I am not complaining about the weather, but Saturday and Sunday proved to be bluebird days for the youth duck hunt. On Saturday morning I heard a few shots in the distance, but none this morning. Don’t worry kids, waterfowling weather will return with more ducks soon enough.
Bowhunters Pat Kolbe and Eli Jackson are here this opening weekend to tag their trophy bucks, or more likely - as they did yesterday - put their keisters asleep and their backs out of wack while hanging high up on a tree for long hours into the dusk enjoying the squirrels, gnats, and mosquitoes. They did see some deer, but no shooters. We just finished a lunch of spicy brats Pat brought from Eden, WI. Ellen treated us to apple crisp fresh from the oven with ice cream on it for dessert. Ellen is hunting right now, hunting pumpkins in her patch to send home with Pat and Eli for their families. The breeze is turning windy helping to keep the heat of the afternoon sun at bay right now. The hunters are napping, snoring up dreams about better days to hunt in front of the TV in the family room. I just cobbled up a cable on our lawn mower up in the shop and now I am on the porch tapping this out on the laptop, planning to hunt this evening myself.
I asked the guys what they did to wile away all that time yesterday. Eli didn’t respond, asleep already I guess. Pat said he checked out his fantasy football team and mulled over his high school football team’s 6-3 loss on Friday. He described it as mulling it over and over. Pat, a former De Soto Pirate assistant for Ev Wick and Oriole assistant, is the first-year head coach at North Fon du Lac’s Horace Mann High. He said the Orioles lost even though they got in the red zone four times. Such are the vicissitudes of football I guess. I often dreamt away the time in a tree stand, literally; I wonder how many critters I frightened away with snoring. I often take a small radio and ear buds with me and listen to NPR or Sports. More recently, I have found myself taking pictures with my phone’s camera, texting with my family and friends, and/or watching Netflix with earbuds in to help pass away the time. More often than not though, I put away the technology and just enjoy the quiet and the scenes. Last year, I remember a breezy morning when the sun was coming through some hardwoods and there were cascades of yellow leaves with sunlight shining through them in rays dividing the trees. I try to identify bird sounds sometimes. I watch squirrels and chipmunks, even mice and birds. I have watched a grouse drum a couple times over the years. I have seen a fox make a stalk on a pair of ruffed grouse so wrapped up with their love dance that they almost became dinner. I make plans and promises - the promise about losing some weight never seems to take hold, and some of the plans are forgotten, but some are carried through. Anyway, I know of people who read books in a blind and I suppose I could take this little device along and write on my laptop in a tent blind, but I don’t think so.
I plan to sit on the end of an unpicked corn field this evening. There have been plenty of daylight deer shots on nearby trail cams so we shall see. Pat showed me how to set up and use my Therma Cell device tonight. This is supposed to help keep the bugs away. I sure hope it works.
The Therma Cell does work. There were bugs -gnats and mosquitoes and small flies - amuck when I walked in carrying my chair and crossbow on my shoulders, but no bugs to speak of while I was on stand. I spooked a couple of unknowns out of the corn when I entered the corn rows. I heard them gallop away down through the field and into the woods. Later, I saw three antlerless deer sneaking up along the corn. They spooked before they got close. Later I heard something - it sounded like a crew of kindergartners walking in leaves - come in behind me. I didn’t turn and whatever it or they were crossed the ditch below me. I could hear something in the corn. I am pretty sure it was coons. On the way back to the truck I saw three unknowns in the field.
Eli and Pat didn’t see much either. Ellen made thick and tasty venison stew with rolls for supper topping it off with apple crisp for dessert. The meal was the highlight of the evening. The Packers sure were not.
Until next time, get out - this last week someone removed the SD card from my our friend Austin’s trail cam. Austin is in 8th grade. The culprit most likely downloaded the images on a device, erasing the card. Austin said that he still had some really great pics from last season plus new ones from this year on the card. The card was still in the camera, but the jerk was trespassing and stealing those images was not only a rotten thing to do, stealing is stealing. I think it is great that young people get interested in hunting and this sort of despicable act just sours the experience and enthusiasm. Enjoy.
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