Check Michael Pearce's blog at blogs.kansas.com/outdoors

Nov. 20, 2009

Sorry to be running a day late with the e-letter for this week.

I've been on a vacation that has involved a lot of time in trees, duck blinds and good photo shoots.

Details to come later.

Upcoming coverage

Sunday's outdoors page will be a feature on one of the top current outdoors photo opportunities in America - the Quivira National Wildlife Refuge.

Seriously, between a million waterfowl and one of Kansas' best deer populations there is a lot to be seen and photographed there.

Most of the page will be photos from a trip of about three hours through Quivira Tuesday afternoon.

Down the road I'll have an article on some of the impacts non-resident deer hunting are having on Kansas and Kansans.

Some of the news is good. Some of the news is not so good.

It all depends on how you look at it.

Updates

Mixed reports came with the opening of pheasant season. There were some good stories being told.

The best places seemed to be in west-central and northwest Kansas.

Some of the worst reports came from northcentral Kansas.

Fall fishing's been pretty good for white bass and wipers in shallow waters at most lakes.

Duck hunting's been fair to good for most people.

A lot of snow geese have arrived with good numbers of small Canadas, too.

The rut really seems to have kicked in within the past few days.

That means get in the stand if you're bowhunting.

Pay very careful attention if you're driving.

Michael's world

Wow, what a week. It ended up being better than I'd ever hoped.

Two duck hunts brought two easy limits.

The afternoon drive through Quivira was very well timed as the refuge is now holding close to 1 million geese and the whitetail bucks were on the prowl.

It was one of my more memorable photo shoots.

All four trips to treestands brought hot action. That includes some very close encounters with bobcats and coyotes.

I got a nice doe Monday afternoon and shot a decent nine or ten- pointer last evening.

It's kind of a long story but I'd played a game of cat-and-mouse with a really big white-horned nine-pointer in the morning and afternoon at the same place in Butler County.

The last I saw him he was headed south down a farm trail.

Right at dusk a doe and fawn came running from that direction with a white-horned nine-pointer on their tails.

I drew when he went behind a big cedar and shot when it stepped out.

It wasn't the same buck. This one is about 130 inches, maybe a tad more.

Good ending for a great week, though.

Now watch out ducks, I still have quite a bit more vacation to burn.

Bests,

Michael Pearce

mpearce@wichitaeagle.com

Andy's Duck and Apples

2 large ducks, breasts filleted

milk

extra-virgin olive oil

2 apples

1 onion

Soak duck breast slabs in milk 4-8 hours.

Saute(acu) sliced onion and apples in olive oil until tender. Place duck fillets directly on the onion and apples.

(It's important they don't come in contact with the hot skillet.)

Cover with a well-fitting lid.

Cook about 1 1/2 to 2 minutes per side.

Check fillets for doneness. Don't cook to well-done.

Slice and eat with onions and apples.

Andy Fanter

• A photography haven close to home
• Solunar table
• Brought together by birds