The long wait till next season bow hunting

Yes, the season is over. Yes, it will be 8 months till season opens again. Yes, there are things that you can do to pass the time. Think of all the hunts and things you should of had and didn't. Make bow ropes. Go knock on a few door's and see if you can't get permission for this coming season. Go look for sheds. If you want a new bow go get one know. This gives you plenty of time to get comfortable with your bow and shooting straight. If you don't want to pay to shoot at a archery place make your own. It doesn't take much. Get a target and a distance of ten yards. Its not as much about distance as it is about fundamentals.Make your permanent tree stands know so that the deer get used to them.
There is nothing like reading books to learn the mind of a whitetail. I would recommend downloading Google earth on to your computer. This is a Ariel map of the world. You can zoom in on potential hunting spots. Only one problem is that it doesn't give any land owner information. You will have to use a plat book or drive to there place to get permission but it might be worth it.

Go shopping for new clothing and gear. Especially calls. This gives you plenty of time to practice with them and become a better caller.

So shoot now, scout now, buy gear, and eventually the season will be here, and you'll be on top of your game.

Wildcats have "WILD" Week

The Goodhue Wildcats basketball team took on one of its toughest opponents yet Monday night when they took on 8-1 Bethlehem Academy. Academy got hot in the 2nd half in route to a 85-62 loss. It seemed like everything that Academy put up it was going down. Drew Mathews had a game high 26 points including five of five from three. Chris palmer had only 19 points and was only four of six from three. As a team the Cardinals shot 11-19 from beyond the arc for the game. Kelby buck lead the way for the Cats with 13 points. “No matter what you when a team shoots that good they can’t be beat”, said junior guard DJ Buck.


A night later the Wildcats looked to bounce back against 2-7 Kasson- Mantorville. Though tailing most of the 1st half the Wildcats stormed to a 59-47 victory. The Wildcats were short handed as two players were unable to compete in the contest, Cameron Peterson could not play due to illness and DJ Buck was unable to play due to an undisclosed reason. Ashton Erie seen more action in the game as all eight players on the team seen at least five minutes of playing time. The cats went on a 10-2 run with 6 minutes to play and took over from there. “It was a good comeback win”, said Goodhue Senior guard Kelby Buck. Though shooting just 1-11 from three Blayne Erie finished with 17, and Kelby Buck finished with 11. The defense played big as well holding K-M to shooting just 4-16 from three for the game. Isaac Manitz had a team high 16 for the KoMets.

BY DJ Buck

Future Twin?

These days Roger Clemens is dominating headlines, not Johan Santana. Yet nearly two months after the Yankees first started trade talks with the Twins over Santana, the Minnesota ace is not off the Yankees' radar. Don't be surprised though if the New York Mets, and not the Yankees, end up with Johan Santana for $20 million a year after the Twins' Cy Young Award winner becomes a free agent after the 2008 season.

Last year starting pitcher Johan Santana went 15-13 with an era (earned run average) of 3.33 for the Minnesota Twins. Now he's reaching the end of his contract and will be asking for the big bucks after the 2008 season. The left-hander will be 29 years old reaching the 2008 season He has denied previous extensions that the Twins have offered him. Santana said that the money amount wasnt high enough so since then other teams have been contacting him and trying to nail one of the leagues best pitchers. If the Twins don't reach agreements this could hurt the team a lot for the future because after Santana the Twins pitching drops off quite a bit.

Yankees senior vice president Hank Steinbrenner has not closed the door on a trade for Twins left-hander Johan Santana. He is still in the deciding process and is involved in little talk back and forth. Right-hander Phil Hughes and center fielder Melky Cabrera would likely be part of a multiplayer package needed to get hold of Santana, who is two-time Cy Young Award winner. So far the only major trade talks are with the Red Sox, Yankees, and the Mets. All three of them are teams with a lot of money for guys like Santana. I asked fellow classmate Micah what team he thought he would end up with and the spit out " The Yankees, the Yankees always get who ever they want." Which i think is true, in the past five years the Yankees have made some of the biggest trades ever.

The Twins know what they can get for Johan Santana and they realize none of the packages will calm down their fans, who we might never forgive the team for trading the two-time Cy Young Award winner. The Star Tribune reports that Twins officials say they think Santana will be traded before spring training opens next month. Fans and I will have to wait and see what goes down in the next month or two before training camps.

By: Sean Thomforde

DEER HUNTING

The Whitetail breeding period lasts longer than most people realize. The closer to the peak of the rut you get the bigger and the more bucks you will see interacting with the doe's. The rut starts in mid-November and ends late-November.

The Pre-Rut
There are three periods of the rut. The first is called "the pre-rut". Beginning in late summer or early autumn the blood flow to a buck's soft antlers stop; they then harden or calcify. The white-tail bucks rubs small trees to remove the velvet on his antlers which is now drying up and beginning to shed. A buck is also scent marking trees by rubbing them with the pre-orbital glands located in his forehead, thus marking his home territory. The rubbing of trees is also a means of strengthening a whitetail's neck. This prepares him for upcoming light sparring sessions with other buck's to establish a dominance order to the local deer herd. The dominant bucks are the older males, they are larger and have the best genetic make-up. These are the trophy deer that do most of the breeding. It's natures way of ensuring survival of the fittest and passing on the best genes.

Hunting The Rut

When hunting the rut, sometimes a deer hunter will see a doe travel by their hunting stand, tail out, sort of fanning the air, alert to something behind them. Be alert because a buck may not be far behind; with his neck outstretched and head low to the ground making low grunting sounds, in search of his mate. A buck advertises his presence through numerous sensory signals leaving physical scrapes and signs. He applies scents from various parts of his body signaling other deer of his presence and dominance. Saliva, urine, pre-orbital glands in front of his eyes, forehead glands at the base of his antlers and tarsal glands on the insides of his hind legs all send aromatic messages to other deer.

