[Pops]

Oh, I like calves, many times I help pull ‘em and pound their chests to get them to breath, so they think momma wears blue jeans. I feed dry cows and heifers from about 4 months to when they freshen and they know my call and so pretty well come when I do.

Susan does most of the bottle feeding of the bull calves we raise, but after they are weaned they are mine. I scratch their heads but call them by their ear tag numbers. They think I am Bossy because I open the gates to greener pastures.

We raise feeder pigs and trade for beef from the dairy mostly – I feed the steers they butcher too.

Don’t name your food, but treat it like a living, feeling being is the way I look at things.

I should have put that broke calf down though and that makes me feel bad.

I won’t need advice next time.

[jboogy]

Yeah, gotta admit the one calf that's been born here was cute the first couple months,neither me nor the wife was here when it happened so Sprinkles hasn't bonded with us at all,the wife tries like hell to make friends with it but it won't let us touch it unless it's nose is in the feed bucket,why do you have to bottle feed them?Sprinkles was sucking on mommy cow day1.

[Eli]

That aint the low point of a fish's life, this is the low point a fish. Link

The fish's in the above story would loved to be bashed on a rock.

[Pops]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('jboogy', 'Y')eah, gotta admit the one calf that's been born here was cute the first couple months,neither me nor the wife was here when it happened so Sprinkles hasn't bonded with us at all,the wife tries like hell to make friends with it but it won't let us touch it unless it's nose is in the feed bucket,why do you have to bottle feed them?.

[Iaato]

I filled my freezer with reds this week. It's a great feeling. We will smoke some in a smoker I found at a garage sale. Maybe next year I'll can some. We used food saver bags; eventually I will look for a different method of freezing them. Putting up my own fish is an Alaskan rite of passage; after 10 years it is about time. I guess bagging a moose is next.

We fished two tides and got skunked; but we shared those tides with commercial fishermen. On the third tide, the fish started to hit, and my first two nets had two salmon in each one. I finally broke the net handle; I was going to stay on the beach after that and process everyone else's fish in the group. But I wasn't quite done, so I went back out and just held the net in the water. A guy next to me laughed and said, "It would be funny if you actually caught one." He barely had a chance to finish the sentence. I went on to catch three more without a handle on the net. I've done my share of fishing with a pole; this sure beats a fishing pole. There were 6 of us; we got about 70 red salmon in about 3 hours.



NPR-Dipnetting on the Kenai

[xerces]

The fishing rod, aside from being more fun, is one of the few legal ways of fishing in the U.S. Living in the Northeast, we catch panfish and perch in great numbers for 6 months out of year(~ 200lbs last year). Bass and trout are more rare(~25lbs last year). Bait lines can be improvised very quickly if needed. It's illegal but definitely more efficient than the rod.

One additional fishing tool that we keep is a submersible trapping cage. Most crab pots are perfect for the job. With a couple of pots, you can capture crustaceans like crabs and crayfish. The same pots will also serve to trap eels, turtles, and and water snakes.....all very good eating!

[Iaato]

The subsistence dipnetting for salmon in Alaska is legal for state residents for several weeks a year, as long as escapement numbers are met, Xerces. I like using a pole, but this was definitely more efficient. We just took what we needed, and the method is low impact compared to techniques like trawling and setnetting.

[patience]

Seines, trot lines, jug lines, and traps. I wouldn't bother with a pole around our small lakes and steams. A small boat would help with the seines and trot lines. Take what you cn from the rivers and streams and store the excess in your own pond for future growth and use. That helped keep some of my family fed in the thirties.

[kpeavey]

Tilapia can also be raised in a barrel. I have access to catfish and a barrel, thought I'd try it out.

[xerces]

I thought Tilapia was a tropical fish species. Can they be raised up here in the Northeast?

[kpeavey]

I've been checking out barrel raised fish over the past couple of days, focusing on catfish. I can get catfish locally, looks like the species I'd like to try.

I don't know much about tilapia, but I've read they can be grown in a captive setting. Tilapia are algae eaters. As a tropical fish, warmer water would be more suitable to their growth. Cold water will slow the growth of any fish as it slows their metabolism. I do not know if there is a minimum temperature for tilapia, but it would make sense to me that keeping the water warmer would promote growth.

[sittinguy]

As a Florida native, if you want to fish from land you do not need a fishing license. If you are in a boat, yes.
NOW, if you are on land at the beach or river, you need a fishing license. here is the good part: If you can prove you are on food stamps you don't need a license.,,, I love it

[smallpoxgirl]

The big question is can you buy a rod and reel with your food stamps?

[frankthetank]

NO... but you can easily steal one

I don't get what you are saying? In Wisconsin you need a license to wipe your butt! They do have one day each year that you can fish for free.

[smallpoxgirl]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('frankthetank', 'I') don't get what you are saying?

[Pretorian]

so is it enforced in Wisconsin or what? Or you just " supposed to" as usual? Can these guys arrest you if you fish without a license?

[JJ]

"so they put me in with the biggest baddest father raper of them all, and he said what ya in for boy" and I said "illegal fish"....

[frankthetank]

Well..if you get caught, the Dept of Natural Resources will fine you (DNR)... They are like the "Cops" of the woods/water up here. Their tickets are VERY expensive. I forgot to register my boat one year and they slapped me with a $140 ticket (it got dropped in court)...

Fishing license is around $20 and is worth it...there are lakes all over this state that hold a lot of cheap protein and a little mercury ... We fried panfish (sunfish) last night in hot oil (in a saltine cracker batter)...had some local sweet corn, some tomatoes out of the garden, peaches and plums from the tree... very good local meal.

[Pretorian]

$this->bbcode_second_pass_quote('frankthetank', 'W')ell..if you get caught, the Dept of Natural Resources will fine you (DNR)... They are like the "Cops" of the woods/water up here. Their tickets are VERY expensive.