Hunting for Nothing

Today we went to the FMR again. When we arrived the sun had not yet risen, and there was no fog this time. The moon was full so I took some pics, only one turned out really good. I had to work some magic to get the moon to look correct and have the picture properly lit.
The previous 3 pictures I submitted 2 weeks ago were not accepted, for reasons I figured they wouldn't be. They were over processed. Oh well they look cool anyways.

We drove a bit further in to avoid any atv'ers, although there weren't many out this weekend. On the walk out I saw not one single cotton tail or jack rabbit. Chris shot a Quayle, Mike didn't see any rabbits either. I did come across the trailer we found out there before. I also found an unreadable sign on a pole more than half a mile from the nearest dirt road. Chris found a place where someone excavated a hole recently for some unknown reason. He also found a large plywood target that was setup on the side of a hill.
We hiked to a small mountain/large hill and hiked up to see what was on the side of it. From below it looked like someone had built a small platform or building out of flat rocks, but when we got up there we found it was just a volcanic outcrop of cracked rocks.

On the way back I stopped to drink some water. I put my rifle over my shoulder, took my water out of my fanny pack, and at that moment a large cottontail broke from cover. I never even got a chance to shoot at it. The same thing happened to Chris earlier in the day. About a quarter of the way back I stopped to take a breather, Chris was to the NNE of me and fired his shotgun at something. That caused a Jack Rabbit in the brush ahead of me to break. I shot at it several times but my rifle stove piped and it got away.

When we got back to the vehicle Chris and Mike took some pics, and we went home.

Each of us hiked about 4.2 to 4.3 miles.

Bacon Tasting Part VII

sigh......

Another let down. The other day I tried "Vande Rose Farms Applewood Smoked Bacon". As reviewed by the Grateful palate, and other sites. This bacon was raved about.

Here is the The Grateful palates review:

"Ranger Danny's Tasting Notes: My favorite. Lovely appearance, exquisite balance, remarkable meat. All this needs is a fork and knife. 4 oinks. Ranger David's Tasting Notes: One of the best bacons ever! Taste and balance are tremendous. It all starts with with a great pig, man."

Here is the review from this article:

"Tasters raved that this bacon — which scored a distinct few notches higher than the rest of the lineup — has it all: “Nice balance of sweetness to salt, great deep complex ham flavor, very meaty,” with a “faint fruity taste, sweet and salty.” Extra-big slices and “genuine” smoke flavor were big hits with our tasters."

Now my review:

This a dry cured bacon. Rubbed with brown sugar, salt, pepper, etc., then smoked (so they say). I found this bacon to be almost completely devoid of smoke flavor/smell. The bacon was a bit on the salty side, the texture of the meat was close to that of tender beef jerky (a bit dry), and had a mild ham flavor. The fat had a sweet flavor to it, and there was a LOT of fat on the cuts I got. The fat was extremely tender and almost creamy (not chewy at all). This was the only bacon I have ordered (so far) to come in a retail package like store bought bacon. If it wasn't for this packaging I would have thought my bacon had been switch for some inferior store brand. This is awfully pricey stuff for .75 lbs of bacon, that's right, for about $14.00 you get 12 oz. of bacon. That makes this bacon $18.66 per pound. This is bacon for some poor little rich kid that "don't like strong flavors, or smells". Meh!

Need more proof check here.

Hunting in the Foggy Desert

Today we finally got to go hunting for the first time since the end of spring. As usual we went to the FMR. When we arrive there was a light fog over the desert. This is the third year in a row that we came out here in November and there was fog. The sun was rising from behind a mountain and the fog was thick enough you could look at the sun with out any protection. I took several pictures, one of which was good enough to submit to dreamstime.
There were a lot of ATV riders (fleas) camped out in the area, we found a place away from them and I took some more pics, 2 of which I submitted to dreamstime.
Chris went off to make a happy bush sad, at that time he flushed a Jackrabbit. The only one of us that had a firearm ready was me, I attempted to shoot it with my .357 pistol but it was too far away. We set out in a north westerly direction. I got a jackrabbit about 15 or 20 minutes into our walk. I saw another one about 15 or 20 minutes after that but it was too far away. we walked a total of about 2 miles each round trip. When we got back near the car we found this.
I'm curious how it might have got here as we were nowhere near the impact area. We took a break and then went in a south easterly direction. Mike got a cottontail just minutes into the walk, and I got one shortly after that. We got out about a half a mile but there were so many "fleas" we turned back. I walked about 3 miles, Chris about 3, Mike walked about 4.

