO3rdlA0tK-miKWahjwOQTIKwi11AO3wczNDxTus2wBUdmpsusmFoTHqM3d-DG-w-Lw6dvW1eO2wcE3IEEXR2xs9qTmsOzGV81OKCD3A9/s1600/My+Pocket+knife.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="155" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPZmaapAXiiPjtp4QhAN5XNVBgAxlyGrYQVwyuO3rdlA0tK-miKWahjwOQTIKwi11AO3wczNDxTus2wBUdmpsusmFoTHqM3d-DG-w-Lw6dvW1eO2wcE3IEEXR2xs9qTmsOzGV81OKCD3A9/s400/My+Pocket+knife.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">In the past I have always gone the cheap route and just gotten something that will work, but about four years a go for Christmas my Wife Amber got me a Kershaw pocket knife. After I wore that one out I had to purchase another one. I guess you could say I'm on a Kershaw kick. Anyway what is your favorite outdoor tool.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Oh don't forget to check out other bloggers favorite tools on the <a href="http://www.outdoorbloggernetwork.com/2011/03/01/outdoor-photo-prompt-playing-outdoor-favorites/">Outdoor Blogger Network</a>.</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">Ben G.</div></div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-18867859855044690462011-03-01T09:00:00.002-06:002011-03-01T09:51:42.725-06:00BREAKING CABIN FEVER An Outdoors- Inspired Scavenger Hunt START HERE<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div style="text-align: center;">Sponsored By</div><div style="text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaK0BuHNbZ-l3x7CALGVk8ov3VWtkd1mBoXwuEruWrmjEWNkMm8STuiwkP3UZOtdmutS8ukNTrSbncRJJccKYEY8kwYLcNYxxdWCezTE126aeg8IPszgT1r36Un1A9YKnbgIDgs9cVPuz/s1600/magnum.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhRaK0BuHNbZ-l3x7CALGVk8ov3VWtkd1mBoXwuEruWrmjEWNkMm8STuiwkP3UZOtdmutS8ukNTrSbncRJJccKYEY8kwYLcNYxxdWCezTE126aeg8IPszgT1r36Un1A9YKnbgIDgs9cVPuz/s1600/magnum.jpg" /></a><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-Eo27ImAmHzrT8gkm37FkArJTLFOonBpT9fNYHWyYquW59xwirslpVr2ZjUOvrxp_Pt3833f2L9wwIsb2pDhMlWLdyEuKFXlPZbI2oZosoe0qY5RNNT-K35K9IEgEa_xU50Wvxjv20rw/s1600/flat.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiG-Eo27ImAmHzrT8gkm37FkArJTLFOonBpT9fNYHWyYquW59xwirslpVr2ZjUOvrxp_Pt3833f2L9wwIsb2pDhMlWLdyEuKFXlPZbI2oZosoe0qY5RNNT-K35K9IEgEa_xU50Wvxjv20rw/s1600/flat.jpg" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrQRkALap9cybbyKK-3F9PPN1sH1b-kCC7rVzdx-zbuMeU4uUdGRtdKDp9GW2fg7CCrSr8zt14pQj3Slz3-5Npk2XA_GVmNQ_SkxUwnGzNzURXyBsI3NcYawsFRo21JJu8aCjMDA71Fj5/s1600/NoiseLogo4x.gif" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFrQRkALap9cybbyKK-3F9PPN1sH1b-kCC7rVzdx-zbuMeU4uUdGRtdKDp9GW2fg7CCrSr8zt14pQj3Slz3-5Npk2XA_GVmNQ_SkxUwnGzNzURXyBsI3NcYawsFRo21JJu8aCjMDA71Fj5/s1600/NoiseLogo4x.gif" /></a></div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;">Fish Creek Spinners</div><div align="center" style="text-align: center;"><br />
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</div><div style="text-align: left;">Hello Everyone and welcome to our little contest Breaking Cabin Fever. I hope you are ready for a fun ride. When you are on the scavenger hunt you will be directed to some great blogs. Just a warning you may like them, so feel free to get side tracked and look around. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">Here is what you do. I will be giving you a question and a link to a different blog follow the link and find the answer to the question. You will know you've found the answer because there will be a new question and link to the next blog.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"> What do you do with all of your answers. Either keep them in your head or write them down on a piece of paper because when you hit the last blog you will be directed back to this post. Then just leave a comment on this post with your answers and you contact info. Sounds easy right. Well then here is your first question. </div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;"><strong>Where is the best place to hang a Flat Deerheads wall graphic? </strong>Find your answer here on <a href="http://flatdeerheads.wordpress.com/">Flatdeerheads.com Blog</a></div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">PS Make sure to use the archives and search bars when you can. GOOD LUCK!</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">For rules and regulations & prizes click here <a href="http://beng-outdoors.blogspot.com/2011/02/breaking-cabin-fever-outdoors-inspired.html">Breaking Cabin Fever</a></div><div style="text-align: left;">all participants with correct answers will be put in a random drawing.</div><div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div></div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-78740067318714618262011-02-28T09:45:00.001-06:002011-03-01T09:58:43.043-06:00BREAKING CABIN FEVER An Outdoors- Inspired Scavenger Hunt<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">Sponsored By </div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
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Snow swirls outside, making the world look like vast tundra. Venturing out for a carton of milk or some bread seems a daunting task in the bitter chill. The only other alternative to adventuring outdoors is staying indoors, which can be as much, if not more so of a challenge. But fear not, friends! The cure for your cabin fever is here! <br />
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Ben G. Outdoors, along with a handful of his best blogging compatriot buddies have teamed up to provide some entertainment to break this cabin fever that plagues so many of their chilly readers. The rules are simple if you’ve ever taken part in a scavenger hunt. <br />
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On March 1st, Ben G. will be posting the first clue. Once a participant finds the answer within his blog, then he or she will be directed to the next blog; so on and so forth. The following blogs will be participating in this scavenger hunt give-away.<br />
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<a href="http://somethingsfishy-jm.blogspot.com/">Somethings Fishy</a> <br />
<a href="http://bulletsandbiscuits.blogspot.com/">Bullets & Biscuits</a> <br />
<a href="http://beng-outdoors.blogspot.com/">Ben G. Outdoors</a> <br />
<a href="http://abnormaloutdoors.blogspot.com/">Abnormal Outdoors</a> <br />
<a href="http://huntlikeyourehungry.blogspot.com/">Hunt like You’re Hungry</a><br />
<a href="http://flatdeerheads.wordpress.com/"> Flat Deerheads</a> <br />
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The contest will conclude on March 10th. Winners will be announced on the 14th. The prizes are as follows:<br />
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•<span style="color: #cc0000;"> 1st place</span>: <a href="http://www.magnumboots.com/us/boots/work-safety/235/work-pro-ultra-wpi-ct/">Magnum boots Work Pro Ultra WPI CT</a> , $50 Bass Pro gift card, The Complete Trail Food Book - 300+ Recipes for Campers, Canoeists and Backpackers, and two packs of jerky from House of Jerky*<br />
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• <span style="color: red;">2nd place</span>: Flat Deerhead XL wall graphic of the winner’s favorite photo, a Flat Deerheads camo cap, $25 Bass Pro gift card, SEEMZ <a href="http://www.seemztechnology.com/scent-elimination-system/">Scent Elimination</a> and two packs of Jerky from the House of Jerky*<br />
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• <span style="color: red;">3rd place</span>: 3 Trout lures and 3 Bass lures From <a href="http://www.fishcreekspinners.com/">Fish Creek Spinners</a>, Catch of the Day - 200+ Recipes for the Everyday Angler and a some great Jerky snacks from the <a href="http://www.houseofjerky.net/">House of Jerky</a>*<br />
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Happy Searching and Good Luck!<br />
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<span style="color: red;">Rules and Regulations:</span><br />
• Participant must live in the US and Canada to participate. <br />
• Contest begins March 1st and concludes March 10th, EST<br />
• Participant must be 18 years of age or older. <br />
• Only one entry per contestant.<br />
• Participant MUST leave comment with answers on starting blog. <br />
• Only participants that have provided an answer for each of the blogs may be eligible to win the aforementioned prizes. <br />
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Start the Hunt here <a href="http://beng-outdoors.blogspot.com/2011/03/breaking-cabin-fever-outdoors-inspired.html">Breaking Cabin Fever</a></div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-6945389692954927792011-02-26T13:12:00.000-06:002011-02-26T13:12:09.271-06:00Interview with Matt of Functioning Fishaholics<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXGlxNrAoFAq95SgvB8b-WYQ4xQ1qRQ3xSOdaM8BOtb2eni0-37ASTjcgIGftxEUxjELclTJRm8uWmcZKupEs1p6PBlm96l-AtxbG1rEDUhJ6JXTarhQ7Yg0kBXH9y0M8aWU8LyMjZsiO/s1600/logosmall.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="100" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjVXGlxNrAoFAq95SgvB8b-WYQ4xQ1qRQ3xSOdaM8BOtb2eni0-37ASTjcgIGftxEUxjELclTJRm8uWmcZKupEs1p6PBlm96l-AtxbG1rEDUhJ6JXTarhQ7Yg0kBXH9y0M8aWU8LyMjZsiO/s200/logosmall.jpg" width="200" /></a></div><span style="font-family: inherit;">I am excited to introduce to you a recent friend of mine Matt from <a href="http://funcfish.com/">Functioning Fishaholics</a>. I recently had the pleasure of writing an article for Matt and his site. If you would like to read it here is <a href="http://funcfish.com/2011/02/spring-crappie-in-minnesota/">Spring Crappie Excitement in Minnesota<span style="font-weight: normal;"><span style="background-color: white;">.</span></span></a></span><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="font-weight: normal;"> Until I did that article I was so into writing about hunting I forgot about the fishing aspect of my blog. Any way Matt's site is one of the best around so if you are a fisherperson I urge you to check it <span style="font-family: Times, "Times New Roman", serif;">out</span>. </span></span><br />
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As you read the interview you will find that at first Matt didn't even know how much fishing was ingrained in him. So, Just sit right back and you'll hear a tale, A tale of a fateful trip....wait I mean. Sit back and you'll get inside the mind of not only a great blogger, but a fisherman who loves the sport down to his core and it shows. I now introduce to you Matt.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcEfeHag8DmtOadJUqZoI_o7ckv1Cz3KcjMweFJtlRZgkB-RlerfS8L3C1l5mGN6smQQTG-R0KSwPaEKXIFzOgYqr2Yffb7fF3ykN2uAm2Z2ns_rrEIx-x_Up5Ux_CL_J7IRLROcSJa-X/s1600/Matt.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="128" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhpcEfeHag8DmtOadJUqZoI_o7ckv1Cz3KcjMweFJtlRZgkB-RlerfS8L3C1l5mGN6smQQTG-R0KSwPaEKXIFzOgYqr2Yffb7fF3ykN2uAm2Z2ns_rrEIx-x_Up5Ux_CL_J7IRLROcSJa-X/s200/Matt.jpg" width="200" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">It's Matt</td></tr>
