Make Sure Your Dog is Hydrated

Field & Stream had a couple of recent blog post how to tell if your dog is dehydrated and keeping your dog hydrated during training. I can say that I have always been very conscious of keeping my canine athlete hydrated. It probably stems from my other passion, coaching soccer. Athletes of any kind need to stay hydrated. It's also critical to pull them out of the activity before they get to the point where it's an issue. This is especially true if in soccer you want to return that player to the game or if you're hunting and you want to continue. If you get to the point where they can't go, you've taken recovery from would would have been a "splash and go" to "we're-not-going-anytime-soon time frame," in my experience. That said, I've never had an issue with my GSP in Ohio. If I don't provide the water, she'll find it one way or another.

Fishing in Springfield, Ohio - City Limits

The axiom "the best time to go fishing is when you can" really is true. You can't catch fish without a line in the water. It's also true that fish are where you find them. Springfield, Ohio actually does have fishing available within the city limits or within walking distance of the city limits. Many areas are accessible from the various bike paths that run through the city. One of those places is C.J. Brown Reservoir and Buck Creek State Park.

It's very accessible and one of the better walleye lakes in Central Ohio. You can also catch channel catfish, as my son Chris here has proven. But you don't have to go to the big state park to wet a line. You can catch fish almost anywhere if you know where to look. Like golf course ponds behind condominiums for instance. The best time to go fishing? Now.

Whitewater Kayaking in Downtown Springfield

In Springfield, Ohio we're lucky. A forward thinking group has replaced, or is in the process of replacing, all the low-head dams on Buckcreek downstream from C.J. Brown Reservoir with whitewater features. When I heard this last year, my daughter and I went and kayaked the stream. We wanted to see what the stream was like before the features. We started at Carelton-Davidson Stadium and took out in Snyder Parke near the Madonna of the trail

It was early fall and the water was fairly low. Several times the water was too skinny to float and we had to walk out. Getting out for the low-head dams was a pain. While we were in the water it was relaxing and uneventful. But getting out so often on such a short trip was a drag.

We recently had family in town for a wedding and decided to show them the new kayaking features downtown. As I mentioned in an earlier post, we've had a lot of rain. The water was up 3 feet at the time, I was told later. We put in behind the Springfield Art Museum. There were two guys surfing (surfing in Springfield, Ohio!?) the standing wave below the first drop. But there was also a large tree covering 90% of the top. We decided to not chance it and put in below.



It was uneventful and an easy float to the last set of rapids in Snyder Park. You can see that the water is well up over the sides and onto the sidewalks. Those of us less-experienced boaters in recreational kayakers weren't fairing to well. But with warm weather and plenty of help nearby, we went for it.



It was a blast. We'll be back. As a side note, when I was back taking the picture at the top, a couple of guys fishing came by with a basket of decent sized crappies. A great outdoor recreation facility in an urban setting.

Why Did the Turtle (Almost) Cross the Road?

I have a fairly long commute several times a week and have for several years. And I've never seen as many snapping turtles killed along the side of the road, ever, as I have the previous month. One day I say eight in my 140 mile round trip. I tend to notice these types of things, and I'm not the only one. My first guess was that the rain that wouldn't end last month pushed them in some way, but I'm not sure that makes sense. From what I know, they're capable of living in water nearly 24/7.  Does anybody know why the turtles try to cross the road?

Ready for Squirrels?

For early hunting season fun, it really is hard to beat squirrels. Ohio's squirrel season typically opens labor day weekend and runs well into the winter now. I know that some other states have open season or squirrel seasons that open much earlier. That's probably how this article Give Squirrel a Whirl came up recently on CNN. It seems like you'd have to be more selective this time of year to target mature squirrels. The ones that are running around the yard and not sacrificing themselves on the roads seem to be on the smallish side.

Like any other time the topic of hunting comes up on a site like CNN the comments section is packed. Check out the survey and vote.

All of it really reminds me that now would be a great time to make sure the .22 is sighted in.

Modified Leopold Bench

The other day I picked up some scrap lumber. Actually it was the remnants of a loft bed with a dresser and closet below that I build for a relative's son. It was my favorite piece I've ever done. But it had served it's purpose and was time to go.

So I was faced with a pile of 2 X 6's and 2 X 4's of various sizes covering the floor of the garage. Nothing that quite matched the requirements for the bench plans I posted earlier. I figured I could make it work. And it does.

It's a pretty laid-back bench, perfect for watching sunsets and deer in the field across the road. Using a 2 X 6 instead of the plans called for 2 X 8 actually opens it up some making it even better for playing guitar.

If you'd like the dimensions I ended up with, leave a comment. I have more pictures as well.

Thinking Like a Mountain

The Conservationist has a great post about an upcoming movie about Aldo Leopold, Green Fire: Aldo Leopold and a Land Ethic for Our Time.

I really identify with this quote from Thinking Like a Mountain:

“We all strive for safety, prosperity, comfort, long life, and dullness. The deer strives with his supple legs, the cowman with trap and poison, the statesman with pen, the most of us with machines, votes, and dollars, but it all comes to the same thing: peace in our time. A measure of success in this is all well enough, and perhaps is a requisite to objective thinking, but too much safety seems to yield only danger in the long run. Perhaps this is behind Thoreau's dictum: In wildness is the salvation of the world. Perhaps this is the hidden meaning in the howl of the wolf, long known among mountains, but seldom perceived among men.”


If you need some time and place to sit an ponder more about our relationship with the land and Leopold's ideas, consider the Leopold bench.