We have been bow hunt camp central this last couple of weeks, hosting our friends Eli, Pat, Mike and Drew, nephew Chet and neighbor Jim some evenings. Timber Todd stopped in for the report. Neighbor Gregg called to share the report across the coulee. We shared trail cam pics and details of sightings. I was talking on my cell up on Chipmunk Ridge when neighbor Erica stopped to show me a picture of a nice buck on her trail camera by where she had been bow hunting. The deer have cooperated too. Eli killed a dandy 10-pointer on Halloween morning. Drew shot a doe one night that I butchered and Ellen canned. Neighbor Jake arrowed a nice 10-point buck on Sunday morning. Everyone has been seeing deer. I use the “we are hosting” loosely, as Ellen has been doing most of the work: cooking, cleaning, and mowing the lawn. Wait, what? Mowing the lawn? Remember? It was September in November this past week, at least in the afternoons. Hard to believe Thanksgiving is right around the corner.
I have been hunting of course. One morning last week, after a slow walk - okay, after a slow trudge to keep from getting sweated up - up the Grouse Hollow path in the early morning haze, I got situated in the Grouse Stand. Some readers may remember when Ellen and Scout helped me put up the Grouse Stand last fall when a real ruffed grouse came meandering up out of the thicket to check us out. Anyway, I had dragged a scent rag behind me this morning in hopes of luring in a buck. I called sparingly with a prototype Buck Reel doe bleat. Crows were making a fuss over in the Oak Hollow - probably where Eli gutted his Halloween morning buck. A noisy red squirrel scurried down the hill and froze when it saw me. A curious chickadee eyed me up from overhead before moving to another limb in search of breakfast. I enjoyed the quiet and the sweet spicy aroma of fallen leaves. One of the times I was dreaming - almost, I caught some movement up the path. I could see some long legs stepping slowly under cedar branches. The deer stopped and tested the wind. I could see antlers. It was licking its nose. I was hoping it would come a little closer, but I think I was busted. The fat 6-pointer gingerly crossed the path and stiffly stepped down into the woods below me. I waited for another deer, perhaps a bigger buck to follow, but it didn’t happen - or I didn’t wait long enough. Anyway, it took a while to work the stiffness out of my back and legs and some blood into my cheeks (the back ones) when I climbed down and hiked in for lunch.
On Saturday morning, El and I were having coffee when we got a call from our dear friend Rox Fox. Rox’s partner Bob Bonine had died in the night. Bob was diagnosed with ALS aka Lou Gehrig’s Disease nearly five years ago and had to stop teaching just before I retired. Bob taught physical science at De Soto Middle/High School for many years. He loved teaching and his students, and his students loved him. He had a great sense of humor that everyone loved. He was a film buff - I love movies too, so we tried to get together to watch a movie every week or at least as often as possible. Bob’s knowledge of actors and directors and Hollywood writers would have made Siskel and Ebert envious. Last week, Duwayne Gronning, Vince Ruetten, and I joined Bob at his home to watch the new Star Trek film, Star Trek Beyond. Bob’s disease manifested itself in his respiratory system, so as time went on he had trouble breathing and subsequently difficulty talking but he laughed at the humor and references to the characters that portrayed a young William Shatner and Leonard Nimoy and all the others in this action packed film. He used his Ipad to look up answers to questions we had about actors and writers. Bob never seemed sad about his state - at least that he let on to me. He made dark jokes about his future and such; I once said I should probably go so he could take a nap, but he replied, “No naps. I’ll have plenty of time for sleeping soon enough!” He still had his signature smile with raised eyebrow and biting wit. He told me he voted early just in case. He didn’t hunt or fish, but he enjoyed hearing about it - or at least he was kind enough to listen. He loved talking football; he was a Packer fan and loved his Central Michigan Fighting Chippewas, especially when they beat Oklahoma St. and UNLV this season! Anyway, El shared the gist of the sermon at church this morning which was that we are all responsible for our own obituary. Bob wrote his own obit, so look out - regardless, his would be one to be proud of I think. We all walk this road at some point, and I hope I have the grace and class Bob showed when my time comes. I will miss him; many, many people who loved and respected him will miss him and you can’t ask for more than that in the end I guess. Our condolences to Roxanne and Bob’s family.
Until next time, get out - this early “September” weather has been great for finishing up outside stuff before the inevitable - I mean winter not, well you know. It is hard to believe that the gun deer season is next week. Deer Hunt Wisconsin 2016 with host Dan Small is being played a number of times on Fox Sports stations and one can access it by name online on Youtube. You can also access a Wisconsin Deer Hunting tutorial at the Wisconsin DNR web page. I summarized a press release and put that on my blog at: grousehollowjournal.blogspot.com for you as well. If you haven’t, and you plan to hunt, better check out your gear and check the sights on your firearm. Enjoy.
No comments:
Post a Comment