</tbody></table><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Well Matt now that I have every ones attention why did you start Functioning Fishaholics?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">A group of guys, some fish, and one very big nerd…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> or rather. </span></span><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">My fishing buddies and I needed a place to store and share pictures of the fish we caught as well as our fishing logs and stories.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>At the time I was writing three other blogs about technology, wine, and cell phone programming so I was able to use that experience and apply it to fishing.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>As I got more involved with the site I came to realize that fishing has really been a core passion of my entire life.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>What started out as a simple fishing buddy website has now evolved into a vehicle that allows me to share my love of fishing with the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(My other fishing buddies think I’m nuts)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">What is your favorite aspect of blogging?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Sharing with the community.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If I can write one article or share one picture and it helps another fisherman, I have done my job.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I want to share my obsessive quest for information and experience with the world.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I have met so many wonderful people since I started blogging. It always amazes me how we can come from different walks of life or even political parties, yet fishing and a love for the outdoors ties us together.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Name your three favorite blogs other than your own?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">I’d give a shout to Kari </span><a href="http://www.idontwearpinkcamotothewoods.com/"><span style="color: purple; font-family: inherit;">www.idontwearpinkcamotothewoods.com</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> but she’s gotten enough love already from this site!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>(and yes this is my attempt at listing 4)</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Nate over at </span><a href="http://www.fishinginpa.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.fishinginpa.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is an honorary Functioning Fishaholic.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I can always count on him for support and feedback about what I write.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His blog and interests involve freshwater fishing, fly fishing, lure making, kayak fishing, and even fly tying.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He is someone to keep your eye on!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Tommy over at </span><a href="http://followingghost.blogspot.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://followingghost.blogspot.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> is a fantastic artist, outdoors man, and twitter friend.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>His site is worth the visit just to see his art.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The guy is a genius!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you are a fisherman or hunter you will also find some really good writing on his page.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Tommy has a writing style that pulls you in and makes you feel like you are actually on the fishing trip with him.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He’s also making and painting some really fine lures!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: inherit;">What can I say about Mike from </span><a href="http://www.troutrageous.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">http://www.troutrageous.com/</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"><span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>hmm…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Not much.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All kidding aside Mike lives right around the corner from me and writes a much better fishing blog than I do.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please don’t go to his site.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He writes about fly fishing and Tenkara fishing and all sorts of other interesting topics.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>He even includes a good dose of humor and ‘slightly dressed’ women holding fishing poles!</span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">If you could provide us with only one blogging tip what would it be and why?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Don’t write about anything you don’t love.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t write because of money.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Don’t write without passion.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>You could be the worst writer in the world but if you have passion about what you write people will find your site and enjoy it.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you learn something new tell the world about it!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Who cares if someone else has already told the story 1000 times?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Writing is personal, you have a voice and if you have passion people will line up to read what you have to say!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Where do you draw your inspiration from?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqnOaJf7oLrecmy0uvauuGRusEK2kAzUlU_L65eEag2UXyG-vdeDNYHeKvRhVpmpWchtUxWeVJywT3OqVhTeMgabgcE4mEC8VisYfryAHadNNdB5ISjxzHYclwGclsLidkIquiwIkGgZig/s1600/The+Stillness.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjqnOaJf7oLrecmy0uvauuGRusEK2kAzUlU_L65eEag2UXyG-vdeDNYHeKvRhVpmpWchtUxWeVJywT3OqVhTeMgabgcE4mEC8VisYfryAHadNNdB5ISjxzHYclwGclsLidkIquiwIkGgZig/s320/The+Stillness.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think anyone could draw inspiration in a place like this.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: 'Times New Roman','serif'; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"></span><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">The stillness.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Have you ever had a moment where time stops and everything just makes sense?<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fishing for me has so many of these Zen like moments.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Maybe it’s that hush that falls over a rocky stream bank right before a fish strikes.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Perhaps it’s the peace and perfection that comes from tying flies.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>All I know is fishing and all things fishing are my meditation.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Fishing is a state of mindfulness, it reminds me of who I am.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It reminds me of my place in nature and my standing with God.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
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</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">What is the best part of fishing?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span>Not being at work.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">In your opinion what is the best type of fishing?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Side stepping the fresh/salt and fly/bait/lure arguments here…<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The best type of fishing is fishing with a buddy.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>The rivalry and smack talk between fellow fishing friends is one of life’s true joys!</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">What was the best fishing trip you have ever been on?</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0cCqijPHgTt7V6etiVhYT2R7LI7NPjih7GOGdHzFQipOILk0f3PfAbYEACtf93j3dISPoSpdcIMUJOKiZ4Fx7vWf7J3LEcitJGiZPHjgdpdms8Mt221EQAqLJcDIkrHeclKkf4lPu4_b/s1600/first+muskie.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjB0cCqijPHgTt7V6etiVhYT2R7LI7NPjih7GOGdHzFQipOILk0f3PfAbYEACtf93j3dISPoSpdcIMUJOKiZ4Fx7vWf7J3LEcitJGiZPHjgdpdms8Mt221EQAqLJcDIkrHeclKkf4lPu4_b/s320/first+muskie.jpg" width="245" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Matt are you sure that Muskie is 20" looks al ittle smaller than that to me?</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Last Fall I caught my first Muskie at Marsh Creek reservoir.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>It was a stocked Muskie only about one year old and 20” long but it was my first.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Something about catching a species of fish I’ve never caught before was very special to me.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Where did you learn how to fish?</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX2GqV7pTeglzhqZZy5a05X7FjMzSD1f4BYCf_w0vsv81tdd2VihRaJWQZ4qZIN1AyrcqVRRYroLtx3DXS6D6DZ48q1ImFdWDj23VAX19vyVcpE9jgA1iZ_glKkQaxHSy_u-lAE9rbNJ-/s1600/mom+bass.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="146" l6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVX2GqV7pTeglzhqZZy5a05X7FjMzSD1f4BYCf_w0vsv81tdd2VihRaJWQZ4qZIN1AyrcqVRRYroLtx3DXS6D6DZ48q1ImFdWDj23VAX19vyVcpE9jgA1iZ_glKkQaxHSy_u-lAE9rbNJ-/s320/mom+bass.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">I think your mom could out fish me too! What a nice bass.</td></tr>
