Bear Season Open, Archery Closing in Fast

Here it is, September, and things have quieted down here at LRDC. The birds are quiet, no geese coming through yet, and the little guys in the woods just beginning to start the frantic fat-on frenzy for winter survival.  Check out this honey of a fawn below. I was on my ATV headed up to the Far Ridge, when thought I saw a deer's ears and head about 25 yards to my right. As I kept going, this little guy popped into sight. This fawn was about 50 feet from the trail, and I stopped to take a picture, which is a bit fuzzy, because I left the motor running - shut it off, and they are GONE! The other must have been it's Mom..when I came back down about 30 minutes later, they were gone.   

This guy below gets a reprieve until he is at least eight points.

We have a wonderful apple and acorn crop this year, This apple tree is in the Far Field, and many fall pictures will be taken at this spot.

Not sure if this is the same doe or not, but plenty healthy looking.

Mom and babe below. I love these...

As usual, the youngsters have the greater curiosity...

And a fat healthy little thing she is. In about two more weeks the spots will begin to fade away.

Yesterday I spent the day in the Far Field working in the rain. I put up a twenty foot ladder, and hanger stand. Since I do most of these projects myself, I use a pulley system like the one below. I (finally) get the ladder up and secured, and then go up above it and hang this pulley. Run a rope through it, shinny back down, tie on the hanger stand, hoist it up and tie the rope to the bottom of the ladder. Then, up the ladder, strap the hanger to the tree, and voila! Sounds easy, but when I do this alone, it can take hours...trimming branches, making endless runs back to deer camp for things I forget, assembling the ladders, etc.

The turnip plot you see below is one I just planted on August 16th, and it is growing gangbusters. About twenty yards into the woods to the left is where I put the new hanger stand. This will be a late season, as in mid November, bow stand.

And last, below is the East plot where I have clear-cut fifteen yards of open on the South side. It is fairly barren right now, but at this time next year will be green. I did this to afford archers a better chance to assess the deer that wander in here. Remember, we are involved in QDMA!

OK, so if that is not enough, I took the kitchen sharpener to deer camp this afternoon, and ground and sharpened my field dressing knives. They always need it because I believe in carbon steel rather than stainless for knives. They rust, and get rough compared to stainless, but you can sharpen them a hundred times sharper, and a hundred times easier than you can stainless. These are Swedish Mora knives, and are the sweetest deer skinning knives out there. The first one I ever bought I got mail order for a single dollar from a classified ad in Esquire magazine on my father's coffee table. That would have been in the late fifties. The knives haven't changed and today they are about ten bucks each. If you don't lose them, they are good forever...

Last, just before archery opens in nine days, I got out the fanny pack essentials that I carry with me on morning or afternoon early season hunts. A couple of head lamps for dim light field dressing, field dressing gloves (that come up to the shoulder) range finder, deer drag, GPS, utility tool, compass (that's right, GPS notwithstanding, ALWAYS carry an independent compass and know how to use it. It works when nothing else will). Also, centered above are waterproof matches and firestarter. I don't go anywhere without these few essentials. There is not cell service in parts of my hunting country, and a few survival tools are good to have. I also carry a Thermocell mosquito repeller. While not a survival tool, it is the only bug repellant I have ever found that actually works. Turn it on, and in five minutes you have a mosquito free area around you!

While all time passes at the speed of light, the next several weeks will drag. I can hardly wait. What are your plans? Jack

jackzeller@myfairpoint.net