Fly Tying Redux

My first Salmon fly - the pheasant-winged head-knocker

When I started tying flies back in my 20s some people thought they were too large to be practical. Maybe I'd have better luck knocking out a fish than I would have in actually hooking one. Such hurtful words were painful and launched my 20+ years of suffering from fly-tying PTSD. My only form of solace was, of course, my mother.

Once I determined that I was tying-challenged and suffering from PTSD, I did what any American man would do, I went to my mother. Much to Mom's surprise she received a fly-tying kit from me for Christmas. At first she thought it was a bad joke. Soon, however, she had signed up for fly-tying classes and was turning out some really beautiful flies - wet flies, dry flies, all kinds of flies. They actually looked like the pictures in the books.

Unfortunately, after almost two decades of cranking out flies, Mom decided to retire the fly vise. It was a sad day when the Boushies had to once again purchase commercial flies. It did cause me to revisit the status of my PTSD. After years of quiet therapy, I decided I was ready to relaunch my fly tying. Besides, I thought that maybe using a lot of Mom's fly-tying supplies and tools would be good karma.

My reentry into the world of wrapping thread around a naked hook began in early February when I signed up for Orvis's (free) Fly Tying 101. Not only could I revisit the basics, but I would also receive two coupons and walk home with whatever I was able to tie.

The tying class was taught by Dan Davala, Orvis Fishing Manager, and James Kammel, a fly fishing guide and owner of Catcher & the Fly. There were about 6 other tyers and me in the class. Ages were from the early teens (twins brought by their grandfather) to early 50s. The class was about half women.

Dan gives the introduction

Instruction started with the very basics, wrapping thread on the hook and tying off the fly with a whip finish knot. It was interesting and a bit entertaining watching people who have never seen a whip finishing tool trying to tie a whip finish knot. Eventually, most seemed to get it.

After the very basics were mastered, which took the better part of an hour, we moved to tying our fist flies - a woolly bugger. Wrap the threat, tie on the marabou tail, tie on the chenille, tie on soft hackle, wrap chenille, wrap hackle, tie off at head, add head cement...done. Simple enough. I tied two respectable flies and think that I may be on the road to tying PTSD recovery. Only time with tell.

Remember, I said respectable, not good. I still have a few patterns to figure out and may retain Dan's services for a couple private lessons.

Things went well enough for me to spend the balance of an Orvis gift certificate on tying materials. I'll have to show up in NY this year on our fishing trip with flies for my dad and brothers.

Let the tying begin. I don't know that I'll get as good as Mom, but if I can catch some fish with my flies I'll be pleased enough.

Dan helping woman use the whip finishing tool

You're Never Too Old to Learn

I was disappointed in the performance of the plastic clip on the tree strap that came with the Bushnell® HD Trophy Cam. Disappointed in the way it broke in the cold. My solution was to use an old kayak tie-down (left). OK, confession, it wasn't old, but it was available and I could replace it by the time it was warm enough to kayak in Vermont.

It is generally a good idea to question your own cleverness. The new strap was great and it did a phenomenal job. I wondered why Bushnell® was so "thrifty" as to not include such a fantastic strap initially. Unfortunately, man-genius here never got past what a great solution I'd come up with to consider other issues, such as why Bushnell® include a strap that was a little less visible.

After I reattached the camera to a tree, I left to run some errands. When I was driving up the driveway on my way home I spied a bright yellow ribbon around a tree. Unfortunately (or fortunately), we weren't praying for the return of a loved one, or Tony Orlando. I guess you can attach your game camera to a tree using a bright yellow strap if you'd like for the game cam to be stolen. I'm sure the raccoons had a great laugh that night.

I took the camera down and ordered a dark strap from Amazon. Now it is securely attached, easy to adjust, and won't be broken by the Vermont weather.

I chalk it up as an ultimate win, but I had to laugh at myself for overlooking the obvious. Of course, once the obvious was mounted on a tree, it was easier to see.

