With the recent storms rolling through Iowa and the hurricanes hitting the Gulf coast last week I was reminded of the dangers one may encounter while cleaning up debris.

  What brought this to mind was a news release sent out by the Iowa DNR reminding folks of the dangers of asbestos.

  I know first-hand what asbestos can do to a person. My dad died of mesothelioma, the cancer caused by asbestos. There’s no way of telling exactly what product he was exposed to that caused his cancer as he had many jobs in his life-time. He worked in a scrap yard as a young man cutting up old steam locomotives in the fifties. Ran a gas station in the early sixties. He worked for a chemical company before becoming a machinist for a railroad car repair company. Not to mention all of his side-hustles he did over the years to make ends meet. He encountered a variety of environments in his lifetime.

 I wonder sometimes if he brought asbestos fibers into the house when I was little and since it can take years for symptoms to appear, could I have been exposed? Time will tell I guess.

 So here are a few guidelines to follow during storm clean-up:

 * If there’s any doubt about the nature of the stuff needing cleaned up, contact the professionals for advice. It’s better to get the lowdown from someone who knows what they’re looking at than risk exposure.

 * Only disturb construction materials that must be removed, and minimize any excess breakage, to prevent the release of dust and fibers into the air.

 * Spray water on any materials suspected to contain asbestos to minimize dust. Also make sure there are no electrical hazards before wetting!

 * Do not burn suspect asbestos-containing building products. Remember that asbestos does not burn and the fibers can be released into the air as a result of burning things that contain it.

  * Contact the local landfill or transfer station to determine proper disposal requirements and follow those guidelines.

 * All states require advance notice before clean-up work begins on any public/commercial buildings as federal rules must be followed in removal and disposal.

  Asbestos has been used in a large number of building materials such as floor tile, linoleum, pipe and boiler insulation, heat duct wrap and joint tape, cementitious transite or slate siding and roofing, asphalt-based roofing and asphalt shingles, ceiling tiles, joint compound, sprayed-on acoustical, decorative texturing and other materials. Asbestos continues to be used in new construction and can be present in any building or home.

 It can also be found in brake pad dust, roof coatings, and certain caulks and sealers especially older products.

 The state of Iowa has an asbestos information sheet and other disposal guidance on their DNR’s website at www.iowadnr.gov/disaster .

  Thanks to the Iowa Department of Natural Resources for the information in this article. You can find out more about the great outdoor adventures in Iowa on-line at www.iowadnr.gov.

  I’m lucky enough to own 100 acres of ground, The Ranch, in southern Illinois and have planted a variety of things for food plots over the years. Everything from straight up clover to winter peas to various commercially available products have been planted with mixed results.

 The last time I planted anything was back in 2014 when my best friend and hunting/fishing partner Kenny came down and lent a hand. He passed away that winter and the desire to “work the ground” just wasn’t there until last year.

 Last August I decided to get back into it and see what I could to do.

  The first thing I did was not cheap out like in past years and did a soil test. It was really easy to do. I went to the Bio-Logic web site (https://www.plantbiologic.com/pages/soil-test ) and followed their instructions. The cost was minimal. With postage I spent about $15.00 and the results were emailed to me in less than two days after they received my soil sample.

 The results were very in depth and showed that the ground needed a lot of lime to bring the PH level up to a more desired level. Obviously fertilizer was needed with an extra dose of potassium (potash). I kind of cheaped out and only put half as much lime and potassium on as needed. The reasons? I had too much to haul down that weekend and only had room for 20 (40lb) bags of lime in the truck and could only find 2 bags of potash. The only place that sold it was my local Ace Hardware and they only had two bags on the shelf and there was no time to order more.

 I was able to make a day trip down to the Ranch and sprayed two areas with Round-up to kill everything off a couple of weeks ahead of planting weekend.

 The main plot is by what we call the Permanent Stand (PS). It’s about 1/3 of an acre in size. This area is where I did the soil test and the spot where all of the supplies were going to go.

 The other spot I choose was on top of a hill by the Quad Pod (QP). This spot is just a cleared area about 15 yards wide by 50 – 60 yards long. It’s an offshoot from an access “road” leading out to a power line easement surrounded on both sides with trees ending at a two person Quad Pod at the end.

 I spread the lime on the PS plot one day by myself. My son Josh was able to get off work and showed up the next day to lend a hand spreading the fertilizer (12-12-12), potash and seed on the following day. We planted Bio-Logic Green Patch Plus on it. We should have drug the harrow over the plot but since it was getting late and a hydraulic hose was leaking on the disc I decided to drive the truck across it mashing the seed into the dirt while Josh limped the disc back to camp before the hose completely blew out. Kind of a mistake as the next day I rode the 4-wheeler over to check it out and scared a bunch of birds away as I drove up.