Buck in the rut

IT'S CRUNCH TIME

Nothing gets better then Conference Championships. This Sunday the final four teams left in the NFL go head to head. At 3:00 the San Diego Chargers vs. the New England Patriots, and at 6:30 its the Green Bay Packers vs. the New York Giants. The greatest football of the year could be played this sunday.

First off the San Diego Chargers pulled a huge upset against the Indianapolis Colts last week in an outstanding defensive game. The Chargers are a little bruised up from last week still, losing two key players and a third who is coming off a dislocated toe. Phillip Rivers was injured in the fourth quarter with a knee injury and also LaDainian Tomlinson bruised his right knee in last weeks game but returned to practice this week and should be playing Sunday. Bruised up or not the Chargers are not going down without a fight against the undefeated New England Patriots. The Patriots dont just play the game they dominate the game of football. Tom Brady has had the best year then all of the other quarterbacks in the league. But you just cant talk about the Patriots and not talk about Randy Moss, Wes Walker, Laurence Maroney and well the whole team. These guys have had one helva season and wish to win the super bowl but it all comes down to sundays game, if they dont bring their "A" game the underdog San Diego Chargers will capitolize.

Now for the New York Giants, the Giants haven't had the best year. It is best discribed as a rollercoster. A team that finished the reg. season 10-6, losing their starting Tightend Jeremy Shockey, to a season ending injury, who led the team in catches and touchdowns.they have been fighting injurys all year long, playing poorly all year long and making the playoffs with the first NFC wildcard spot, you wouldn't think they would be one game away from the Super bowl but they are. The Green Bay Packers for other hand have started the season with a BANG!!! Most people didn't even think they would have been in the playoffs this past offseason. But with an old hall of fame Quarterback who is playing the best football of his career Brett Favre has held this young team together and is fighting to win a Super bowl. As of right now they are looking like the second best team still alive right behind the New England Patriots. Green Bay has a great chance to make it to the Super bowl and even win it!!!

So all of you football fans out there get ready for some great football Sunday.

Security Cameras at School

By the end of the month of January, Goodhue School will have security cameras monitoring the hallways. There is going to be cameras placed throughout the high school and elementary hallways. The cameras are going to mainly focus on the entrances of school and the entrances into the locker rooms. There will also be cameras by student lockers. The main purpose of these cameras is for safety, not to get anyone in trouble that looks at the cameras wrong.
The company determines where they think the security cameras are most needed. The cameras by the doorway are mainly to help ensure that there is not anyone coming into the building that is not supposed to be in the building. This promotes a lot of safety to teachers and students. The purpose of the cameras in the hallways and the entrances into the locker room are to catch people stealing belongings out of lockers. This has been an issue at our school in the past, considering we do not have locks on our ancient lockers. There is also going to possibly be one or more cameras out in the school parking lot. This will help determine theft and damage to people’s vehicles which can be very costly.
We are one of the very last schools around our area to get security cameras. Red Wing has had security cameras in the middle school and the high school for years. “We haven’t really had a need for them in the past,” stated Mr. Harvey. They are only for minor needs. They help the school find the suspect that stole something when someone complains of theft. When someone complains of something getting stole out of their locker, the school can go back and look at the cameras and determine suspects. It’s a lot easier to get things returned to their owners this way. It also helps determine what happens after school at sporting events. People find ways to get to lockers and steal stuff when no one is around. Now, the school can look back and find the suspect who did steal belongings when no one was around.
These cameras are not going to be monitored every minute of the day. There is going to be one monitoring system in the office. They are not here to ruin every student’s privacy. You won’t get called down to the office for walking in the hall during class. These cameras were put up for minor needs and they are likely to help the school a lot and make a lot of people feel more secure and happier. Mr. Harvey is not sure how many security cameras are being installed but look for them throughout the school soon!

Wildcats Undefeated in HVL Blue

With about half of the regular season in the books, the Goodhue Wildcats basketball team is playing well and has an overall record of 7-5. However, the Cats are still undefeated in conference play with a record of 4-0. There have been numerous exciting games since my last update. On January 4th, the Lake City Tigers, one of our fiercest rivals, came to Goodhue in an attempt to hand us our first lost. Lake City gave us everything we could handle, but we still managed to escape with a narrow victory thanks to Sean Thomforde's game high 17 points. "I was just hitting my shots today. I threw 'em up and they went in," said Thomforde. Our next opponents were also Tigers, this time from Medford. Medford did not have the best basketball players, but they made up for it with hustle and effort. The scrappy Tigers managed to keep the game close until the final minutes, when we pulled away to win by 15. Brett Watson scored 16 to lead the Wildcats. Our next conference opponent was the mighty Cougars of Zumbrota-Mazeppa. A young squad led by good 3-point shooters, the Cougars gave us a run for our money, but we were able to scrape by with a 6 point victory. We played host to the Faribault B.A. Cardinals the following Monday. The Cards came were ranked #7 in Minnesota and had won 8 straight. They continuted their streak with a dominant win over us. B.A. was led by the sharpshooter Brian Matthews who scored 26. The following evening was another home game, this time against Kasson Mantorville. The Wildcats and Komets played a fierce, back and forth game until Goodhue finally pulled away in the final minutes. Everything is looking good for the Cats at this point in the season. They are looking to get another conference win tonight in Kenyon-Wanamingo