I was also educated a couple weekends ago. Every Sunday at 8 AM a group meets down at a park in Virginia to bird. I decided to go to the same spot on Saturday to try out a "new" spotting scope I was renting for a couple days. I was slow getting out, but 8 AM seemed too early on the weekend anyway. I decided to hit Huntley Meadows Park first. It was pretty much a bust as far as seeing a variety of birds, but there were a lot of Mallards and Canada Geese. What I learned was how difficult it is to identify ducks when they are all resting with heads tucked under wings. I also learned that, at the right angle, a Mallard drake's head looks purple - not green. I confirmed this observation at the National Zoo the other day on a noon-time walk.







My final observation and lesson learned is that it is really quite difficult to take an iPhone photo through a spotting scope (right). It is hard to line up that small lens with the small scope eyepiece. At least you can see the ducks with their heads hidden. There must be an easier way to line up the iPhone camera and the scope...perhaps a bright yellow strap would work. I have one that I'm not using and is now far too short to tie down a kayak.

Naked and Afraid of Fat Guys in the Woods with River Monsters

My name is Kristopher Boushie and I have a late-night television problem. It is an accepted fact that most people need a solid eight hours of sleep every night to stumble through life barely conscious of their surroundings. I, however, due to my unique genetic make-up and dietary intake, can stumble through my day on less than six hours of sleep. My reduced slumber provides me with additional time in my day to worry about an unending number of actual, potential, and imaginary misfortunes. I can also use this extra time more productively by watching marathon sessions of several "outdoor" shows - Naked and Afraid, Fat Guys in the Woods, and, the purest of the outdoor genre, River Monsters.

Naked and Afraid. Each show features two strangers, a man and a woman, who choose one survival tool (knife, flint and steel, duct tape). They are then dropped in some God-forsaken corner of the world where they have to survive for 21 days, then make it to an extraction point to be picked up. Lots of bugs, snakes, rain, leeches, ticks, and dirt. There is no romance in this show - naked or not. I particularly liked the guy who showed up in the jungle with duct tape. The first thing his partner had him make her was a bikini. The couple is supposed to have some survival training, but it may only consist of shopping at Whole Foods for a week. Here is the thing, these people are not fat. They actually need to eat and there is never enough food. Some get darn skinny. I'm thinking of trying to get on the show to shed a couple pounds myself. The show is on the Discover Channel.

Fat Guys in the Woods. "Survival is simple, just don't die." It is a great tag line. Unlike the "Naked" people, these guys can skip a few meals. In most episodes the grub is scarce (and may actually be a grub). The three fat guys are taught survival skills by "Creek," the thin, blond-haired, pony-tailed guide. The goal is to survive five days in the mountains - four days with Creek and one night alone. The last night the guys have to build their own shelter and start their own fires. While they may not be naked, a good thing, most are pretty afraid. They clearly are not used to being away from TV, fast food, or a warm bed...and for that reason it is pretty entertaining. This show is on the Weather Channel.

Where the real river monsters are!

River Monsters. OK, the photo to the left isn't from the show. It's my dad, grandpa, and friend fishing in the Adirondacks. To hear those old fishing stories, there were river monsters back then!

This is the most addictive of the shows. I'm good for only a couple episodes of "Naked" or "Fat Guys," but I can watch Jeremy Wade all night. I'll watch an episode or two or three, then look up and it's after midnight. Then I dream of how I can possibly get his job. I haven't figured out a solution to this yet, but I am working on it.

Jeremy Wade with friends

This guy fishes all over the world, but spends most of his time in South America and the Amazon. He seems to speak fluent Spanish, so I will need to bring Karen with me as my fishing translator, but not my sound man. Jeremy Wade's sound man got hit in the head by lightening, so it seems dangerous. The guy was OK - good thing since they couldn't get him out right away. Except for the constant rain, bugs, sweltering heat, and fish that could kill you, it looks like a lot of fun. River Monsters is on the Animal Planet.

I've found another pastime when I'm not getting my eight hours of sleep...writing blog posts. I look up and it's already almost 11 PM. It is almost time to turn to the work work I brought home from the office - more writing, but not as much fun because you have to cite everything...rather than just make it up as you go.

