Brute’s Bleat February 8, 2017

I was an Atlanta fan Sunday evening and figured they had the game in the bag after three quarters, but I was proved wrong once again when the Patriots pulled off an overtime win. As for the game commercials, which get a lot of hype, for me it was a toss-up between Mr. Clean and Skittles with Skittles winning that contest. There was lots of glitz and glamour in Lady Gaga’s halftime show, but this year’s Super Bowl will be remembered for being the first overtime game in its history, and for the way veteran quarterback Tom Brady rallied his team.
* * *
My efforts to scrounge up some practical jokes hasn’t been as fruitful as I expected. After racking my brains for something that would fit that category I came up with one that was played unintentionally on Mike Muller and myself while we were scouting for sharptail and pheasants in North Dakota for a later hunt years ago. We were on our way back to Minnesota on a hot afternoon and decided to stop in LaMoure for a malt at that city’s famed Ice Cream Parlor (a restaurant suggested as tops for ice cream treats by my sister-in-law, Myrt, who lives in Elk River now, but was from LaMoure as a youngster). Anyway Mike and I decided to order different flavors of malts, one chocolate and the other strawberry. We figured by ordering separate flavors we would each get the metal container they are prepared in as a bonus as well as the glass container the malts are served in. All went well when we put our orders in and the two young girls put the scoops of ice cream in the tin containers along with the flavoring. We felt pretty smug as we heard the buzz of the machines and waited for our malts. (We both could hear well back then!) But that wasn’t all we heard as the girls commented to one another, “Which flavor do you want?” We knew immediately that we had been had and there wouldn’t be a bonus! Since then whenever we’ve gone past LaMoure we’d have to chuckle.
* * *
This is the time of year for avid deer hunters to begin thinking about hunting for sheds (antlers from surviving buck deer). I’m not into that sport, but this year’s winter without much snow should make shed hunting easier. From what little I know about the sport, the best places to hunt are areas where deer tend to congregate during the winter months. It’s not a sport that requires any special equipment, just some good boots and warm clothing! If shed hunting isn’t your cup of tea you may want to explore deer hunting in New Zealand. The Minnesota DNR has a promotional story with an opening paragraph that says, “Experience the Hunt of a Lifetime. In the heart of New Zealand’s untouched wilderness.
“Immerse yourself in New Zealand’s demanding terrain and pursue your biggest challenge yet. At High Peak it’s just you, the wild and the hunt. If pure hunting is what drives you, it won’t get any better than this. We guarantee you’ll have the chance to pit your skills up against a range of New Zealand game, including the incomparable Rakaia Red Stag. We are proud to say we have a 100% success record to date.” I’m not really interested and haven’t hunted Minnesota’s white-tails for about 20 years, but it’s fun to read about exotic hunts in faraway places! Getting rates for a New Zealand trip takes more time and effort and I figured it was beyond my budget so why bother. But if any of my readers are interested that information is on the DNR website.
* * *
I’m not getting any good reports on fishing in this area, and that may be because I haven’t gotten any out on any of Wright County’s lakes for several weeks. Some local anglers who fished walleyes and saugers on Lake of the Woods recently did well catching limits. They were impressed with the bite and the size of the walleyes. Mike Muller is kind of mum about fishing on Florida’s Lake Okeechobee, but he and Jesse caught 22 crappies several weeks ago that were 13 inches or better.