Weekend waterfowlin'

I was hellish busy this past weekend, and I hate to go deer huntin' if I don't have time to cut one up. That said, I did have a little bit of free time, and it takes far less time to cut up ducks and geese than it does deer, so I did make time to chase some feathered creatures.

Friday mornin', I had Wade come up for what we hoped would be a good duck shoot. The creek behind the farm I work at is always littered with wood ducks durin' the early part of October, so we hoped we would still catch them there before they left the area.

Well, we certainly weren't disappointed. It's impossible to describe how fast them woodies can fly, and when you're set up on a creek, there's no warnin' whatsoever when they might show up. Regardless, we managed to catch up to a few of 'em, and we had a right pleasant mornin' on the stream.

Perhaps the best part of shootin' ducks is gettin' to make a meal outta 'em, which I did on Tuesday night. Most species of ducks make great tablefare, but it's hard to beat the taste of fresh wood duck.

While we were huntin' ducks on Friday, we noted the amount of geese that seemed to be usin' the area. I got on the horn with Dad, and we set up a hunt for Monday mornin'. Joe decided he was taggin' along, and it's never a bad thing to have an extra gun along for a goose shoot.

It sure as hell wasn't very good goosin' weather, and the cover was pretty sparse where we needed to be, but we saw a lot of birds and managed to sit a few in the decoys. I gotta say, I was pretty embarrassed with my shootin', but I think I accounted for at least one of the six that we wound up with. Certainly wasn't a good shootin' day for any of us, but we were happy with the hunt anyway.

Another Sunday on the Bay

Before I was so rudely interrupted by the appearance of deer the other night, I was in the process of tell y'all about our fishin' trip to the Chesapeake Bay the other weekend.

Generally, when our buddy Rob calls to say the bite's on and that we need to get our butts down there, we tend to listen. Last Sunday was no exception. I called up my brother Jesse to make the plans, and come Sunday mornin' we were headed down to Maryland.

(Just for the record, I hate damn near everythin' about that Commie-filled state. If it wasn't for the Bay, Eastern Shore deer huntin', the Orioles, a few scattered friends and Old Bay, I wouldn't be caught dead down there.)

My little nephew Alex made the trip as well, and suffice it to say, he had a blast. There was very little of the normal five-year-old shenanigans until closer to the end of the evenin', after bein' on the boat for over five hours. He wasn't quite ready to handle them big ol' fish yet, but he sure done good reelin' 'em in.

We never got slammed, but the bite was consistent for most of the afternoon, and we had plenty of fresh fillets to take home that night.

Jesse springs into action...

... and let Alex reel in the first fish
of the day.

Captain Rob... he always knows where the fish are.

Jesse with a nice keeper.

Goin' on evenin'.

Alexander had a great time, although he was startin' to
get a lil' squirrelly at this point.

Headin' back in after a great day and a beautiful sunset.

Rob's nice Kent County eight-point that he got the week before.

I've never had a bad day on the Bay, and that trip was certainly no exception. Here's hopin' to make it down again soon.

Hi-tech deer killin'

So, I had a quandary last week. I wanted to knock out a few blog posts and take care of some other internet-related junk, but there was also an hour of daylight left, the early muzzleloader season was in and I was in need of fresh venison. I decided the best course of action was to grab the laptop and the inline and head back behind the barn.

Well, the plan to get to the computer work backfired, but the deer read the plan. I wasn't out there ten minutes when a group of doe stepped out of the corn about 175 yards away, well within range of the modern smokepole. I got 'em stopped, found the biggest of the bunch and touched one off.

After takin' all my junk right back to the house, the girl and I headed out and started trackin'. She managed to make it about 200 yards even with a perfect double-lung hit, but we found her without too much trouble.

I was pretty pleased with the performance of the clearance ammo that I bought last year after the season. I'd love to keep feedin' the ol' gal the Barnes bullets that she craves, but they're expensive as hell. The TC Shockwaves will have to do, and they got the job done on this one.

I don't know that I'd call that huntin', nor would I ever mistake my inline for a primitive arm, so I'll call it what it was; a meat harvest. Still got the blood pumpin', and I was stoked to make a good shot. Best of all, I've already enjoyed three meals from that deer, two of them shared with good family and friends. That's pretty much the only reason I shoot does, but it's a damn good reason.

New camp stickers

Many thanks to Ron for this fine addition to my truck!

Woodburnin'

Again, better late than never, but I wanted to share a project that I wrapped up a few weeks ago.

It's been years since I've taken on any substantial woodburnin' project, but at Jaclyn's request, I re-learned the art to help her out with her second anniversary gift for Wade.

Aside from a few fuckups, I was pretty pleased with my effort, and I hope Jaclyn and Tater were as well.

Happy Anniversary, y'all.

New lurker

I've noticed a new commenter on some of my recent posts. If you're lookin' for some great photos and commentary on the good ol' rural life, the Sunnybrook Farm blog is for you. Make sure you check it out!

Kuhnybitch gets it done

I almost forgot to post this, but better late than never. The red-headed gremlin whacked this Adams County seven point durin' the openin' week in early October. This is his second buck with a bow, followin' a seven point from the same property durin' openin' week last season. That place much have some damn good juju.

Bow season thus far

I haven't gotten out in the woods as much as I'd hoped to, but I'm gettin' out just enough to scratch the itch. I ain't seen any bucks yet, and I've passed on a handful of baldies. Regardless, it's right relaxin' to be 25' up a tree with nothin' to do but sit there and watch for deer.

I will admit, I've been spendin' too much time on my leash phone in the stand, but I usually curb that as the season progresses. The only upside to that nasty habit is I take a lot more pictures.