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</div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">My mom grew up in Potter County Pennsylvania.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>There are two types of people up there:<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>People who hunt and fish, and people who live somewhere else.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I always feel funny saying my mom taught me how to fish but ever since I could walk I’ve been going on fishing trips with mom.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>While I’ve moved away from her bait and wait technique I must admit she still kicks my butt on any fishing trip we go on.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">What takes up your time beside fishing, and writing?</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: inherit;"> <span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="mso-tab-count: 1;"></span><span style="font-family: inherit;">Technology.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m an IT guy by trade and also an avid Xbox 360 player.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I think being so involved in technology really allows me to see how important getting outdoors really is!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Finally if there is anything you would like to add here is your chance to give us some of your wisdom.</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Thank you to everyone who took the time to read this interview and a GIANT thanks to Ben for all of your hard work!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>I’m always on the lookout for new outdoors friends!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>Please stop over to my site and leave me a comment.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span></span></span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit;"><br />
</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="line-height: normal; margin: 0in 0in 0pt;"><span style="font-family: inherit; mso-fareast-font-family: 'Times New Roman';">Also remember to take care of the outdoors!<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> </span>If you see someone else has left a mess do the animals a favor and clean it up!</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Matt I thank you taking time out of your busy blogging and Xbox 360 schedule to do an interview with us. It is greatly appreciated. I am very glad I have had the chance to meet someone as passionate as you are about fishing it shows all through out your blog. Thanks again. Hey everyone don't forget to check out The </span><a href="http://funcfish.com/"><span style="font-family: inherit;">Functioning Fishaholics</span></a><span style="font-family: inherit;"> blog I know you will like it.</span><br />
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<span style="font-family: inherit;">Ben G.</span></div></div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-42614374323579615012011-02-22T18:42:00.000-06:002011-02-22T18:42:59.161-06:00Reminiscing About My Fishing Past<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv01hZzYjO7p2OfP0NK00YtX15kAsFwNLEPX0Li2NXe7gLj_9B-ojWfVEt72cAeDD1VcClglOSgWWUzhyphenhyphenl3AdjhDwPO3jxSYGU9s0ctTigMw3AsEmjjQhL4i2cqPbufLytX0BMjZ_RIvc/s1600/Walleye.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" j6="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjAv01hZzYjO7p2OfP0NK00YtX15kAsFwNLEPX0Li2NXe7gLj_9B-ojWfVEt72cAeDD1VcClglOSgWWUzhyphenhyphenl3AdjhDwPO3jxSYGU9s0ctTigMw3AsEmjjQhL4i2cqPbufLytX0BMjZ_RIvc/s400/Walleye.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">image credit <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/walktheline/"><span style="color: #0063dc;">joedferg</span></a><br />
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</tbody></table><div align="left">Fishing opener has always been one of my favorite times of the year. Now with two little one’s, opener seeming to always fall on Mothers day here in Minnesota, and my recent obsession with Turkey hunting taking me away form the family. I don’t have much time for fishing on opener. I want to share with you some of my most memorable times on Minnesota’s fishing opener.</div><br />
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My first opener I was around the age of 11 or 12 my good friend Matt and his dad Art asked me to go up to Milacs Lake and have our bobbers hit the water at 12 AM opening morning. It sure did sound like a good idea at the time, so I tagged along.<br />
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I’ll make a long story short here. The wind was crazy and cold. I was all decked out in my winter gear making fishing very hard. White caps on the lake made for a very unstable ride. I think I caught one fish and got my gloves snarled on the hooks more then I would like to admit. Matt and I ended up sleeping on the floor of the boat while Art kept fishing. <br />
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On the ride home a bolt on the trailer snapped and the trailer, truck and all of us came to a screeching halt. It wasn’t a fun trip at the time, but I wouldn’t trade it for anything I learned a lot on that trip.<br />
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I was probably about 18 at this time my good buddy Luke and I went up to his Folks cabbing near Brainerd Minnesota. Neither of us had a boat and I think his dad was using his boat for another trip. <br />
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The two of us decided to rent a canoe at the resort. Great idea we fished for Walleyes for a few hours and I don’t think we ever even got one nibble. Since the lake was a great Pike Lake we decided to give them a shot. Sure enough we caught a few. <br />
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The best part was when we were fishing for the Northern Pikes and Luke caught a Monster bass, if I remember correctly it was pushing 22 ½ inches. Too bad for him bass fishing didn’t open for another two weeks and we didn’t have a camera. <br />
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Then out of no where the sun disappeared and the clouds moved in. Along with the clouds came the wind. Luke and I were on the opposite side of the Lake from where we needed to be. We had to paddle all the way back into the wind with white caps on the lake. Cold wet and windy, but it was a blast.<br />
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Last but not least It must have been about three years ago Luke and I challenged Luke’s Dad Lew and his pal John to a mini tournament on opening day. Where the losers had to clean and cook the fish along with cleaning up the mess. The key was to get the most inches of fish with in a legal limit and Walleyes were worth double inches. <br />
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The morning went well I landed my biggest fish ever something like a 32 or 33 inch Northern Pike. But we didn’t catch our limit. When we met up for lunch Luke and I were not even in the vicinity of total inches we needed to even keep close to Lew and John. We had only 3 fish in our boat and they had a full limit of Northerns plus a few other fish. <br />
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Needless to say after lunch Luke and I were off to catch the rest of our limit of Northern Pikes and did so with in about 45 minutes. Then we went to go catch a mess of pan fish. We found a nice little spot and were catching blue gills left and right. With a few Crappies sprinkled in. <br />
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We had a cretin we had to be back to the dock and it was roughly fifteen minutes away. We had a ten minute boat ride back to the dock we decide it was time to go so we each tossed our lines in the water one last time. I didn’t get anything but Luke caught a nice crappie around 14 inches. We loaded everything up and raced back to the dock.<br />
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We got back to the dock with one minute to spare. Now it was time to measure fish. The old guys went first because they were very confident that we didn’t land enough fish to catch them and it wasn’t looking so good for Luke and me. After they measured all their fish I had a bad feeling I would be cleaning fish.<br />
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Lucky for us fish after fish we crept closer to Lew and John’s total. Finally we had measured all of our fish but one and it just happened to be Luke’s Crappie. We added up our total and it was very close we were about 10 inches behind, and then Luke pulled the crappie out of the bucket and let’s simply say the fish tasted even better that night.<br />
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Ben G.<br />
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this post is supported by <a href="http://www.boaterexam.com/canada/boatinglicense.aspx">boat license</a><br />
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</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-269625694268579802011-02-19T14:59:00.000-06:002011-02-19T14:59:23.491-06:00Writing<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Hey everyone I just wanted to let you know why I haven't been posting too much lately. I've been spending a lot of time writing for others so here are a few links to my latest articles.<br />
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Earth Sports January 26, 2011<br />
<a href="http://ht.ly/3HXHd"><span style="color: #ddd6bb;">Ice Fishing Tips</span></a><br />
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NWO PRODUCTIONS January 28th, 2011<br />
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<a href="http://nwoproductions.com/Articles.php"><span style="color: #ddd6bb;">How Internet Hunting Videos will affect Hunting Television</span></a><br />
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The Functioning Fishaholics February 6th, 2011<br />
<a class="entry-title" href="http://funcfish.com/2011/02/spring-crappie-in-minnesota/" rel="bookmark" title="Spring Crappie Excitement in Minnesota (a guest post by Ben Gustafson)"><span style="color: black;"><span style="color: #eeeeee;">Spring Crappie Excitement in Minnesota </span></span></a><br />
Foremost Hunting.com January 27th, 2011<br />
<a href="http://foremosthunting.blogspot.com/2011/01/my-best-days-afield.html"><span style="color: #395089;">My Best Days Afield</span></a><br />
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<span>February 2011</span><br />
<span><a href="http://www.foremosthunting.com/Turkey/Gear/TurkeyGunsandAmmo/CreatingTheUltimateTurkeyGun/tabid/1474/Default.aspx">Converting An Ordinary Shotgun Into The Ultimate Turkey Gun</a></span><br />
