Spring break 2….

[benelli-banger]

Arrived Saturday afternoon, drove through horrendous wind the last 35% of the trip…calmed down Saturday evening…nice temps the past 3 days, 30 degrees better than home. Had a great supper last nite with several families, all related, all generous landowners with their habitat, Dined on SD beef and walleye, among other things. I’ve been smoking pork shoulder, 33 lbs…end up with about 18 lbs finished pulled pork…gifting it to about 5 families out here, including my farmer buddy who won’t take lodging $ for his farmhouse I stay in during non-hunting season, this is how I pay him. Nice for him to have 6 ziplocks of pulled pork in the freezer during busy season, make a lot of sandwiches and not have to spend a lot of time. Glorious time…went out with the dogs at 4 am, roosters were cackling in every direction! Crazy! Songbirds singing in the morning as well…loud!!

 

[benelli-banger]

I rub the pork shoulder with mustard, then cover with dry rub. Smoke using wet hickory, 4 hrs per side, then foil wrap and keep on heat another 4 hrs…when I chop it I spritz with 1/3 apple cider vinegar and the rest water…I sprinkle dry rub on too..,put about baseball size amount per ziplock, maybe softball size…makes 4-5 sandwiches on normal sized bun…18 lbs finished pulled pork
makes 75-80 sandwiches, assuming 3-4 oz pork per sandwich…normal sized bun works good, $1.99/8 buns…keep from wasting pork. 12” snow forecast late this week, moisture needed…birds are all over…crazy…

 

[A5 Sweet 16]

If we can get some good moisture prior to nesting (like last year) to really give the cover a nice bump, we're going to have another fantastic season. They keep getting better & better!! I'll be interested to see the harvest estimate (in June??) & won't be surprised if we hit 1.5M, which hasn't happened since 2011-12. I think a lot of people did really well last October & November.