If you want to sleep well don't combine dreams of  naked fat guys and river monsters or you will certainly be afraid. Sweet dreams.

Magna Anno, a Big Year by any other name, or hunting without a gun

Barred Owl from Huntley Meadows Park in VA

Step one, watch The Big Year movie with Steve Martin, Owen Wilson, and Jack Black.
Step two, get a couple of your friends together to hold your own (very little) Big Year birding competition.
Step three, have at it for bragging rights...and it is a pretty healthy diversion.

First, we should define a Big Year. A Big Year, according to Wikipedia (which contains the sum total of all human knowledge), "is an informal competition among birders to see who can see or hear the largest number of species of birds within a single calendar year and within a specific geographical area. A big year may be done within a single US state, a Canadian province, within the lower 48 continental U.S. states, or within the official American Birding Association Area (defined as the 49 continental U.S. states, Canada, and the French islands of St. Pierre and Miquelon, plus adjacent waters to a distance of 200 miles from land or half the distance to a neighboring country, whichever distance is less. Excluded by these boundaries are Bermuda, The Bahamas, Hawaii, and Greenland)."

Great Blue Heron

Now, granted that Canada isn't too far from Vermont, but do we want to have to contest with an overly competitive birder jetting off to Alaska to add some unique bird species? Hint - no we do not. The same goes for the "French islands." Another issue with the original rules - to "see or hear the largest number of species of birds...." Most of my guy friends can't hear his own wife in the next room. I'm supposed to let him vouch for the fact he heard a Gray Catbird and not a Northern Mockingbird? I don't think so.

LBB or LBJ (little brown bird or little brown job)

Our rules are that you must see and identify the bird in the lower 48 states and surrounding waters. Zoos and pet birds don't count. All bird sightings to be counted need to be entered on Cornell University's eBird site. (Registration is free and the information is used by scientists in tracking bird species distributions and migration information.)

The eBird site has an unbelievable amount of information. For example, I'm interested in seeing a Snowy Owl, a bird I have never seen. I can go to eBird, look under explore data tab, then species maps. I enter the species I'm interested in and the location (in this case a ZIP code). The result is a map with sighting locations identified. Note that on this map (below) there was a sighting near Lang Farm in Essex, Vermont on December 16th, yesterday. Just imagine if they had the eBird equivalent for 8-point bucks?! Right, there'd be no 8-point bucks left.

On the off chance you spot some interesting bird, you can add it to the eBird sightings (after setting up a free account). Then when someone hovers the cursor over your map pin they will see your name and sighting.

eBird screen shot of Snowy Owl sightings near Jericho, Vermont

eBird is a great aid to help locate birds. However, it is no guarantee that the bird will be there when you arrive. That is where the hunting comes in to play. You will usually need to spend some time in the field or woods to spot the particular bird you are stalking. It is a great excuse to get outside and observe.  You may even find that 8-point buck, just don't mark it on eBird.

Interested in joining our little big year? Just send me a response to this post and I will add you to the currently very short list. You can follow our progress on Twitter at @sportingafield. I will post progress a couple times a month, along with links to any interesting pictures we take.

Bearly Thanksgiving

My family and I spent a lovely Thanksgiving at my brother Jim's house in Woodbury, Connecticut. We were outside setting up for our annual archery tournament and the kids and I discovered some interesting tracks in the backyard. Being trained scouts, they started following the tracks by carefully walking directly in the tracks. I managed to take this picture with my iPhone before it was stomped out.

My nephew, Jack, was the lead tracker. He followed the tracks under the porch. That made me a bit nervous since we couldn't see that there were exit tracks and under the porch would be a great place to sleep for the winter.

The bear just checked out the garbage can and moved on around the house and into the next yard.  It was something we didn't expect to see in suburban Connecticut.

The trophy held hostage in New Hampshire

It was an underwhelming second annual Boushie archery tournament. The champion from last year, niece Jessica, was unable to defend her crown due to bad weather. As for the competition this year, let's just say that very few of the arrows found the actual target, never mind the bulls eye. Arrows had to be retrieved from everywhere. (Good thing there wasn't a bear around and we had to defend ourselves. It is possible that the bear could have stepped on an arrow.