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</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-55446673457589711132011-02-14T18:46:00.002-06:002011-02-14T19:04:12.573-06:00Featured Blogger Albert A Rasch of The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">I am pleased to introduce to everyone one of my blogging mentors Albert A Rasch. Albert has helped me out on a number of occasions answering some of my crazy questions about blogging and posting some of my contest stuff. Needless to say Albert has been a great influence on me the past couple of years. Thanks Albert. <br />
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So cozy up to you laptop and learn more about one of the outdoor blogging greats. If you haven't already I suggest you check out his blog <a href="http://trochronicles.blogspot.com/">The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles</a> I think you will enjoy it.<br />
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Ben, thanks for having me on <a href="http://beng-outdoors.blogspot.com/">Ben G Outdoors</a>! As you know, I'm a big fan of both <a href="http://beng-outdoors.blogspot.com/">Ben G Outdoors</a> and <a href="http://abnormaloutdoors.blogspot.com/">Abnormal Outdoors</a>, I only wish there were more hours in the day to read not only your blogs, but the other few dozen I follow! <br />
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<b>1. Why did you start Blogging?</b><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgisY5GLpNZBFNhjU6UUUL4H4qZfLqpN8AXyvG6yn8eScR1UN-twUAiwOzJSagjR-3HgXqgZ3Ri2ZFNJpJrQLnPiihuiWLo_Ye6aSry-VTpliQ5LLPns3hpvhpah9a_ZeKtICpdaUHckr/s1600/At+Eds+Tavern.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Albert relaxing lakeside at Ed's Tavern" border="0" height="193" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiwgisY5GLpNZBFNhjU6UUUL4H4qZfLqpN8AXyvG6yn8eScR1UN-twUAiwOzJSagjR-3HgXqgZ3Ri2ZFNJpJrQLnPiihuiWLo_Ye6aSry-VTpliQ5LLPns3hpvhpah9a_ZeKtICpdaUHckr/s200/At+Eds+Tavern.JPG" width="200" /></a>Besides the fact that I like to hear myself wax eloquent on any number of subjects, I really thought that I could share some of the things I've learned and experienced. I don't know about the rest of y'all, but I have a hard time getting together with like minded folks in my neighborhood, and blogging is much like kicking back at the neighborhood watering hole and talking with friends. You know Ben, so much happens to us on a daily basis that we many times just file it away and ultimately forget about it. With some luck - and a good back-up system - this will be available to educate and entertain my great-grandchildren, and to guide important world leaders years henceforth!<br />
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<b>2.Who were the people that influenced you when you first started Blogging?</b><br />
Man, I have to say the SBW-<a href="http://suburbanbushwacker.blogspot.com/">The Suburban BushWacker</a>, Holly Heyser-<a href="http://norcalcazadora.blogspot.com/">NorCalCazadora</a>, Othmar Vohringer-<a href="http://outdoorswithothmarvohringer.blogspot.com/">Outdoors with Othmar</a>, Phillip Laughlin at <a href="http://californiahuntingtoday.com/hogblog/">The Hog Blog</a>, and Rick Kratzke-<a href="http://whitetailwoods.blogspot.com/">Whitetail Woods</a>, influenced me in different ways. Michael Riddle of <a href="http://nativehunt.com/">Native Hunt</a> also motivated me in ways that are too numerous to mention. <br />
The beauty of it is that we all influence each other in a myriad of ways and in different directions. SBW's wit, humor, and perspicacity is something that I wish I could emulate, Holly has a journalist's keen eye and sense for the proper turn of phrase and getting to the gist of an issue, Othmar's intellect and acumen is all encompassing. Philip is a writer and journalist also, has a good 'ol boy exterior that belies his razor sharp intellect, and he shoots like nobody's business. His graciousness and generosity are something I will never forget. Mike's confidence in my writing, though wildly misplaced, has always made me strive to do better! And finally, Rick's down to earth and homespun bonne'ami spirit is wonderful to share and experience. I consider them all my personal friends, and without blogging I would never had a chance to meet so many fine hunters and outdoorsmen. And like them, there are dozens of others that I respect and learn from each and every day!<br />
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<strong>3. What aspect of Blogging do you enjoy the most?</strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVT30Qp3cenUEhCrhR76f1QCo34kj0yVnTKTYzDk-MC7pdWOgrVEB9_0Rq0_MEEBryKccM2eVWkvkkhQJbSd59TaG4WNhBV9vfc9EYcTN8jXeQWd1MOeLlFVEo1d-Igve_Lsa0YG06fB2/s288/Muzzy%20head%20on.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Albert Rasch, Muzzy, Bowhunting, Archery" border="0" h5="true" height="190" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiDVT30Qp3cenUEhCrhR76f1QCo34kj0yVnTKTYzDk-MC7pdWOgrVEB9_0Rq0_MEEBryKccM2eVWkvkkhQJbSd59TaG4WNhBV9vfc9EYcTN8jXeQWd1MOeLlFVEo1d-Igve_Lsa0YG06fB2/s200/Muzzy%20head%20on.JPG" width="200" /></a><br />
Didn't I mention that already? Hearing myself talk? Hmmm, I thought I did.... No only kidding! LOL! ... OK just a little.<br />
Seriously, when I know I've put together a good post, I feel great! I'm convinced that I write twenty fairly passable posts for every hundred that get on screen. Of those twenty, five are what I consider really good posts! Now, when I get a good run of comments on what I think is a good post, that's just icing on the proverbial cake.<br />
I gave your question more thought Ben, and I remember that I also love helping folks out with new blogs and new ventures. I'm a banner junkie and really enjoy putting them up for folks. And you know about the Saturday Blog Rodeo, that's been one of my favorite series! It's my way of helping out the bloggers I appreciate. Lately I've been highlighting some blogs outside of the normal outdoor genre, simply because I appreciate what they're doing too. And many of us have other interests also. Hopefully I'll turn someone on to a blog or other experience that they would otherwise not know existed.<br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAfkulR63J-BXWPtLwY2HmYBeSdh89fWBUMWlKJmzElpxZlKUf_UhdR_fFT6ZC9vi46CDFaLb4q6QNLr36HKDcVRCiBn9LkmHkdEo7NZ5jrw1Pt2eMdPRn4S3vRZh0sy1aL4WixBHG_EOS/s1600/Dad+and+the+Axe.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="Last ditch weapon, forged hawk" border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiAfkulR63J-BXWPtLwY2HmYBeSdh89fWBUMWlKJmzElpxZlKUf_UhdR_fFT6ZC9vi46CDFaLb4q6QNLr36HKDcVRCiBn9LkmHkdEo7NZ5jrw1Pt2eMdPRn4S3vRZh0sy1aL4WixBHG_EOS/s200/Dad+and+the+Axe.jpg" width="167" /></a><br />
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<strong>4. What in your opinion are some must read outdoor blogs?</strong> <br />
Well Ben, I would like to tell you, but I have a post scheduled on that very subject! I suppose I could be persuaded to share a few with you on <a href="http://beng-outdoors.blogspot.com/">Ben G Outdoors</a>! It really depends on what you're after in your own mind. When I'm in the mood for well written literature, I go straight to <a href="http://mausersandmuffins.blogspot.com/">Home on the Range</a><span style="font-size: xx-small;">(I have a crush on B...)</span>. Intellectual discussion on hunter's rights: <a href="http://galengeer.blogspot.com/">Galen Geer's The Thinking Hunter</a>. Real hunting advice with a deep understanding of the art: <a href="http://hodgemansoutdoors.blogspot.com/">Hodgeman's Thoughts</a>. I'll fill you in on my top ten or twenty in a week or two.<br />
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<strong>5. Could you provide us with some of the tricks you use to keep coming up with new informative and good content on your blog?</strong><br />
If I told you, I would have to kill you... <br />
Oh what the heck, it's not like it's a real secret. Sometimes its a word that pops out at me and sets off a train of thoughts. On occasion it is real knowledge that I have and think, "Gee, folks ought to know this stuff too." Here is a little trick I use that may be of some help to others. Open up a new blog post. Write something, anything, and start to develop an idea around it. When you've tired of it or decided that you've written enough save it as a draft. Come back to it later when you remember, or have time and edit it. Add more information, take stuff out, and reword phrases that don't quite sound right. I have over one hundred twenty drafts that I have put together that I go to get inspired. Some have sat for... A long time. Others a week or two. The cold weather camping post that is coming up has sat since November. I've tweaked it and worked on it for some time, finally deciding that it needed to be split into two parts.<br />
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<strong>6. Who introduced you to the outdoors?</strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFSlvoHYsUjFmdHcRjR5nlWNmihKDYAZLecFW-nYUNSgFjw-ah1H-_nlVfLYsMewNp-HMQyZLFwRXsBqgP_VGTL845wEl8Wr7qe7JpL7lVnXyUyMAk6eiVXovdBzOvEC-6i6qc8EKq7T1/s1600/100_0105b+small.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img alt="Albert A Rasch, Hunter and Outdoorsman" border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgyFSlvoHYsUjFmdHcRjR5nlWNmihKDYAZLecFW-nYUNSgFjw-ah1H-_nlVfLYsMewNp-HMQyZLFwRXsBqgP_VGTL845wEl8Wr7qe7JpL7lVnXyUyMAk6eiVXovdBzOvEC-6i6qc8EKq7T1/s200/100_0105b+small.jpg" width="144" /></a><br />
My dad loved to surf fish for stripers off Long Island when I was very young. Unfortunately we were never in a position to continue that as I grew up. But whenever the opportunity arose where we might be near water, my parents always allowed me to fish. So I started out as a fisherman! It was on a long flight to Europe that I developed a real desire and love for hunting. Jim Carmichael accompanied me all the way on a family trip to Spain on a big jumbo 747! You can imagine what a story about elephant hunting in Botswana does to an impressionable twelve year old. I remember as if it was only yesterday his recounting of the charge by a rogue female elephant. Only at the last moment did he reluctantly pull the trigger on his 458 Model 70 Winchester, driving that 500 grain solid through the matriarch's brain, dropping her mere feet from where he was standing. To this day I still get goosebumps as I recall that story...<br />
I kept that tattered and dog-eared issue of Outdoor Life my mother gave me before we boarded that flight for years, only losing track of it when I finally left home on my own adventures.<br />
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<strong>7. Have you passed along your passion for the outdoor to anyone?</strong><br />
