Moonshining with Icky

[janoshik]

Jam or brandy? My wife would vote brandy!

I'd probably enjoy the jam more, neither of us drinks and with the jam my wife can bake some more goodies.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

It's extremely common in the mountainous regions of Slovakia.

Not too much stuff grows there and potatoes were usually used as food (historically), so people turned to fruit trees - mostly plums and then pears. The nice plums and pears got eaten and the not so nice ones were the subject of arguments between husbands and wives.

Wives wanted to make jams out of those and husbands wanted to get as much plum brandy as possible.


Recently it's not as popular, but still, local distilleries are in pretty much any village.


My grandparents and my father still make a gallon or two of plum brandy (Slivovitz - it's actually so good that it made it into english dictioinary! Slivka is plum in Slovak) every year.

If you are into experiments, I really suggest you check out various fruits. The funniest one we've had was pear brandy that tasted nothing like pears and 100% like bananas.

Slovakia...world leader #1 exporter of potassium

 

[Kakarot]

Brandy is huge down my way. Lots of people do peaches probably because theirs a peach orchard near by with no fences. Not sure what orchards you could have your way but might be worth a check. Some of them will let you pick fallen(bruised) fruit off the ground and charge you a few bucks per 5gal bucket. Im sure you got apples up there but please for the love of god dont distill good cider

 

[ickyrica]

Lots of apples. Grapes, Peaches, pears. Lots of local wineries with orchards and vineyards to support them. Probably nothing like down south though. Damn winter fucks everything up lol

 

[Kakarot]

Try peaches when you get a chance. Most orchards will sell the bruised/dropped to you on the cheap and it's damn good. Make sure you tell em it's for wine.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Winter renews the soil and growth process for next season.

Lots of apples. Grapes, Peaches, pears. Lots of local wineries with orchards and vineyards to support them. Probably nothing like down south though. Damn winter fucks everything up lol

Things grow better up north

 

[Kakarot]

Winter renews the soil and growth process for next season.


Things grow better up north

Helps that theirs less need for pesticides due to longer winters taking out more of the little bastards.

 

[ickyrica]

Helps that theirs less need for pesticides due to longer winters taking out more of the little bastards.

The tick population is supposed to be as low as it can be due to the extreme cold, fwiw.... not sure about other bugs and all that

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Helps that theirs less need for pesticides due to longer winters taking out more of the little bastards.

More fertile soil due to the abundance of rain and the dethawing process. Harsh winters are a natural rejuvinator. Down south theyd be SOL without man made irrigation systems

 

[Kakarot]

More fertile soil due to the abundance of rain and the dethawing process. Harsh winters are a natural rejuvinator. Down south theyd be SOL without man made irrigation systems

Depends on where your at but I agree with you for the most part That fertile soil tends to wash into a certain muddy river that tends to flood certain land where I may or may not live So in conclusion everyone is right

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Depends on where your at but I agree with you for the most part That fertile soil tends to wash into a certain muddy river that tends to flood certain land where I may or may not live So in conclusion everyone is right

I get you. And i know what your talking about. But they dont have that down here in Texas. Nothing but 100°+ days and no natural irrigation systems. Your area has different dynamics

 

[Kakarot]

I get you. And i know what your talking about. But they dont have that down here in Texas. Nothing but 100°+ days and no natural irrigation systems. Your area has different dynamics

I'm thinking about heading that way this coming fall to visit some family and do some hunting should be fun.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

I'm thinking about heading that way this coming fall to visit some family and do some hunting should be fun.

The "hunters" down here hunt on contracted land. Pay the bill and get chauffered around and told where the deere are. Most the land is contracted down here. Their not REAL hunters

 

[janoshik]

The "hunters" down here hunt on contracted land. Pay the bill and get chauffered around and told where the deere are. Most the land is contracted down here. Their not REAL hunters

Jesus. Sounds like a boring ego trip.

In glorious Slovakia if you do that you better be ready to be made fun of for decades to come.