This year we were joined by Pat, my daughter Maddie's boyfriend (third from the right in the dinner picture below). What we didn't know was that Pat was a ringer. He taught kids archery in summer camp. OK, he wasn't much of a ringer. Truth was the competition was rather lacking. As I said, few arrows found the target. Besides we just wanted to make Pat feel welcome. Personally, I think he would have felt just as welcome in second place.

Indian princess aiming

bird-frying chef takes aim

I was able to defend my runner-up crown and there was no trophy to be given to Pat. Not because he didn't win, but because there literally was no trophy to give him. It was still in New Hampshire. That took care of the dilemma of what to do when a non-Boushie wins the Boushie archery trophy.

I think Jim and Pam were very happy to get their house back. The jury is still out on where the 2015 third annual Boushie archery tournament will take place. The first thing we have to do is get the trophy back from New Hampshire. The second thing we have to do is practice! I haven't shot a bow since the tournament last year. It was a sad showing. Perhaps I will make a trophy for second place - I would have won it two years in a row.

the crew, from left to right, front row, then back, daughter Katie, nephew Jack, niece Emma, me (Uncle Donut - my indian name), wife Karen, pa-in-law Norm, mom Althea, dad Sherdan, sister-in-law Pam, bro Jim, former archery teacher Pat, and indian-princess-daughter Maddie

Keeping New Year's Resolutions . . . Hiking, Birding, and Photography

      Back in January 2013, before my work life went crazy, I wrote about New Year's resolutions for the Mountain Gazette. I outline some suggested resolutions that I thought would make the sporting world a better place and sportsmen better people - if that is possible.  Among the resolutions I suggested was "Take up a new and complimentary 'hobby'; something to get you out in the woods during the off season. Take up photography, bird watching, hiking, canoeing – something to get you outside; something you can do with family or friends...."

Tri-Colored Heron and Great Egret, Cape May, NJ

I decided to follow my own advice (for a change) and take up several "hobbies" to compliment hunting and fishing activities. And while many hobbies don't come cheap, they don't have to be expensive (unless you get a new camera and new hiking shoes, and a new backpack...not that I'm saying I did...).

Being outdoors keeps me sane. Some people have no problem dealing with crowds of people, tons of traffic, and lots of buildings and pavement. Not me. I need the outdoors to recreate and regenerate. When I'm in Vermont, I'm surrounded by the outdoors. When I'm away, not so much.

My "hobbies" bring me outside when noting is in season or, God forbid, I don't have time or feel like hunting or fishing. When I'm away from Vermont these same pursuits give me a great reason to head for the hills - not that I need too much of a reason.

Sky Meadow State Park, VA

I started snowshoe day hiking on the western slopes of Mount Mansfield after hunting season was over and before trout season opened with . The woods were almost empty and I certainly didn't overhead.

Friends in Virginia told me about Sky Meadows State Park, which has become a favorite - especially the section that runs along the Appalachian Trial. Wherever I am on the weekend I look to see what local trails are available.

Sometimes the weather is less than desirable or I simply don't have the time available for a good hike. Enter the hobby of birding. I used to bird back in high school and my early fatherhood years - both periods of time with my friend Tom Kenefick. Back in the day, we'd pack our daughters Lauren and Katie and go looking for Bald Eagles at Mason Neck in Virginia. We'd tie feathers on the girls and let them flop around in their winter coats hoping to attract some birds. (Just checking to see if our wives ever read my blog.)

Great Blue Heron, Huntley Meadows Park, VA

In fact, back in high school we birded with David Allen Sibley (once). David was in my class and Tom and I ran track with David's older brother Steve and sister Anne. We went out one night looking to call owls and stayed through dawn. We ended up in a marsh, trying to convince David to leave so we could grab some breakfast. To say that David had an unusual level of focus for a high school guy would be a gross understatement, certainly where something other than girls were concerned. Of course, having more focus than either Tom or me was a low hurdle to meet.

So, I'm birding again and taking some short side trips to various locations near and not so near and it has been a lot of fun.