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFYBrusrTFQNefCEXhbk7gjIJDW-mZie3mBjYvnCZ3X1tOvF8bEfLgvWKxocCbn5WajAdA5r1I9Kmj1pDOw4-EFKd6zVUrg2MaVQ3EU7i0FyA1u64RG0M7pYB0SrYjyrsNb07x2B8l3q5/s400/Blake%20and%20Dad.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="145" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlFYBrusrTFQNefCEXhbk7gjIJDW-mZie3mBjYvnCZ3X1tOvF8bEfLgvWKxocCbn5WajAdA5r1I9Kmj1pDOw4-EFKd6zVUrg2MaVQ3EU7i0FyA1u64RG0M7pYB0SrYjyrsNb07x2B8l3q5/s200/Blake%20and%20Dad.jpg" width="200" /></a><br />
That's a very big part of The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles, but it is during the daily face to face with people that I use to express my passion for the outdoors. I take every opportunity to talk about hunting, fishing, camping, and all the other outdoor activities I pursue. I make it my responsibility to educate and elucidate whenever the conversation comes up. <br />
At home, Bubby is the fisherman, Jordan is the gunfighter, and Mom is the camping buff; I would like to think that my love for them and those activities inspired their passions.<br />
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<strong>8. What is your favorite type of hunting and why?</strong><br />
I really like hog hunting; probably because it's year round, invariably exciting, and you can hunt them in any number of ways! On horseback with spears, on foot with handguns, long range with scoped rifles, up close with big bore shotguns, blackpowder, dogs, you name it, and you can do it with pigs!<br />
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<strong>9. Can you tell us about your most memorable hunt?</strong><br />
That would have to be the time I met a couple of good ol' boys with dogs the size of four wheelers, with a penchant for chasing big trophy boar hogs through the Florida swamps! It was touch and go let me tell you, and I came close to ending up skewered like Vietnamese rat on a stick! I tell the whole story on <a href="http://trochronicles.blogspot.com/2007/11/hogs-and-dogs.html">Hogs and Dogs</a>.<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2C3N1MOxcuM1k0buddquWkeR7hOu96QsJiFxsY_qKv-Km64R4mY-kCFlvkTh1orsPQ23kEMa2rPnXFKAVnopJZuJDgKQmVRQutcfIQSXfoNONsitfyGGWluBUgu6jWrdNXl9HR8wz8FAf/s1600/on+the+wire.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; cssfloat: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img alt="On the Wire" border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi2C3N1MOxcuM1k0buddquWkeR7hOu96QsJiFxsY_qKv-Km64R4mY-kCFlvkTh1orsPQ23kEMa2rPnXFKAVnopJZuJDgKQmVRQutcfIQSXfoNONsitfyGGWluBUgu6jWrdNXl9HR8wz8FAf/s200/on+the+wire.jpg" width="149" /></a><br />
<strong>10. Other than Blogging and hunting what takes up your time?</strong><br />
Just keeping the friendly, neighborhood suicide bombers from messing up my idyllic sojourn in Afghanistan...<br />
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<strong>Finally if there is anything else you would like to add about Blogging, the outdoors, or life in general?</strong><br />
Ben, I'm glad you asked. (Albert takes deep breath.)<br />
Friends, take responsibility. Take responsibility for your life, your actions, and your loved ones. Make it a point to try to do the right thing. Do the little things that on the surface seem inconsequential, but make a big difference if enough of us do it. Have civic pride. Stand and salute when the American flag goes by. Take your kids fishing. Take the neighbor's kids fishing. While you're at it, take the neighbor fishing too. Say thank you and please, even though you've had a long hard day and you really just want to strangle the clerk behind the counter. Keep kids on the straight and narrow when they're around you, remember you're the adult. And finally, remember your friends, neighbors, and strangers overseas serving in our armed forces you are their lifeline and anchor!<br />
Ben thanks again for having me on <a href="http://beng-outdoors.blogspot.com/">Ben G Outdoors</a>! I have enjoyed and appreciate the time we've spent together, and the opportunity to introduce myself to your readers.<br />
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Albert A Rasch<br />
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Well Albert, It has been a pleasure and I am so glad you accepted the task of interviewing with Ben G. Outdoors. Oh and I really enjoy your blog. If you missed it before here it is again <a href="http://trochronicles.blogspot.com/">The Rasch Outdoor Chronicles</a><br />
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</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-74629090051731255192011-02-13T10:00:00.001-06:002011-02-13T10:00:00.072-06:00Winter Tackle Maintenance<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Yeah, yeah, we know—you’ve seen a thousand articles on winter tackle maintenance. That’s why we’re not going to do another one right now. Instead, we’re going to clue you in to what NOT to do. Winter tackle maintenance can lead to more harm than good if you make these faux-pas, so as you get your gear into shape, make sure you don’t:<br />
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- Fill your spool with fresh monofilament, and then leave it near a window. Sunlight is the number-one enemy of mono; it degrades it and weakens the line. Leave a rod and reel where the sun beams through, and by the time you use that rig, the line could have lost 10 or 20 percent of its strength. Read the rest of <a href="http://www.earthsports.com/m/news/view/Winter-Tackle-Maintenance">Winter Tackle Maintenance</a> at Earth Sports.<br />
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</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-63296137339952815412011-02-12T19:34:00.000-06:002011-02-12T19:34:22.433-06:00Ice Fishing with Whip-ups<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Most everyone who has spent time fishing through the ice has used or at least seen tip-ups at work. These are the heavy-duty rigs for ice fishermen, using heavy line, usually a large live bait, and a flag that pops up and signals a fish is dining. The angler trots over and hand-lines the fish up through the hole.<br />
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Whip-ups, relative newcomers on the ice scene, work altogether differently. They are akin to a snare trap one might see in a jungle movie, where the mighty Bwana steps into a noose and triggers a bent-over tree that whips him up in the air and leaves him hanging upside down, held by the ankle. Follow the link to read more <a href="http://www.earthsports.com/m/news/view/Ice-Fishing-with-Whip-ups">Ice Fishing with Whip-ups</a><br />
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</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-19123421276721111562011-02-11T07:43:00.003-06:002011-02-21T13:58:16.337-06:00Review of Manzella Tracker Gloves<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRhNN-Al0NIZg84_WaBHOe1_ecHjoNCqZ5GfAXbJjY8bYGF671dfSlEbPELm89MztulK-yHK4sR7ABaqzJ6Td_OPgJZUpqFAEMWqDOdrIotYgWhraOxvjN0FZrMp_TOgtvWBEvvRFJq98/s1600/manzella.png" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; cssfloat: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhwRhNN-Al0NIZg84_WaBHOe1_ecHjoNCqZ5GfAXbJjY8bYGF671dfSlEbPELm89MztulK-yHK4sR7ABaqzJ6Td_OPgJZUpqFAEMWqDOdrIotYgWhraOxvjN0FZrMp_TOgtvWBEvvRFJq98/s1600/manzella.png" /></a></div>Thanks To the <a href="http://www.outdoorbloggernetwork.com/">Outdoor Bloggers Network</a> & <a href="http://www.manzella.com/">Manzella</a><br />
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When the box arrived at my house I knew exactly what it was and I was excited to try out My New Manzella Trackers. Before I even had a chance to use them I noticed a few things about the Manzella Tracker Gloves.<br />
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</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"></div>1. They have the Real Tree AP camo pattern (they also come in Mossy Oak Treestand). Camo is always a plus no matter what you are hunting.<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrXVVjS8AdrMZUGk4tiZNH9T83knoKDTa1JVuWV8KSXIPtBHT5e04EmmsNpGF-aNqzxgxL4GG1fYz5ODbsZFngbj3HCZWoaYexIWDdWF9jzrBM-EC-Ko24m7LkTTIBE7s5T1eeh773sW2/s1600/Manzella+Just+opened.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhlrXVVjS8AdrMZUGk4tiZNH9T83knoKDTa1JVuWV8KSXIPtBHT5e04EmmsNpGF-aNqzxgxL4GG1fYz5ODbsZFngbj3HCZWoaYexIWDdWF9jzrBM-EC-Ko24m7LkTTIBE7s5T1eeh773sW2/s320/Manzella+Just+opened.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Realtree AP Camo</td></tr>
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpSrn7JzTVx4w9J-ugNzeysU-eVH-4DwseEDa_TSso8T3gEFcWfZChLBZE7BelD5SnRSnrXnOEjmN7UzQ6-3ItIUzajNI5rV5YNDmJ89lWSoJsOkmZ68AvBa-qCqwjvurNnvOxgBI69CW/s1600/Mossyoak+Treestand.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhtpSrn7JzTVx4w9J-ugNzeysU-eVH-4DwseEDa_TSso8T3gEFcWfZChLBZE7BelD5SnRSnrXnOEjmN7UzQ6-3ItIUzajNI5rV5YNDmJ89lWSoJsOkmZ68AvBa-qCqwjvurNnvOxgBI69CW/s200/Mossyoak+Treestand.jpg" width="191" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mossy Oak Treestand</td></tr>
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<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
2. They were soft to the touch which means they will be quiet in the woods. (No swooshing sound if you bump you coat or a tree.)</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;">3. The Manzella logo was a brown color on the gloves. This is good because it won’t stand out or completely disrupt the camo pattern.</div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><br />
</div> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OAZCYanJu_aM2g199ILPKV3euVfYDlcjKvX6aYn1D3peMk7yAuHaevsXa-Ma7leDidDm6fCR-jWYmuRG2-C6nOexFSSRYOdiLPdHpI016Oi7_qmp1KMN9hL4lyD1hz8QLMgyPWVxb7Bc/s1600/Logo+Blends.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="175" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj8OAZCYanJu_aM2g199ILPKV3euVfYDlcjKvX6aYn1D3peMk7yAuHaevsXa-Ma7leDidDm6fCR-jWYmuRG2-C6nOexFSSRYOdiLPdHpI016Oi7_qmp1KMN9hL4lyD1hz8QLMgyPWVxb7Bc/s320/Logo+Blends.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Notice how the logo only stands out a little</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">After looking the new Manzella Tracker Gloves over I took the dog out in 15 degree weather. My first impression of the gloves was great. They were very warm, but I was only outside for a short time. The real test would come later when I had the chance to go outside again and shovel the fresh 3 ½ inches of snow on the ground.</span></div><div style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none;"><span style="font-family: inherit;">The temperature had dropped 5 degrees by the time I was able to get outside. I felt 10 degrees was a fair test. If it was much colder I don't think too many people will be out hunting.</span> </div><br />
<br />