  That plot did okay but not like it should have. It didn’t help that it didn’t rain for nearly 3 weeks after planting. Deer still came in to eat what did grow as the pictures from the trail camera showed. I also took a big doe from it opening day of shotgun season.

A doe at the PS Plot in early November. Permanent Stand is 20 yds. out of frame to the right.

 I spread one bag of lime over the area along with 1½ bags of fertilizer. For seed I used some Shot Plot. I had also gone through my wife’s seed stash at home and dug out all of the old spinach, radish, lettuce, carrot and green bean seeds and mixed those in as well. It was going to be a buffet.

 The QP plot came up super nice. Things grew over ankle high and greened up great. It’s funny how well it did with the same amount of rain on it and not dragging the harrow across it. It blows my mind.

QP Food Plot in early November. The Quad Pod is on the left.

  Next month I’ll fill you in about this year’s food plot preparations. I’ve added a new spot this year in the area we call the Ground Blind although the blind is now buried in a pile of tree tops and other debris the lumber guys shoved in front of it. It’s a great spot as two of the deer on my wall were taken there as well as a super nice buck my nephew Andy took from the buddy stand that’s taken the blind’s place.

 Until next month. Remember to cover your seeds well.

  Los Angeles, CA, -- Impressum Media, publisher of the Firearms Guide series of guns and ammo reference and value guides just published new 11th Edition as Flash Drive & Online Combo!

  “The New Firearms Guide Flash Drive 11th Edition is published on a super-fast 16 GB flash drive for Windows. This new Flash Drive 11th Edition is so small that you can carry it on a key chain. It is the world’s largest searchable guns and ammo reference guide that presents over 77,000 antique and modern firearms, air guns and ammunition from 1,300 manufacturers worldwide. It covers all types of guns from the oldest black powder muskets to American classic guns to the newest 2020 guns from 55 countries. Users can search the guide by caliber, type of action or stock, by year of production, country of origin, or any other way and will get all the tech specs, prices, features and up to 12 high-resolution pictures per gun. That is the reason why Firearms Guide is used by many police forces in the world as a firearms identification tool" says Chris Mijic, publisher of Firearms Guide.

  “If you are a gunsmith you will love the fact that the new Flash Drive 11th Edition has over 8,000 printable high-resolution gun schematics & blueprints (+ over 15,000 online) that you can zoom on the screen of any PC to see the smallest gun parts or you can print them out when you work on client’s gun.” “Many Firearms Guide users love the fact that they can use the Flash Drive Edition offline, completely anonymously, without Google or any search engine or internet provider tracking and archiving their gun related searches that they can later sell to any client or deliver to the government. The Flash Drive Edition is independent gun database that works without internet and will work for years to come” says Chris Mijic, publisher of Firearms Guide. The Flash Drive Edition keeps privacy private.

 The new Firearms Guide 1th Edition Flash Drive & Online combo is:

 1. A Reference Guide that presents over 77,000 antique and modern firearms, air guns and ammunition from 1,300 manufacturers worldwide (55 countries).
- Presents guns with tech specs –60,000 hi-res pictures - features - ballistics - prices.
- Computer searchable with 14 different search criteria: caliber, year, price, action, country, stock, etc.

  2. A Gun Value Guide that presents antique and modern guns with gun values online based off of the 100% - 30% condition ratings.
- Now you can quickly and precisely estimate value of each gun in your collection.

 3. A Gun Manuals, Schematics and Blueprints Library with over 15,000 printable gun manuals, schematics and blueprints online for all types of antique and modern guns, 8,000 on a Flash Drive – ideal for gunsmiths.
- Print out original blueprints for AK-47, 1911, AR-15, Luger, M1 Garand, M14, MP44, STG44, P38, etc. Print out Armorers Manuals for SIG, H&K, Glock, FN, IWI, Blaser, RSAF, Webley, Vickers, etc.

  4. Target Library and US-EU Caliber Chart – it presents 650 printable targets (zombies, animals, silhouettes, crosshairs, etc.) and convenient caliber two-way conversion chart for American and European calibers.

  5. Better than Google – With 14 search criteria you can perform simple or complex searches that you cannot do with Google and get precise search result. For example, if you type in Google "polymer frame pistol in 9mm" your search result is 482,000 web pages. The same search in Firearms Guide will bring up 400 relevant pistols.

 "With this new combo you get two products – Off-line and Online Editions. The Flash Drive Edition is a super-fast, modern standalone off-line edition for Windows that you can carry on your keychain. The Flash Drive also carries activation codes for the Online Edition that, once activated, our users can access from any computer and tablet from any location, 24/7. Updates are free.” states Chris Mijic, editor of Firearms Guide.

  For more information on how to order your guide, visit www.firearmsguide.com or email support@firearmsguide.com.