 

[Kakarot]

The "hunters" down here hunt on contracted land. Pay the bill and get chauffered around and told where the deere are. Most the land is contracted down here. Their not REAL hunters

Nah they own some land, no fences. I don't believe I'd ever pay for a guided hunt. My state has an unbelievable amount of wma land I honestly forget hunters in other states aren't quite so lucky.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

Jesus. Sounds like a boring ego trip.

In glorious Slovakia if you do that you better be ready to be made fun of for decades to come.

Texas has no state tax therefore no state land. So whats left is privately owned, corporately owned or for sale. Which doesnt leave much room to hunt unless its your land or you have permission or pay to hunt on your neighbors larger plot. Big oil money down here. And land is a stock that is finite in quantity.

Up north like New York and many other states. The state owns a large portion of the land and hunters are free to use it without tax or fees as long as you adhere to the rules and regulations. That is where the majority of hunting is done. Then of course you got private lands that can be hunted with permission. I can honestly say guided hunting isnt a popular method up there due to the generous state offerings.

 

[Kakarot]

Texas has no state tax therefore no state land. So whats left is privately owned, corporately owned or for sale. Which doesnt leave much room to hunt unless its your land or you have permission or pay to hunt on your neighbors larger plot. Big oil money down here. And land is a stock that is finite in quantity.

Up north like New York and many other states. The state owns a large portion of the land and hunters are free to use it without tax or fees as long as you adhere to the rules and regulations. That is where the majority of hunting is done. Then of course you got private lands that can be hunted with permission. I can honestly say guided hunting isnt a popular method up there due to the generous state offerings.

^^spot on^^ I'm in on a deer lease in my state with my uncles, not because of lack of free places to hunt but because the excess of rednecks hunters on public land. My county has too many rivers and is too close to a lake ( water breeds rednecks). So I hunt one county over where people are much calmer and milder mannered. I stopped duck hunting because I was afraid I'd go to jail people burning other guys blinds, fights at the boat ramp every weekend I've seen grown ass men fighting each other with boat paddles

 

[janoshik]

Texas has no state tax therefore no state land. So whats left is privately owned, corporately owned or for sale. Which doesnt leave much room to hunt unless its your land or you have permission or pay to hunt on your neighbors larger plot. Big oil money down here. And land is a stock that is finite in quantity.

Up north like New York and many other states. The state owns a large portion of the land and hunters are free to use it without tax or fees as long as you adhere to the rules and regulations. That is where the majority of hunting is done. Then of course you got private lands that can be hunted with permission. I can honestly say guided hunting isnt a popular method up there due to the generous state offerings.

We got an entirely different system.

There are "clubs" which have parts of the state owned land as their responsibility. They take care of the land - notify of animal illnesses, feed animals in winter, monitor how many animals are there etc. For that they can hunt in their area (or they can sell the right to hunt a certain amount of animals). You can get to hunt by either buying a permission or by being a member of such club and for example distribute salt in the forests.

The way where you help out is much more popular around here - everybody just does their work for the day and then they make 50 liters of goulash and get drunk to shit.


We're quite goddamn small country though. If we didn't take good care of our game, we'd hunt it (at least the big game) out years ago.

 

[gr8whitetrukker]

^^spot on^^ I'm in on a deer lease in my state with my uncles, not because of lack of free places to hunt but because the excess of rednecks hunters on public land. My county has too many rivers and is too close to a lake ( water breeds rednecks). So I hunt one county over where people are much calmer and milder mannered. I stopped duck hunting because I was afraid I'd go to jail people burning other guys blinds, fights at the boat ramp every weekend I've seen grown ass men fighting each other with boat paddles

Lol, i dont get it. Have your straps undone, plug in the boat, gear aboard the boat and everything ready to go. That way you just back it in undo the safety hook and your docked. Easy takes 5 minutes tops. Less with 2 ppl. Its a simple courtesy. Instead of doing all the shit in the water when it was supposed to be done before hand. Gotta keep the line moving.

 

[Oldschool]

The "hunters" down here hunt on contracted land. Pay the bill and get chauffered around and told where the deere are. Most the land is contracted down here. Their not REAL hunters

There are some real hunters but majority are how you described. Hunting is Big business in Texas.