<strong>I ran through three scenarios trying my best to simulate actual hunting experiences</strong>. <br />
<br />
--This test simulates being out in the field and you have to take your gloves off to get something out of your pockets or get your other gear ready. --<br />
<br />
I went outside with out any gloves on and let my hands get rather cold. (Maybe 10minnutes or so) I also put the gloves on the ground in the snow this way they would get cold as well. Then I put the gloves on and I couldn’t really believe how fast my hands started to warm up. <br />
<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VtNrLARfbhi4f72yPyR2N_iBhOSZWZnTBc6SzllKxRNRgykkpRvIBvFh9Cxd4ZNAvACLYxpQ44rD2jDNxwufmB9o6SIkZXoglpL8E3bBTGc3vXq1xoMgmkTejC_nC6szqAnbJS6WnqFL/s1600/closeup+snow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi_VtNrLARfbhi4f72yPyR2N_iBhOSZWZnTBc6SzllKxRNRgykkpRvIBvFh9Cxd4ZNAvACLYxpQ44rD2jDNxwufmB9o6SIkZXoglpL8E3bBTGc3vXq1xoMgmkTejC_nC6szqAnbJS6WnqFL/s320/closeup+snow.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Gloves cooling off on top of snow bank</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">--This test is simulating holding a steel gun barrel or receiver in the cold.--</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">Now to show how they kept up on the plastic wrapped steel handle on my shovel. I really thought these gloves were going to fail because every other glove I’ve used when out shoveling had failed. Boy was I wrong. Usually when I shovel it doesn’t matter what gloves I use as soon as I grab the handle on the shovel my hands start getting cold and I have to stop shoveling in order for my hands to warm up. </span></div> <br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtFUIPXEj1R4HzE27AwZerfN_XDPTR-5xej7yd2xTsSakxmPJIsuQ264KB7j96lG0j35a6bk_oD8VQwnWZW50ABy6S87B2DrBUm8CHYv0GDKrv_hJUwpHvhfhnUrNoo9Nuik797ALSN83U/s1600/shovel.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgtFUIPXEj1R4HzE27AwZerfN_XDPTR-5xej7yd2xTsSakxmPJIsuQ264KB7j96lG0j35a6bk_oD8VQwnWZW50ABy6S87B2DrBUm8CHYv0GDKrv_hJUwpHvhfhnUrNoo9Nuik797ALSN83U/s320/shovel.jpg" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The shovel waiting for me to do my test<br />
<br />
</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div class="MsoNormal" style="margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">--This Test simulates walking around in the woods working up a sweat--</span></div><div class="MsoNormal" style="border-bottom: medium none; border-left: medium none; border-right: medium none; border-top: medium none; margin: 0in 0in 10pt;"><span style="font-family: Calibri;">When I was about 3/4<sup>th</sup> of the way done shoveling the driveway my hands were getting to the point I could tell they should have been sweating, but to tell you the truth I don’t think my hands even got as close to sweating as I thought they should have.<span style="mso-spacerun: yes;"> The HYDRO BLOK let my hands breath just enough so they wouldn't sweat.</span></span></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOafDh94hy6jXnooxDxbTHxy6mr3Sme7TqUIoXU48LtZUpRRpfch7Vi5U3VTQUr2VVf7mQH0Z_UBrBlnfZywOuZW_jC8h8jm_2iMv894LmL0YMF-OnzNHPiKO8pjy2F_GmAqvVF0OzqMtH/s1600/hydroblok.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="75" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjOafDh94hy6jXnooxDxbTHxy6mr3Sme7TqUIoXU48LtZUpRRpfch7Vi5U3VTQUr2VVf7mQH0Z_UBrBlnfZywOuZW_jC8h8jm_2iMv894LmL0YMF-OnzNHPiKO8pjy2F_GmAqvVF0OzqMtH/s320/hydroblok.png" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">After I was done shoveling I had one more outdoor test I wanted to preform. Bury a glove in the snow and see how well it keeps your hands dry. I punched a hole in the snow bank and proceeded to get as much snow as possible on the glove. (I know what you are thinking it’s probably 8 degrees by now so the snow isn’t going to melt and get any glove wet). I had a solution for that I brought the glove inside all covered in snow.</div><div style="text-align: left;"></div><table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjintLyGNEJuLx6KI2qk1InKD__aYyhgxXJdM2CDb718yNuybsqb_ICNB5jvgaRPNQ94iWYfZz4WM-nb24WxrjYM24jCvxmuYwAPfRuhuBkkqp5Cn0KiC3KC0BWxt5vQjVvuWCCrl0lbgNf/s1600/burried+in+the+snow.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjintLyGNEJuLx6KI2qk1InKD__aYyhgxXJdM2CDb718yNuybsqb_ICNB5jvgaRPNQ94iWYfZz4WM-nb24WxrjYM24jCvxmuYwAPfRuhuBkkqp5Cn0KiC3KC0BWxt5vQjVvuWCCrl0lbgNf/s320/burried+in+the+snow.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glove buried in the snow bank</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOT_dsGT7sRZhaUADRioWYV-eu-Qh_6Ed8MzS_3iHpPtnNfD3vzXTXN6SHuK2xs25yUivjyCN7tPIGHWSyFK4fwIIzbvH8jne0ylVc1_uAfdovOrRPAkp6ZPcK-6Dgw-SuFHiHiuKP3NR/s1600/snow+covered.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiPOT_dsGT7sRZhaUADRioWYV-eu-Qh_6Ed8MzS_3iHpPtnNfD3vzXTXN6SHuK2xs25yUivjyCN7tPIGHWSyFK4fwIIzbvH8jne0ylVc1_uAfdovOrRPAkp6ZPcK-6Dgw-SuFHiHiuKP3NR/s320/snow+covered.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Glove covered with snow</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<div style="text-align: left;"><br />
</div><div style="text-align: left;">When I got inside I laid the gloves on the floor in my basement. After roughly an hour I went back to check the gloves to see if the inside was wet. When I stuck my hand inside the glove it was dry as a bone. I was a little worried about this test because I thought with a cloth type texture on the outside of the glove there was no way it would be able to stay dry. </div><br />
<strong>Other Features</strong><br />
<br />
As I was testing the Manzella Tracker gloves out I noticed some things that were very useful.<br />
<br />
1. The draw string. This helps with a multitude of different things. <br />
<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1tYmwyo18NTCzFyrEtkUwb3g9DtZRVP2Xnu5PRrT3w2Y9KCBeCH6lXNmXf-p_zZf6yJUChgcRnKf6DGZ8JVHsi9q-TQHouLn8P2XGK4vu6fpFewlYgGx5QAbN5MfEzQe4cpfhwQTIKCC/s1600/drawstring.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="233" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjF1tYmwyo18NTCzFyrEtkUwb3g9DtZRVP2Xnu5PRrT3w2Y9KCBeCH6lXNmXf-p_zZf6yJUChgcRnKf6DGZ8JVHsi9q-TQHouLn8P2XGK4vu6fpFewlYgGx5QAbN5MfEzQe4cpfhwQTIKCC/s320/drawstring.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
A) It helps keep the gloves on your hands. B) It helps keep the heat from your hands in the glove. C) Helps keep the snow out <br />
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<br />
2. Trigger finger. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKuLLqQTqOtrfSJq9JrEx219G15qmbMcmdiYkOB6VKyTkhpD3b-IjUEBBhacIGTRtF-ETIC7lo6pw3jRfT5A8U9MiHToM2xVtz5batsTDGxxh3pIDn1hzkKP9higmAlZ4eQCHk9J5PiUf/s1600/triggerfinger.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="221" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhVKuLLqQTqOtrfSJq9JrEx219G15qmbMcmdiYkOB6VKyTkhpD3b-IjUEBBhacIGTRtF-ETIC7lo6pw3jRfT5A8U9MiHToM2xVtz5batsTDGxxh3pIDn1hzkKP9higmAlZ4eQCHk9J5PiUf/s320/triggerfinger.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><br />
<br />
This is a must on any hunting glove and The Monzella Tracker fits the bill here.<br />
<br />
3. The wrist strap.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdS5yuS-4i2KsEio8ulYBiYGZgD97W91Q0pC4Xb40YhKHKEzctPklhXG7VH8sgx36LmwkTjNhJcDacvsJI3rTn8XkNBrWQeA3otfYFsKsH8RLh9mlhMlx1RkTVfJGsM6uVDVmQNyFLzeg/s1600/Wrist+strap.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="184" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiNdS5yuS-4i2KsEio8ulYBiYGZgD97W91Q0pC4Xb40YhKHKEzctPklhXG7VH8sgx36LmwkTjNhJcDacvsJI3rTn8XkNBrWQeA3otfYFsKsH8RLh9mlhMlx1RkTVfJGsM6uVDVmQNyFLzeg/s320/Wrist+strap.jpg" width="320" /></a></div><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><br />
</div>This helps keep the glove on your hand and is also allows you to make the glove fit to your personal comfort level.<br />
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<br />
4. The elastic on the palm side of the glove. <br />
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<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT43vKVW_cdBbLf1ygIXhF0Z3OlXro6J3T58gaVKtK4xdjiEieI2RuCqqllmR3gJxEg3h6gq-CB7DV1sCbGoSsOa-nKrT1sACffy5mHYWbV3KW_w99rK3D5zi0iVJp_1gpOYRCFX4VuDkz/s1600/elastic.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgT43vKVW_cdBbLf1ygIXhF0Z3OlXro6J3T58gaVKtK4xdjiEieI2RuCqqllmR3gJxEg3h6gq-CB7DV1sCbGoSsOa-nKrT1sACffy5mHYWbV3KW_w99rK3D5zi0iVJp_1gpOYRCFX4VuDkz/s320/elastic.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />
This also helps keep the glove on your hand and is for comfort as well. <br />
<br />
5. The tanned lather grip on the palm and finger tips of the gloves. <br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGjMDu1cqMUTq_AgB7tj_aJ_H5oujB6fu1nvUWyeDUxWvzvfcUXKeENqq8El_aHEdrH2UHdHy7LIy5915jtrWmlkXhejTNefidB79r_mNtboMxqnhhpq515dY2-IWLozej8qslBsqcAYa/s1600/hand+grip.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNGjMDu1cqMUTq_AgB7tj_aJ_H5oujB6fu1nvUWyeDUxWvzvfcUXKeENqq8El_aHEdrH2UHdHy7LIy5915jtrWmlkXhejTNefidB79r_mNtboMxqnhhpq515dY2-IWLozej8qslBsqcAYa/s320/hand+grip.jpg" width="320" /></a></div> <br />
This makes gripping anything much easier and also lengthens the life span of the glove. <br />
<br />
After testing out these gloves I would say they are a great value for the money at $35.00. If you ever need a new pair of hunting gloves and don't have a ton of money to spend go to <a href="http://www.manzella.com/">http://www.manzella.com/</a> and check them out you won't be disappointed. <br />
<br />
One last thing I'd like to mention. The Manzella Trackers also come in woman's sizes. Check them out ladies I have a feeling you won't be disappointed either.<br />
<br />
<br />
<br />
Ben G.<br />
<br />
<br />
Note: I received these gloves free from <a href="http://www.manzella.com/">Manzella</a> through a <a href="http://www.outdoorbloggernetwork.com/gear/">Outdoor Blogger Network Gear Review</a> giveaway. Thanks for sending them my way.<br />
<br />
</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-68886239255131736022011-02-09T11:07:00.000-06:002011-02-09T11:07:38.515-06:00World’s Best Largemouth Lakes<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Ask 10 expert anglers around the country for their pick of the world’s best bass lake and you’ll get 20 opinions; everybody has one or two or three candidates. And to make things more complicated, some lakes that were great five years ago are not all that good today; changing water conditions can turn a world-beater into an also-ran—and if you arrive on the best lake in the country just after a cold-front, forget it—fishing will be tough, no matter how abundant they are. That said, here are a few lakes where you’ll have a great shot at success if the Fates smile on you. Follow the link to find what the <a href="http://www.earthsports.com/m/news/view/World-s-Best-Largemouth-Lakes">World's Best Largemouth Lakes</a> are <br />