Generally I don't like the desert, but in the winter and early spring it is one of my favorite places to go. When it is really foggy it can be a little spooky, since you sometimes can't see more than 50 yards in any direction, everything is totally quiet (except for the water dripping off the plants). When something does break and run it can be quite startling. It is also challenging as you have a very short time to react before the rabbit disappears in to the fog. It is an experience I will never forget.

Bacon Tasting Part VI

Ahhhhhh...... Bacon.

Today we try "North Country Smokehouse Applewood Smoked Bacon" Here is The Grateful Palates description:

Artisan: North Country Smokehouse
Tasting Notes: A bit more savory than the cob-smoked offering from this producer, but same thick cut. This is a precocious little bacon that will surprise you with its moxy and flair.

Like "Newsom's Old Mill Store Hickory Smoked Country Bacon" this bacon has a strong but pleasant smoky taste, and is not at all salty. It is very savory, with a bit of a tang to it. This bacon has more water in it than the other bacons, but not a lot. The package states that it is cured with maple syrup, and while it does taste slightly sweet, it does not taste like maple syrup. I detect a note of creosote (but in a good way). Ham flavors are prevalent but not overpowering. The fat on this bacon is where the flavor lies. This bacon tends to curl a bit while cooking. This is comfort bacon.

Bacon Tasting Part V

Once again I was let down, I misunderstood what the label on this last bacon "Nodine's Smokehouse Double Smoked Bacon" mean't.

Here is the Grateful Palates description:
Artisan: Nodine's Smokehouse
Tasting Notes: Our only double-smoked style. Intense smoky flavors. Delicious with omelettes, chilaquiles, and huevos rancheros.

I guess they got a different bacon than I did. This bacon gets it's double smoke name from the fact that it is smoked once with hickory, and then again with juniper berries. Whatever the case this bacon had little smoke flavor, and was not salty. Nothing to write home about.

Bacon Tasting Part IV

I admit I had high hopes for this next bacon, "Tripp Country Ham-Country Bacon Brown Sugar Cured" as it's description intrigued me:

Tasting Notes: Brown-sugar cured, with a mysterious secret recipe that includes red pepper and cinnamon. Thick cut. Meaty, complex flavors. Juicy. Great intensity with a slight spice. Fantastic!

This was a thick cut bacon, but for some reason it looks like the slab was cut in half as the pieces were shorter than the others. This bacon had much more fat than the other ones, as a result it curled the most out of all of the bacon's I have tried so far. This bacon is a bit on the salty side, and it has a taste I would describe as kind of sour. I could taste nothing of the red pepper and cinnamon. This could be because I eat some pretty spicy food and would not notice it. My wife however does not like spicy foods and did not report it as being spicy. As I said before this bacon had the most fat of any of the bacon's, in fact a couple of pieces were about 95% fat. This bacon had a light but pleasing amount of smokiness about it. The sour taste I mentioned above reminded me of "Farmer John Ends & Pieces", which this bacon taste almost exactly like. Once again there was very little if any sweet taste about this bacon. The bacon was definitely juicy. An OK bacon.

Bacon Tasting Part III

The verdict is in on "Dan Philips Special Brown Sugar Hickory Smoked Country Bacon" it is too salty and not hickory flavored enough.

Today I tried the "J. Samuel Whiting Bacon" here is The Grateful Palates" Description:

Sweet aroma, thin and crunchy. Perfect balance like a fine cut diamond. Sweet and powerful, almost fruity. Addictive, soft, lush, judicious use of fat and sublimely balanced. AWESOME and hedonistic. Very unique, sweet, yet savory bacon. Kids love all bacon, but they will especially love this bacon made by J. Samuel Whiting Meats in Pennsylvania.

I find this description interesting as it does not exactly describe this bacon. The Bacon I got was wide, and very thick. On the label it said it was cured with maple syrup and brown sugar, as well as hickory smoked. I found it had practically no hickory flavor or smell at all. I believe that when the bacon was being made a truck load of hickory wood drove by, but that was about the closest this comes to being hickory smoked. It is definitely sweet, but not too much. This bacon taste more like ham than any of the others. The bacon was tender and not at all salty. When they say that Kids will love this bacon they would be correct. This is not a bacon for the adult palate, unless your "milk toast". I could not detect any flavor reminiscent of maple syrup in this bacon. The bacon does have a sweet smell when cooking, there is a bit more fat on this bacon, and it did curl more than the others, but by "curl" I mean it barely curled. This bacon is on par with what is available in your local grocery store. Final verdict... Meh!