Whimbrels, Cape May, NJ

The Tri-Colored Heron, Great Egret, and Whimbrel photos were taken on a September trip to Cape May, NJ. The shots were taken from a boat in choppy water. I was using a Lumix GX-7 with a 100-300 lens. The camera has an anti-vibration feature, which was handy shooting from a boat.

I saw 34 species of birds. Many of the birds were firsts for me. Kind of neat. It gets me out and is an interesting challenge to learn to identify new birds. It is like preseason scouting, where you aren't sure of what game you'll actually find.

One interesting sighting while at Cape May was a Whiskered Tern. You won't find it in your local bird guide since it is from Africa. It was visiting Cape May when I was. It was only the third sighting of this bird in the United States. Frankly, it wasn't an impressive looking bird. It was nice to add such an unusual sighting to my life list.

Expect to see many more photos in coming posts. I already have quite a backlog. 

Whose woods these are I think I know.

His house is in the village though; He will not see me stopping here; To watch his woods fill up with snow.  (Stopping by Woods on a Snow Evening, by Robert Frost)

"Whose woods these are I think I know" is a fitting title to my first blog entry since July 2013. It is the feeling I get when I'm driving home from the Burlington airport; driving up our road, looking through the trees, across the meadow to our house. For more than a year, I have traveling considerably for work.  Being home for any stretch of time is a treat.

In November 2012, I started this blog. As part of this great endeavor I thought it would be fun and interesting to try out some new gear and write up a review or two.  One techno-toy I really wanted to try out was a game camera. I did some research and settled on the Bushnell® HD Trophy Cam.  I wrote to Bushnell and told them about the blog (then with regular postings) and that I wanted to review their Trophy Cam. They were kind enough to send me the HD Trophy Cam to evaluate for a year. An unintended, but very welcome benefit of evaluating the Trophy Cam was being able to stay connected to Vermont when I was away - specifically to Vermont's changing seasons and its domesticated and wild critters.

wild critter

The Model 119537C HD Trophy Camera took 8 mega pixel photos (after a year I still haven't used the video option). The camera takes very good to great quality photos. The photos ranged from vivid color during the day to black and white at night. The color quality depended on the lighting. The only poor quality photos was when the angle of the sun washed out the picture...or when Cabot-the-wonder-dog sprinted by the camera and all that was captured was a blur.

domesticated critter - Cabot

One of the nice features of the camera is the date, time, temperature stamp on the pictures. From this information I was able to determine that standard alkaline batteries worked down to about 4 degrees. Lithium batteries were good to at least 4 below - the coldest recorded. 

I made several other observations using this feature. One observation was that my wife clearly stretched the truth when she told me she always keeps the dogs on a leash when she lets them out. I could correct her by reminding her that on June 16th at 18:30 hours she, in fact, had Cabot off the leash as she walked up to dump kitchen bio-hazards in compost!  She was most grateful for my gentle corrections. (Every parent of teenagers should run out and get one of these game cameras. Just strap it to a tree and focus it on the front of the house. Your children will think you have supernatural powers about when they broke curfew or what boyfriend came to the house and when. If only I knew then...hindsight is 20/20 they say.)

partially domesticated

Another observation I made, more in keeping with the purpose of the camera, was that the only time I recorded our resident fisher cat (near the composer) was when it was less than 10 degrees outside. (See photo below.)

The camera is quite sensitive.  It captured birds at the feeder, the movement of squirrels, and lots of raccoon activity at night - including the whole raccoon family climbing down from a tree that we had always walked by, never knowing who its residents were.

fisher cat hunting English Setters

I am hopeful that my writing hiatus is over and that I will once again be adding routine posts.  A lot has happened in over a year, some of it even good.  No matter where your travels take you, the outdoors has something to offer. There are new trails, new animals, renewal of old interests, new encounters with animals, etc. New sporting opportunities also bring new gear. One future post has to be "Confessions of an Outdoor Gear Whore." I was going to use addict, but "whore" is much more dramatic, even if inaccurate.

Remember, a bad day afield is better than a good day at a regular paying job, although the regular pay is awfully nice.