Mid-Year Goal Status

Remember my post 10 Outdoor Goals for Simple, Fulfilled Living in 2016? Time for an update!

• Pick a wild fruit and make something homemade out of it: a jam, jelly, pie, syrup, or liqueur. DONE! Check out this amazing Blackberry Liqueur starter kit and the final product mixed with some sweet tea.

• Gather and leach enough acorns to eat, whether they be as acorn flour or simply roasted. NOT DONE. Check back this fall.

• Shoot my longbow more and make it a point to spend more time with my wife in archery. PARTIALLY DONE. We've been out shooting a few times, but not really enough to satisfy this.

• Add two more species of fish to my catalog of species caught on the tenkara rod. PARTIALLY DONE. I have one new species added to the list: Channel Catfish. It was a good one too! My sweetie also caught a Warmouth, but that doesn't count for this purpose.
  
  
  

• Improve my butchery skills and teach someone else the dying art. PARTIALLY DONE. Although I haven't taught anyone butchery at this point, I have been perfecting my fish cleaning. I was really poor at it before, but am getting better. I even filleted this Smallmouth Buffalo before learning about Haff Disease. Sadly I relegated him to the garden.

• Visit a National Park or National Wildlife Refuge and celebrate such a unique American gift. DONE! We had a great time exploring Hot Springs National Park on our annual vacation.

• Cook a wild game meal outdoors using cast iron. NOT DONE. I'll tackle this one when it cools off. Hopefully I'll get to do it during the Small Game Road-Trip I'm planning.

• Journal a vivid description of an outdoor scene with deep appreciation (like John Muir). DONE!

• Change someone’s mind regarding the culinary value of small game or waterfowl. DONE! This one has been my absolute favorite. I spent 6.5 hours cooking a giant pot of Squirrel Brunswick Stew a couple weeks ago and fed 10 people with it. No complaints and a lot of empty bowls. Best of all, my sweetheart ate squirrel for the first time!
  
  
  

• Locate and harvest a bounty of Sulfur Shelf Mushrooms (Laetiporus sulphureus). NOT DONE. Sadly, I haven't been able to find any of these Chicken of the Woods. It isn't for trying. I did however, manage to find Morels, Oysters, and Wood Ear this spring. We ate the Wood Ears for the first time ever and despite the bland flavor, there were a great texture addition to stir fry.