Round 1 Of The Holidays

We just got through one of my favorite times of the year, Halloween and Thanksgiving. This year the holiday was a little extra busy. I'm back in school finishing up my BS in Cyber Security and had a class that was taking a little longer than I expected in October. I'm going to Western Governor's University and the classes are self paced. 

I think I mentioned in my last post the hernia surgery I had 4 years ago failed recently and I was feeling it in California. I got checked up and had to go through another surgery. Apparently the doctor that did the first surgery patched on the outside instead of the inside so the hernia punched through and got pancaked causing even more pain than before the repair. I finished my class just a few days before surgery, which was on 10/25. The doctor told me that even though they were going in with a scope this time it would hurt more than the first surgery which was open surgery. He was wrong. The only thing that really sucked about this one was that they pumped me up with gas to get a better look inside and it was killing my shoulder for a couple days. Other than that the recovery seemed to go really fast. I only missed one full day of work then took half days the rest of the week. I used my downtime to study for my next class and after ten days decided I was ready to test out. Three days later I took the test, passed, and have been on break since then. I have my last class of the semester that I am starting today and trying to finish before Christmas so I can take another month off before the new semester. This is my new strategy, cram and break.

I wasn't sure that I was going to be able to do Trick or Treating with the kids this year but I ended up doing just fine. We probably covered two miles that night and found the Rumchata house from last year. This year they were out of Rumchata when we got there so they made me a peppermint schnapps in hot chocolate and they made Natalie a Baileys in hot chocolate. Always the best part of trick or treating for us adults.

Since I was supposed to be on light duty for 6 weeks I haven't been hiking or hunting. I've been just hanging out around the house and taking the kids to the park. Well that all changed a week before Thanksgiving. I didn't want to have the yard a mess with guest here so I did some things I shouldn't have and I paid the price for it. I was fine in the day but when I went to pick up a turkey that night for Thanksgiving I started feeling abdominal pain. I dealt with it for another ten days and finally saw the surgeon again yesterday. He said he doesn't believe the hernia broke through but I probably pulled out some of the tacks so my time on light duty is reset. So now it's 6 more weeks of no fun, and this time I really have to stick to it.

This year Thanksgiving was at our house and I decided I was going to do my first smoked turkey. Two days before Thanksgiving I decided to message my cousin who is a master smoker and ask for some advice. It's a good thing I did because if I had just smoked the turkey like I do chickens it probably would have been dry. My cousin sent me some videos on everything from how to keep coals burning longer to how to brine, inject, and season a turkey for smoking. On the way back from my anniversary getaway with Natalie I bought some last minute supplies so I could brine the turkey before making an airport run to pick up family. On Thanksgiving I injected the turkey with a Cajun sauce then covered in Cajun seasoning and smoked with Pecan chips. I'm not exaggerating when I say it was the best turkey I have had. Most people dry out their turkey when they smoke them but this turkey was the moistest I have had and it was packed with flavor all the way to the bone. Thanks to an awesome turkey I think Thanksgiving was a success this year. Much better than the last one we hosted which was a disaster.

The family stuck around the rest of the week. Friday after picking up a new dishwasher (my old one broke two days before Thanksgiving) we took my dad up north to look at some homes. Saturday we did a quail hunt and Sunday my nephew talked me into taking him on a coyote hunt. I was a little hesitant to take him coyote hunting because he is a little crap talker. He loves to talk trash about how he is going to get a coyote faster than I did and how I messed up multiple hunts when I was learning (I'm self taught). I thought knowing my luck I'll take him out there with the right ammo, set him up the right way, use the right calls, and he'll get lucky and get a coyote and I'll never hear the end of it. I was also having a little big of a motivation issue, which I normally don't have when it comes to hunting. I was tired from the holiday, my stomach was hurting, I just wasn't feeling like waking up early. 

