Fun times filling the freezer

Just got done doing a 3 day hunt here for gun season in Oklahoma.  Harvested a doe and small buck.  Bel was with me so it was exciting.  Saw lots of deer but all does and small bucks and passed on quite a few.  Got the doe the first morning to make sure we have some meat.  Took this small buck on the last evening.  My dad was skunked so I gave him the doe.  We needed one for ourselves so this guy came out at the right time.  It was exciting and bel can't wait for next year.  She has the itch now and I'll teach her to shoot over this next year so it can be her turn next!









thanks for looking!

Bel's biggest Eye to date!

caught over the weekend at Ft. Cobb lake!  21 inches/ 3lbs!

Chasing walleye and cats with the kiddos!

Well last Friday I was off work so I packed up the boat and kiddos and went to chase walleye and catfish at Ft. Cobb lake.  Pretty good day for us.  About an hour and half of fishing then some swimming.  Kids reeled in all the fish and dad was on net job.  They did pretty good and we got enough for a fish fry the next evening.  Can't complain!  Here's a few pics from the day



Bel caught the first walleye but it was under the 14" slot so it went back to get bigger



next Bel caught a channel cat that was probably around 4lbs.



Jack was pretty darn proud of his first catch, also his first walleye that was 19.5"



Next Bel caught a blue that was probably 5-6lbs.  It gave her a pretty good fight with a couple runs once it saw the boat



Last fish was another walleye for Jack, this one was 16"



livewell shot





kids found some eggs buried in the sand.  Guessing they were turtle eggs.



the backseat was pretty whipped by end of the day



thanks for looking folks!

Fishing updates!

Been doing as much fishing as I can over the last month or so.  Here's a few pics of from various trips!


This is the first fish I caught in the boat!  23.5" saugeye caught in Ft. Cobb lake.  It was a great first catch!

First bass in the boat at lake Thunderbird

This is my FIL's first walleye/saugeye caught in Ft. Cobb.  This was an all boy trip with Jack a long.  Ended up with two keepers this trip.

Jack caught his biggest fish to date on the same trip.  A drum that was around 4lbs.  He put up a good fight and it was fun. 

taking a break on one of the trips to let the kids stretch their legs a bit.

So far we are really enjoying the boat!

Here's a couple bass caught from a pond.  The last one was a good one probably around 4lbs.

thanks for looking and stay tuned for more updates!

Fishing upgrade! - Tracker Pro Guide V15

So about a week ago I did my biggest fishing upgrade to date!  Picked up this 2010 Tracker Pro Guide v15.  I've wanted a fishing boat pretty much my whole life so this is really exciting for me!  It's a 30HP Mercury four stroke.  Has the fishing things you would like a boat to have.  Took it out last night for a couple hours for the maiden voyage!  I'm really looking forward to summer now!!





Kids were excited with me!  Bel is in the front here



Jack and my FIL





Bel caught the first fish on the boat



Happy Skipper in training



heading back home.  Pretty good first day out! 



thanks for looking

Vintage Craftsman 2.3 16 Chainsaw

So I've been on the lookout for older chainsaws that are 70's and 80's.  The old all metal ones that they "don't make like they the use to" kind of thing.  Now I'm in an area that was never logging so they have not been plentiful.  Either too beat up or someone thinks there worth a lot of money, regardless of condition.  So anyways I finally got a decent one that is the basic hasn't ran in years and just getting rid of it.  It's a Craftsman 2.3.  My research shows it was probably made by Poulan in the early 70s.  It's a 38cc saw with a 14" bar and chain, though the plate says 16, so it's original bar was probably a 16".  But this actually fills a niche for me as I don't have a smaller saw and it is one of those one handers for limbing jobs, etc.  So kind of neat to me. 

So here it is as it came.  Pretty good condition really, just dirty.





drained the awful gas and sprayed out the tank some with carb cleaner.  Did this s few times.  To give an idea how bad it is the filter is stuck to the bottom of the tank.



back to the bench and will start cleaning it out



cleaning up really nice.  I just used some gas and toothbrush and a wipe cloth







carburetor is done.  The diaphragm and fuel pump are toast so I ordered a set to replace it. 








First is running a new fuel line.  Here you can get a sense for the hard curve it has.



The old fuel filter finally released from the tank bottom after having some gas in it for a few days...



Just for my own amusement I wanted to see if I could get this new line routed without having to take the flywheel off.  So I got some 50lb. braided fishing line and a hook and double it up and ran through the old line and pulled it up through that tight curve.

















So I tied off the knot and started trying to coax it through.  I wish I could tell you it worked but the turn was too hard and it wasn't a continuous tube.  One ended and then it had to go into another opening while making that 90 degree turn and up.  It didn't happen and I decided just to see if I could pull it through with force and the knot pulled through the tube.  A better know maybe would have been better.  I do think this idea would work if you have a simpler routing path. 

So had to take the flywheel off.  I used an impact driver for this.





while blowing out the area first I got really lucky as a I forgot to grab the flywheel key before I started blowing.  After I got done I realized it was gone and looked down and it was right by my foot.  That was fortunate cause it's little and could have gone anywhere never to be found..





So routing the line was easy at this point.  Hemostat pliers really make grabbing and pulling on the fuel lines easy. 





Now for the carburetor.  I cleaned it out and then replaced the diaphragm, fuel pump, and gaskets.  All these were old and cracking.







Alright got her all put back together.  Got it fired up and tuned the carb and it's running pretty good.  I took it out by the wood pile to run it through a log.





Not a bad deal for a total cost of about $22

Thanks for looking folks!