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</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-59327870245724166362011-02-08T09:38:00.001-06:002011-02-08T10:50:02.197-06:00The Old Buck<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkNV0sdCYHFLwi3qDinr4Y0xE8m7vosJszvXWLcYc0w8eXb0ChtXl3HkYx4YdNtnGUXKBC2ZnxHNQ5fvCI0knRCSxpXLZwpFD98HlhVDiwWCxUcMaDXyLyt3C3U17KXC_ntY5crm1qDI0/s1600/mountains.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="260" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjNkNV0sdCYHFLwi3qDinr4Y0xE8m7vosJszvXWLcYc0w8eXb0ChtXl3HkYx4YdNtnGUXKBC2ZnxHNQ5fvCI0knRCSxpXLZwpFD98HlhVDiwWCxUcMaDXyLyt3C3U17KXC_ntY5crm1qDI0/s400/mountains.jpg" width="400" /></a></div><br />
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<br />
By Chris Larsen who writes for <a href="http://foremosthunting.com/">foremosthunting.com</a>. <br />
<br />
Despite the title, this story isn't about an wily, experienced buck. In fact it's not about a deer at all. My Grandpa was affectionately known as "The Old Buck". And you'll notice I didn't call him my grandfather, he was my Grandpa. He was a tall, slender man with wide shoulders and Danish likeability. He didn't have a braggart style confidence. He carried himself with a calm coolness. <br />
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<a name='more'></a><br />
Grandpa introduced me to the outdoors. He took this young, whippersnapper to the city park pond to wait for bobbers to disappear. Back in those days, we didn't filet panfish. Grandpa would cut the heads off, gut 'em, and scale 'em. From there, he'd roll them in flour and pan fry them. I haven't had panfish like that since then. Our outings weren't always successful. In those cases, we would cruise up to the local diner for a "walleyed-pike" dinner. I don't want to sound like an old man, but that's what walleye was called back in those days and once in a while I still see "walleyed-pike" today. <br />
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As I became a little older, our fishing trips took place a little further north. We would take grandpa's RV up to the Hayward, Wisconsin area. Soon after, I would be armed with a Chinese made, break barrel pellet gun. It was powerful enough to pass a .177 pellet straight through a squirrel. But every year as Grandpa, Dad, and Uncle Bob would load up for their annual trip to Wyoming, I would be left at home.<br />
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One year before I could legally hunt, I was finally allowed to head west with the elder Larsen men. The plan was to tag along with Grandpa and learn the essentials of mule deer hunting in the Rocky Mountain foothills. I'm not sure why he was stuck with me, but he was. I'm sure it was just another opportunity to teach his grandson something. <br />
<br />
The morning after we pulled into the Eastern Wyoming ranch, Grandpa and I were walking ridges while keeping our eyes peeled for big mulies. I don't recall seeing any deer, and I know we didn't get one. But we kept walking. Every time I wondered what to do next, he said, "keep walking." Gramps did pop a coyote. I'm not sure how things are these days, but back then cattle ranchers were happy to pay a bounty for any dead coyote. <br />
<br />
One particular morning stands out above the rest on that trip. It was a fairly warm day, sweatshirt weather to be precise. We had walked for a few hours when suddenly he stopped. By this time, I knew to stop with him. I started scanning the opposite ridge and saw nothing. When I looked back The Old Buck was just standing there, but his legs were crossed like a corkscrew. I asked him a question that seemed totally plausible to a 13-year-old hunting newbie, "Is that an ancient Indian hunting stance?" Grandpa chuckled and said, "No, I gotta take a dump!" And that's when I learned to always carry toilet paper. <br />
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A few months later I was finally able to apply for a hunting license. A few months after that, I learned another one of life's biggest lessons. We're not guaranteed anything in this life and that hunt I shared with Grandpa would be his last. The Old Buck had cancer and he died a few weeks before we would have left for Wyoming. We never made that trip. And for a wide variety of reasons, I've never been back. Grandpa's last hunt may have ended in an unfilled tag, but it was clearly a success. His knowledge lives on with me and I'll pass it along to his great-grandson. Despite never meeting The Old Buck, my son will know the importance of carrying toilet paper, that nothing in life is guaranteed, and to always.... keep walking <br />
<br />
Thanks a ton for the great article Chris you are welcome to guest post any time here at Ben G. Outdoors. <br />
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</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-61088972539299162252011-02-07T11:26:00.000-06:002011-02-07T11:26:43.141-06:00Hi-Tech on Ice: How Many Electronic Gizmos Do We Really Need?<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Almost 25 years ago, Lowrance brought back a limited edition of its Green Box Flasher sonar, the world’s first sonar unit for recreational anglers, and I had to have one. As a child, I’d seen a guy on the ice with one of the original Green Boxes and held him in same awe I’d have held a time traveler from the future.<br />
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In my own first experiment with a Green Box, I drilled a hole near concrete pier pilings in the swimming area of a summer camp, put the transducer in and watched, enthralled, as the teardrop baited with a mousie appeared as a red bar and sank lower on the screen. When a thicker red bar appeared on the sonar’s dial below the lure, a shot of adrenalin got my heart beating faster. Excitement built as the thicker red bar merged with the thin one. Anticipation of a big crappie flopping on the ice turned to frustration as the big bar faded, reappeared and faded again, this time for good. After another fruitless hour, I returned fishless and disappointed. Read the rest of the article here <a href="http://www.earthsports.com/m/news/view/Hi-Tech-on-Ice-How-Many-Electronic-Gizmos-Do-We-Really-Need">How Many Electronic Gizmos Do We Really Need?</a><br />
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</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-40213363991640148862011-02-04T08:35:00.000-06:002011-02-04T08:35:15.957-06:00The Baby<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Just a quick little up date our baby Nolan turned 1 on the 21st of January. I wanted to post these the day after the his party, but being busy, and getting my wife's camera away from her. I had a little trouble getting the pictures.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxw0lWYHHXOOAOiYxuPGC7NUMBkuT2OWPtaLklvFx-Of8mGFgLA3nUAoKZes-JMLnHvXVLUzmaH_Esg2bdFOAAZivovSkbR9TVvAxJhxsp5a8bsk6ABlVsmA1xIGKl9mGVWqk8XtCtBuML/s1600/Nolan+1.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhxw0lWYHHXOOAOiYxuPGC7NUMBkuT2OWPtaLklvFx-Of8mGFgLA3nUAoKZes-JMLnHvXVLUzmaH_Esg2bdFOAAZivovSkbR9TVvAxJhxsp5a8bsk6ABlVsmA1xIGKl9mGVWqk8XtCtBuML/s400/Nolan+1.jpg" width="300" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nolan is our little monster</td></tr>
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ZYf8hUFe91Yc97QAghWvGlX8R7RjazY-pSBjcnokNfxim03Tj7AjviCai3LzCptH-yqerfUq5chOxCCSfxUzzfXcIcXEVeB2cvMOdclph308bJNiOTltiPfbW0LesVejKd2be8e3hrvm/s1600/Nolan+2.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" h5="true" height="240" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh9ZYf8hUFe91Yc97QAghWvGlX8R7RjazY-pSBjcnokNfxim03Tj7AjviCai3LzCptH-yqerfUq5chOxCCSfxUzzfXcIcXEVeB2cvMOdclph308bJNiOTltiPfbW0LesVejKd2be8e3hrvm/s320/Nolan+2.jpg" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">He didn't care for cake. He must take after his mother.</td></tr>
</tbody></table><br />
Thanks for taking a look. <br />
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Ben G.<br />
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PS he's a climber<br />
</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-28915465358518164862011-02-03T12:00:00.000-06:002011-02-03T12:00:25.695-06:00Featured Blogger: Mike Agneta of Troutrageous!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on"><br />
I haven't done any interviews in quite some time so I thought it was time for another one. Being I have done mostly interviews with people form the hunting industry I figured it would be nice to talk with someone from the fishing side of things. So Here is Mike Agneta of <a href="http://www.troutrageous.com/">Troutrageous</a>!<br />
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<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXfP9aA-ncoiuBSqsqbGRSRv8tgW9eXTRS0-U8cYP_Sx7iPyVNhO9USwzkOp3cpZo7eehgZQC5qqCpyvsb2KFEzvg7Vascoa8aePT6dB_Vfz8kTH6bw_qeAIjAhlNFTzoUNQoUDU8bPez/s1600/DSCF2091+%255B800x600%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjEXfP9aA-ncoiuBSqsqbGRSRv8tgW9eXTRS0-U8cYP_Sx7iPyVNhO9USwzkOp3cpZo7eehgZQC5qqCpyvsb2KFEzvg7Vascoa8aePT6dB_Vfz8kTH6bw_qeAIjAhlNFTzoUNQoUDU8bPez/s1600/DSCF2091+%255B800x600%255D.JPG" /></a></div><a name='more'></a><br />
<strong>Mike why did you get into blogging about the outdoors?</strong><br />
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My blog really didn't start as anything more than a fishing log, plain and simple. I wasn't trying to educate, I wasn't trying to entertain, I just wanted to keep track of my outings (and maybe post a pic or two of my daughter Lilly for displaced family members to keep tabs on her). If you were to look back at my early posts, they had far less "filler" then my posts do today. <a href="http://www.troutrageous.com/2007_06_01_archive.html">http://www.troutrageous.com/2007_06_01_archive.html</a><br />
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<strong>What is your favorite part about blogging?</strong><br />
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My favorite part about blogging is hitting the "Publish" button. Seriously. Blogging is a creative outlet for me, it allows me to speak/write openly and hopefully get in a laugh or two in the process. Hitting that "Publish" button is when I get to see the fruits of my labor up on the screen for the first time. I'd also be lying if I didn't mention the "community" that's evolved amongst us outdoor bloggers. It's really taken off since the OBN launched, but even prior, active blogging allows one to travel to different parts of the country and interact with some really great people on a daily basis.<br />
