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Well Stocker, we will be on our way through there October 17, we are heading up to Taltapin Lake for moose. I hope your shoulder is doing better.

Since we're talking practical jokes here... I used to work in the ER of a hospital in Detroit, MI. As you can well imagine, people expired with frightening regularity. Part of my job was to transport the dearly departed to the morgue in the basement. When we got newbies, we made sure that they participated in the processing of the,now room temperature, patient. We would set it up where they would go with one of the oldtimers to the morgue. In the meantime, another of us (modesty prevents me from divulging who) would run ahead and climb into the appropriate refrigerator. The hapless newby would come in, open the door and the individual in the reefer would spring out and yell. I'm certain that at least a couple of people still have nightmares over that one.
<br> I could go on for hours about the ER. The show on TV is the Disney version of what goes on there.

In the early 'Fifties, one of our guys at the Naval Photographic Center brought this yarn back from the naval hospital at Bethesda.
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<br>Seems that a Medal of Honor winner had died at that hospital, and his body -- dressed in USMC dress uniform -- was lying in state in a special room, under 24-hour guard (another Marine in dress uniform). During the wee hours of the morning, the bored guard craved a stir.
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<br>He got one.
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<br>He propped the deceased in a sitting position against one wall, with his M1 alongside, and lay down in the open casket -- knowing that an orderly would soon come in with coffee and doughnuts.
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<br>Orderly arrived as expected -- with expected tray -- nudged "sleeping sentry" and warned, "Hey, Mac, you better wake up! They catch you sleepin', it's yo ass. Here's some coffee and doughnuts for ya."
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<br>Sentry in casket sat up, snapped his fingers, and said "Here, Boy -- if he doesn't want 'em, I'll take 'em."
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<br>Our guy swore he'd seen the coffee stains on the ceiling.

Just about bust a gut laughing over that one Ken, I bet you there were other stains on the floor to go with them coffee stains on the ceiling.

A certain character noted for his poaching and excessive drinking habits once informed me that he had found a really good marsh close to town where he had no trouble getting his limit. Hoping that the ducks might do him grievous harm I never let him know that he was hunting on the town's sewage lagoons. These were truly $hit ducks. True to his usual behavior he was hunting where a city bylaw prohibited same. Wasn't in my jurisdiction, so didn't feel any obligation whatsoever to warn him off.

One of my friends in Alaska, Willie M, resides in memory after nearly half a century for several reasons. Two, for instance:
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<br>Willie and his partner stole a boxcar -- by HAND. One night just before the first permanent snow of the year, they crow-barred it out of the rail yard, down the tracks, onto an all but forgotten siding obscured by weeds and saplings. They used it all winter, as a line cabin on their trap line.
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<br>Willie got along well with his partner's dad but NOT AT ALL with the sister and mom -- who were double living proof that they didn't have to be rich to rhyme with it. After one outstandingly unpleasant encounter with the sister, Willie bought her a big box of chocolates for Christmas -- "spiked" with a handful of replacement pieces that Willie had carefully prepared and had carefully placed in the box in specific locations that the partner and his dad knew to avoid.
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<br>Willie's partner and the dad kept mum and straight-faced Christmas morning (Willie wasn't there) when the sister oohed and aahed over Willie's unexpected gift -- and the sister and mom virtually competed to see who could chomp down chocolates faster. Sure enough, the first two chocolates they popped in their mouths were Willie's chocolate-coated moose marbles.
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<br>Then everybody came unglued in remarkably different ways.

I never fooled around with human cadavers much but one we did may be worth telling. Place near me had a hunting cabin and the boys that used it were friends of mine. I didn't hunt with them but would visit at night for games of chance and liquid refreshments.
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<br>Across the road and down aways was another camp. One of the inhabitants of that camp came over to visit his neighbors. When he walked in there was a bottle of Johnny Walker sitting on the table. His eyes lit up like a kid in a candy store.
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<br>Got to be a regular habit. He showed up every night and wouldn't leave until almost poured out. He was really a nice old boy and funny and not a problem drunk but just a lush and moocher. He also had weak kidneys. No body had the heart to really crawl him they just wanted him to leave.
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<br>Somebody killed this big stinking boar hog and hauled it into camps. We proped the poor dead thing up in the outhouse behind the cabin.
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<br>Long about good dark here come the lush with a big thirst. He was about seventeen sixteenths drunk when he had to go. Staggered out to the outhouse, bottle in hand, and pushed the door in. It hit one of the stiff outstreched legs of that hog and bounced shut.
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<br>"Scusshe, me," he said.
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<br>Stood there nipping at the bottle and holding himself. Started to jig from one foot to the other.
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<br>"Hey, come on buddy, I got to go," he said. NO response of course. Jigged a little more. Kicked the door and it slammed shut again.
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<br>Stood there a little more. Faster jig. "Come on, man," he says. Pushed the door open and peeked around it into the outhouse. HARRRRRRuuunh he said backpedling. Fell down, sat up, looked at the bottle in his hand and flung it at the outhouse. Got up and staggered out of sight in the general direction of his own camp. Never came back either.
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<br>We were almost chewing our arms off keeping from laughing out loud.
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<br>BCR
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You guys that don't like duck either have to stop shooting shovellers and mergansers, or learn how to cook! Holy Moly you don't know what you're missing out on. Flavourful, tender, deeeeeeelicious! My two pre-school girls LOVE duck and goose done this way.
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<br>I age my birds up to a week when the temp. is hovering just above freezing. Breast meat and legs are removed and washed. Slice breast across the grain into 1-2" strips. Marinate overnight in red wine and a little soya sauce. Put all the meat and marinade, and an eighth cup of olive oil in a covered casserole dish with any of your other favourite flavour enhancers - garlic, ginger, liquid smoke, onions, brown sugar, lemon juice, BBQ sauce, etc. Cook at 250F for 1 to 1-1/2 hours. The meat should be fork tender, and almost falling off the leg bones. Best with rice, either wild, brown, herbed, or basmati.
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<br>I ga-ron-TEE you will go back for seconds.
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<br>grouseman