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_{Mar. 27, 2011 - Fort Wayne, Ind. - Mad Ants forward Marvin Phillips, right, snatches an offensive rebound away from New Mexico's during the second half of the Mad Ants' 129-97 victory over the Thunderbirds on Sunday at Memorial Coliseum. Phillips led a group of eight Mad Ants players who scored in double digits with his 22 points and 13 rebonds, while Peterson was the game's leading scorer with 36 points. Photo by Chad Ryan.}


Yep, just one from last night's Fort Wayne Mad Ants' game. Set up a camera on the shot clock for this one. Unless the Ants make the NBA D-League playoffs and they get a home game after I get back from vacation, last night's game will be my last for this season. It was another fun year, and I only wish I could've shot a few more of their games instead of three high school games a night.

Perigee Moon

Last night the moon was about the closest it ever gets to Earth. Due to that fact it appeared to be about 14 percent larger than most other full moons. According to NASA, the moon on Saturday was less than one hour away from perigee, the absolute outside edge on one side of it's elliptical orbit around Earth. This occurrence happens only once every 18 years.

I did not make the pictures I wanted to make from this event. I had just rolled back into town from a high school state championship gymnastics meet and had less than an hour to scout a location and get set up. All I knew was to look in the eastern sky. I wanted to be outside of town and shoot Fort Wayne's modest skyline with the moonrise, but I could not find an adequate elevated location that faced the east and was not blocked by trees. So I went into town and got set up for a possible shot.

Once I saw the moon creep just above the horizon, I quickly deduced my location was a bust. the moon appeared huge and red, and I thought about staying to shoot it where I was. Instead, I decided to get in the car and buzz around, looking for another spot. The goal was to shoot something in the photo to give perspective to the size of the moon. I thought I would at least get a recognizable Fort Wayne building in there, so I set up for the old standby - the Allen County Courthouse. I've shot the courthouse against a full moon before and made a nice frame of it. I didn't want to duplicate that photo, but I was out of time and had to make a picture.

If nothing else, I suppose I've got 18 years to find a better location for the next time.

Turkey Season approaches

In the last few years, I've taken up hunting for wild turkeys. I've never been real serious about it because I hunt very hard in the fall and winter here in Indiana for whitetail deer. By the time spring rolls around I've got duties at home and I'm usually quite busy with baseball and other sports. But last year I got the bug. I made a video of my friend Tom's hunt on opening day of the Indiana season. Tom's video is here.

I only had one day to be out in the field, so I didn't get the chance to do a hunt for myself. This year, I'm taking turkeys seriously. There are few experiences like being in the woods before first light and have birds gobbling all around you. Last fall during the archery deer season I would sit and listen to the birds talking back and forth all day, and this year I'll be recording the chatter.



To kick start my pursuits, I added a couple of tools to my arsenal for this season to try to get a gobbler to come within range. First, I ordered a custom-made friction call from Ed Jenkins of Ghostmaker Calls in Illinois. After reading about his callers and seeing photos on IndianaSportsman.com I had to have one. So, I ordered a curly ambrosia caller with a ceramic surface over glass. What a piece of art. The folks over at IS.com always said his calls look almost too nice to take hunting. I have to agree. But I will take mine out because right out of the box I could make it work. I'm new to using pot calls, but I'm feeling good about the sounds I can make with Ed's caller.



The second piece of gear I added was a new choke tube for my shotgun. I heard about Kicks choke tubes, and thought I'd give the Kicks Gobblin' Thunder a try. My initial pattern test suggests any turkey within range will be in grave danger.