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<strong>Where do you draw your blogging inspiration from?</strong><br />
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Honestly, I don't know. We live in an era of such information overload...I think I get inspired or ideas simply through osmosis. It could be something I read on another blog, something I see on TV, an email, a tweet, an event that happens during the day, you name it. My blog is fishing really in theme only, pretty much anything is fair game for a post.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSX1XcKF35HCEQgdOdAxXmydOkXCASTmhKgzxdjtq2wdVmoV8A5H6GYjAkP41-J3p_Jri8UntaqPKGNBok2s2B0Aw_8CoPT1Wd33gRitSkF9Zqme39vm-1Xe6kVLEV2P6hT6lhdbhynqIN/s1600/100_8577.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="300" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhSX1XcKF35HCEQgdOdAxXmydOkXCASTmhKgzxdjtq2wdVmoV8A5H6GYjAkP41-J3p_Jri8UntaqPKGNBok2s2B0Aw_8CoPT1Wd33gRitSkF9Zqme39vm-1Xe6kVLEV2P6hT6lhdbhynqIN/s400/100_8577.JPG" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Maybe Mike draws his inspiration from his fishing "Nook", but I guess we will never know for srue.</td></tr>
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<strong>What are a few outdoor blogs in your opinion are must follows?</strong><br />
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That's really a tough one to narrow down...have you seen the size of my blogroll lately? There are so many good blogs out there today, and I really do read (& try to comment on) each and every blog in my blogroll. That said, if my "stuck on a desert island" blogroll could only contain say 3 blogs, they'd probably be Moldy Chum, Fly Fishing the Southern Blue Ridge, & This River is Wild, simply because of the content (I like trout) and the frequency of posts. That Abnormal Outdoors blog ain't too shabby either. <br />
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<strong>Do you have any good blogging tips you can provide us with?</strong><br />
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The best tip I have is that your blog will only be as vibrant as you make it. You can write great content, but most likely people aren't going to read it on a regular basis unless you go out and reciprocate. Find blogs you like and go comment on them. If they have the Google Followers widget, follow them. The more effort you put into networking, the more regular readers you'll eventually obtain. That said, a blog doesn't have to have a huge audience to be satisfying for the author to write. Everyone has their own personal reasons for blogging, and it's not all about traffic.<br />
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<strong>Who introduced you to the outdoors and fishing?</strong><br />
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Unfortunately, nobody; I'm a city boy. I'd go fishing every now and then as a kid with friends, but nothing serious. No real role models. No camping, no hiking, no hunting, none of that stuff. We played a lot of basketball instead. I had a mean 3-point shot once upon a time. I learned pretty much everything about fishing in books, online, and through trial & error. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SVTl1JqaBa8le-PnqMwWoWnTvIfpoCPGPeCkUkXs5cDhd0K-DkdjxhwTBdsSDzBioTG-sjcllDUAPKGz4w7lsHIioumxKxy_OKFKgkeesTwS5whk5bHh8XdQTmzS8j8Sjo8ehnRBdy-_/s1600/casting.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="225" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg7SVTl1JqaBa8le-PnqMwWoWnTvIfpoCPGPeCkUkXs5cDhd0K-DkdjxhwTBdsSDzBioTG-sjcllDUAPKGz4w7lsHIioumxKxy_OKFKgkeesTwS5whk5bHh8XdQTmzS8j8Sjo8ehnRBdy-_/s400/casting.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Must be a City Boy, casting in the grass. Mike you won't catch any fish there!</td></tr>
</tbody></table> <br />
<strong>When did you start fishing?</strong><br />
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As an adult, about 5 or 6 years ago. I moved very close to a large farm park with a stocked trout creek. It kinda piqued my interest in fishing again, and it's been downhill ever since. I've since moved, but obviously haven't forgotten about fishing. I write a lot about fly fishing on my blog...but I've only been doing that for about 2 years. In relative terms I'm still a fishing noob!<br />
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<strong>Can you tell us about your absolute best fishing trip?</strong><br />
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Two years ago when my daughter Lilly caught her first fish. It was awesome. Helping her reel in that fish was more exciting than any fishing experience I've had on my own. <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwrj7JGKtDw">http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uwrj7JGKtDw</a> Words can't explain the pride. You have kids, so I know you know what I mean.<br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UZpFsjBcLgshiEwCXstDL3zYbsk2bqKcclAopKrNQPm0IRegh2IfkwFcz6_cq2PpZp3W-1geR3wj8NdiL3G91O82NrZZozJCBOj0ueXNFLW5XSGtDaXmyn0XuZIFV0Vpa2icRafvC1_y/s1600/100_2636+%255B800x600%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="240" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg1UZpFsjBcLgshiEwCXstDL3zYbsk2bqKcclAopKrNQPm0IRegh2IfkwFcz6_cq2PpZp3W-1geR3wj8NdiL3G91O82NrZZozJCBOj0ueXNFLW5XSGtDaXmyn0XuZIFV0Vpa2icRafvC1_y/s320/100_2636+%255B800x600%255D.JPG" width="320" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike already has Lilly Hooked on fishing. Good thing its <a href="http://www.fishcreekspinners.com/">Fish Creek Spinners</a></td></tr>
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<strong>If you could pick just one aspect of fishing what would it be?</strong><br />
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I'll be honest with you, I don't go fishing to catch fish. I go to escape the daily grind. To me, there's nothing more relaxing than standing in cool, knee deep water with nobody around, emptying your mind, soaking up nature, and trying to place that fly in the tight spot right under that overhanging branch. If I catch fish in the process, that's just a bonus.<br />
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<strong>Other than fishing, and blogging what do you do to keep yourself busy?</strong><br />
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My soon-to-be 5 year old daughter keeps me really busy. Work takes up the lion's share of my weekdays, so the weekends are designated family time. I love doing pretty much everything with Lilly, especially spending some Daddy/Daughter time when it's just the two of us. Oh, and I watch a lot of sports on TV. I'm a rabid Eagles & Phillies fan. This upcoming baseball season should be a lot of fun. <br />
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<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1y0XwZNh0kAB37gV79_LhcVQvKPkMLevIAwZzDsshK6kBfF8eT8IZGKaYEqoPZMXDqtlR1Re9IriLJnlpWiUDhCzakhSYk3n1MpEtZPdOAQMoUTSVspOlpaHedFSGS0IhodKHUETTfnFR/s1600/100_3689+%255B800x600%255D.JPG" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" s5="true" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1y0XwZNh0kAB37gV79_LhcVQvKPkMLevIAwZzDsshK6kBfF8eT8IZGKaYEqoPZMXDqtlR1Re9IriLJnlpWiUDhCzakhSYk3n1MpEtZPdOAQMoUTSVspOlpaHedFSGS0IhodKHUETTfnFR/s320/100_3689+%255B800x600%255D.JPG" width="240" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Mike and His daughter Lilly</td></tr>
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<strong>Finally if there is anything else you would like to add about fishing, blogging, or anything at all please feel free to enlighten us.</strong><br />
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No, not really. If you've read my blog you know I'm not a very "deep" person. The next enlightening thing I say will probably be the first. That noted, I wanted to thank Ben G. Outdoors for this interview opportunity. You run a great site here Ben; I've been a big fan for a while and consider you friend and nothing but a class-act. Looking forward to all that 2011 will bring over here. <br />
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If you haven't been to Mikes Blog go check it out <a href="http://www.troutrageous.com/">Troutrageous!</a> <br />
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Mike I wanted to thank you for taking the time to do this interview. You run a great blog and I am honored you were willing to do the interview. Thanks. <br />
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Ben G.</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-9851427741722519202011-02-02T19:14:00.000-06:002011-02-02T19:14:33.188-06:00Bright Lining Panfish on Ice<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">Successful ice fishing for bluegills, crappies and perch means good bite detection, and some ice anglers have improvised super-sensitive spring bobbers at the end of their rods that twitch at the slightest touch from a panfish. Or so they think. Fact is, panfish can nab a bait and spit it with such finesse they might never move a spring bobber or pull down a float down. <br />
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Some 20 years ago, a fellow from the upholstery department of the automotive plant where I worked as a catalog copywriter introduced me to ice fishing with unbaited flies and highly visible light line—two-pound Golden Stren was the top choice. A 12-inch leader of clear monofilament added a bit of stealth.... Read more here <a href="http://www.earthsports.com/m/news/view/Bright-Lining-Panfish-on-Ice">Bright Lining Panfish on Ice</a><br />
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</div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-2096783475957309397.post-60563153942502402032011-02-01T09:30:00.002-06:002011-02-01T09:30:00.074-06:00Fantasy Fishing, Win Big Bucks!<div dir="ltr" style="text-align: left;" trbidi="on">You’ve played Fantasy Football, but what about Fantasy Fishing? You can win big bucks playing in the<br />
FLW’s Fantasy Fishing contest – but enter fast, because it all begins at midnight tomorrow!<br />
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If you miss the deadline, don’t despair – you can still play in each individual tournament for top prizes<br />
up to $15,000—but the first tournament in the series is the FLW Tour opener on Lake Okeechobee,<br />
which begins on February third. Read more <a href="http://www.earthsports.com/m/news/view/Fantasy-Fishing-Win-Big-Bucks">Fantasy Fishing, Win Big Bucks!</a></div>Ben G.http://www.blogger.com/profile/05780560366135759177noreply@blogger.com0