Overlookin' Apple Country in northern Adams County

Some slickheads that got a pass

Another young doe that got a pass

It's a little hard to see, but this ol' squirrel has a half-ear of
corn in his gums, and I was at least 200 yards from the
nearest cornfield.

Panoramic from the high point on one of our properties

Plenty of color left on the trees

 

The early inline muzzleloader doe season came in this mornin', so I reckon I'll go out and whack some freezer meat after work today. I love to use that gun, but it's almost like cheatin' this early in the season. After that, it'll be back to chasin' the bucks with the bow.

TJ's turkey

Back in May, when TJ got his trophy Bradford County longbeard, he decided that it would be best to send the fresh carcass to one of our local taxidermists rather than risk tryin' to ship it back to Wyoming.

Perhaps I'm biased, but I think he made the right decision. Rod down at Outback Imagery did his usual fantastic job with the bird, and he went above and beyond in gettin' the bird done in time to send it out there with Ron, Matt and Spanky. I whipped up the crate and got got the bird tucked in nicely, so I definitely breathed a sigh of relief when Spanky texted me that the bird had arrived in TJ's possession without any problems.

 A fantastic jod, indeed.

 

Boxed up and ready to go.

Wyoming dandies

I may have mentioned a few weeks ago that Ron, Matt and Spanky were headed out to Wyoming for a huntin' vacation courtesy of our good friends at Bear Track Outfitters. Needless to say, I've been purty distracted the last few days of work, constantly checkin' my leash phone for updates and photos. Thankfully, the guys have been purty good about keepin' their ol' buddy Bear up to date.

I ain't heard no stories yet, but I'll at least share a few of the pictures they've been sendin'. They sure have taken some dandies, and it's brought back a lotta great memories from my vacation back in 2011.

Spanky and a hog 4x4 muley buck.

Spanky's goat.

Ron and his cool 5x5 goofball muley buck.

Brenda and Ron with Ron's goat.

Legendary turkey hunter and intrepid Bear Track guide, TJ,
put Ron on this beautiful Merriam longbeard.

Matt's beautiful 5x5 muley buck.

Ron and his dad, Karl, with Karl's goat.

Matt's goat.

Matt picked up a new toy on the way out there, and he didn't
waste any time breakin' it in right. He made a nice 250-yard
shot on his first Merriam gobbler. Beautiful fan, too.

 Hopefully one of these days, I'll make it back out there...

Treetop therapy

After a long, busy summer, I finally made it up a tree. Had a few slickheads come across the field to me well after shootin' light, but that was it. No matter though... it was still a relaxin' way to spend the evenin'.

Not sure when I'll make it out again, but it took the edge off for now.

To the wives of hunters...

Source unknown, but I found it on the HuntingPA forums. Happy PA bow opener.

*********************************

Face it: You might as well kiss him good-bye for the rest of the hunting season (at 4:00 a.m.). If you really want to score brownie points, drag your carcass out of the warm bed before the crack of dawn and send him out with a thermos of hot coffee and your best wishes. Then help him drag his carcass (the one he shot) out of the truck and hang it from the tree for all the neighbors to admire.
Here are a few tips on how to survive deer hunting season and maintain peace in your home:

1. Accept it. Yes, he would rather be in the deer woods than with you. Yes, he would rather spend his only day off freezing his rump off in a deer stand for hours on end without moving a muscle until a prize deer crosses his path. Yes, he thinks it is more fun (and more important) to go hunting than to take you out. Yes, it would be cheaper to buy half a steer than to finance the ammo, tags, hunting license, deer processing, and all the other expenses required for this "free meat." But just zip it and accept it. Life will go back to normal after hunting season.

2. Be prepared… to drop everything you're doing at a moment's notice to come outside and admire his kill. Then get ready to get down and dirty because your help will be needed to skin, quarter, pack, and freeze deer meat for longer than it would take you to go to Winn Dixie and stock up on hamburger.

3. Take pride. "Yes, I think it's a great idea to carpet the living room in deer hides! Sure, honey, I think we should mount the rack! No, dear, I don't mind at all if we have a block party with venison as the menu feature! Why, of course, I'll dress the children in camoflauge for their school pictures!"

4. Intercede for him. When the neighbor comes to complain that she's tired of looking at the gutted deer carcass dangling from your children's swing set, stand by your man. Run off the dogs that are trying to eat the meat; and by all means, keep all toddlers with baseball bats away! Be ready to call in the tag to the conservation department because he won't have time to, and the fine would probably be more expensive than a year's supply of groceries.

5. Prepare your kitchen. Sanitize every surface (you'll need to get into cleaning mode anyway because your entire house is about to get contaminated with deer germs). Set out cutting boards, mixing bowls, and butcher knives (resist the temptation to use any of these items on your husband). Invest in a large supply of aluminum foil and freezer bags. Be ready to stay up until midnight butchering deer meat, even though you got up at 4:00 a.m. to see your mighty hunter off.

6. Take it with a smile. Realize that you are about to run the nastiest load of bloody, hairy laundry that your Maytag has ever had to tolerate (since last year's hunting season anyway); and he's probably going to get mad at you because the Tide smell will spook the deer. He won't have time to take his boots off at the door, and it will have to become socially acceptable in your household to smell like deer urine. Welcome to hunting season.

7. Make room in the freezer. Finish off last year's kill before deer season begins, and let the grocery stock get really low because he will feel like a macho hero for "bringing home the bacon" (a.k.a deer) and becoming the salvation of his poor starving family with his hunting skills.

8. Don't worry; it will be over soon! Life will go back to normal as soon as deer season is finished! Look forward to throwing a deer roast in the crockpot, and welcome your hubby home with a new (camoflauge) nightie and some sexy antlers!

Firepower

I've been lighter than normal on my postin', for many reasons. But more on that later.

For now, just to break up the monotany, I give you this gloriousness in pistol form...