Well I decided to take him anyways. Our first stand was a bust and I thought the entire morning would be because of the wind. On our second stand I was very careful how I set up because of the wind and I told Jeremy exactly where I thought the coyote would come in. I laid down on my side and started calling and probably not even 30 seconds later a coyote came in exactly where I expected it. At first all I saw was a head and I thought it was a big jack rabbit but it didn't take too long before I realized it was a full grown coyote. The coyote was probably 55 yards out and here I am laying on my side with a shotgun. I decided there would be no waiting today. The coyote looked a little on the skittish side and I didn't want to wait too long and have it take off on me. It was hanging back watching my call instead of making a charge so I had to make my move. I had no idea if Jeremy even saw the coyote at this point but I decided to pull the trigger. 

I hit the coyote but it wasn't enough to drop it. I started yelling for Jeremy to take a shot and he did immediately. I then started yelling to get up and chase it. So we both jumped up cocking our shotguns as we were running and the coyote was trying to move west to the hills. At this point I got another shot in the coyote's butt before she got behind some Palo Verdes. Jeremy ran around the trees on the north side and I was on the south side. Then I heard a blast and saw cholla flying all over the place. So then I'm yelling at Jeremy about shooting the cactus. Apparently the coyote was behind it. We were now 50 yards from where we were setup and the coyote made it another 50 or so yards from here before Jeremy got the last shot on it. I thought we had lost it but Jeremy was right on top of it when I got around the trees. It was a fun hunt and Jeremy did good. I know the kid had a blast out there and he's all excited to do it again in February.

I have to say it's a lot better hunting with two people. You get more visual coverage when calling and it's so much easier to chase these things down since they're almost always going to keep running when shot at that distance with a shotgun. This was the first coyote I've got that had a good pelt so I decided to skin it. I did a pretty decent job skinning it until I got to the face. I think I need some practice and a better knife for defleshing though. I got as much flesh off as I could and salted the hide in the garage all week. I'll find out tomorrow if it looks good enough to pickle and tan the hide.

Zach was Iron Man for Halloween this year.

Adri was a Monster High Doll.

Dean was a caterpillar.

My favorite stop, the Rumchata house. They do normal hot chocolate for the kids.

At the park with the kids.

I think I'm the only one that follows my kids around the playground. I don't care that there are cameras everywhere I'm always worried about someone trying to snatch my kid. And yes, I get worried when I see Zach climbing up high for the first time. 

Dean liked the train ride until they blew the horn in the tunnel. 

My nephew Cody likes holding the babies and giving them their bottles.

Natalie turned old this year. My dad got in earlier than expected so he got to join us for birthday cake, a day after her birthday.

Dean and Zach playing with cousin Oliver.

Putting my turkey in brine. I put my turkey in a brine made of sugar, salt, water, onions, celery, garlic and lemons. I kept it bagged up in an ice chest with ice over it over night in the laundry room. On Thanksgiving I removed the turkey and washed off all the brine.

After washing off the brine I did my Cajun injection. I injected everything; breast, drums, wings, even the underside then stuffed the turkey with apples and onions before seasoning.

Here is my turkey getting ready to be smoked.

While I was outside smokin I caught my dad playing with Dean on the trampoline.

About halfway through smokin.

After 3.5 hours this is a well smoked bird. Don't let the dark color fool you. That bird was moist.

Dean has an obsession with the remotes.

Hunting rabbits and quail.

I got the first quail of the season. Normally I shoot them on the ground but in this area they like to fly out of the bushes. I hit this one mid air and watched it tumble. A few minutes later I got another, feathers went everywhere, but it didn't go down. Jeff took the second shot and the bird made a hard turn right and we lost it. Cameron happened to be in the area and found it in a bush.

The morning of our coyote hunt. It was a little chilly.

Normally I sit or stand when hunting. This time I decided to try something different since my stomach was bugging me and I laid down on my side.

I was able to do a somewhat decent job on skinning the yote until I got to the head. I don't have the skills yet to get everything including the nose off.