Winter in the Country

I'd post a picture but we've all seen snow on trees before..... Deer hunting just ended last weekend. I hunted the four day does only rifle season in early December. I hunted it alone. Didn't see anything but that's OK. After that I hunted five or six evenings with the bow. Deer were moving but never where I was posted. Again, I didn't really need another deer and doubt that I would have shot but since I had bought some new white camo, I thought I should use it. Saw deer in the trail cams but they were wise enough to pose in front of stands I wasn't using. Smart deer, or dumb hunter..... So, I've waxed the strings and put away the bow until I start shooting again in the spring.
We finally got out to do some ice fishing. I went along with Johhny and the boys up to Alexandria last weekend. Great weather but the fish weren't cooperating. We only kept two walleyes and they weren't worth taking a picture of. The cable TV was working, however, so we got to watch the Vikings play Saturday night. I couldn't lose as I was wearing my Green Bay baseball cap. Happy Mr. Anderson?
When we got back to the Cities, Johnny helped my put together "Dewey's Greatest Hits Volume II" Yes, it's been a long time a comin' but once again I've outdone myself.
Monday morning I headed back West and 100 miles later arrived at a farm to see about a lab puppy. I ordered one and have first pick on a little male. Pups will be born in about four weeks and five weeks after that we'll drive out and choose our puppy. Two weeks after that we get to bring him home. I'm looking forward to having a little buddy to hang with out in the woods.
When leaving the farm I plugged in my GPS and headed home. Drove through a lot of countryside and little towns I'd never heard of before. Peaceful, quiet drive.... When I hit Hinckley, I remembered a little burger shack attached to a gas station. SLIDERS!!!!! Went through the drive through and picked up a bag. Hit the freeway, put the truck on cruise, popped in "Dewey's Greatest Hits Volume II" and enjoyed my burgers. Enjoyable end to a good trip.

Nine Days in November

The rifle season ended tonight in Wisconsin. Each year is different and this year was no exception. John shot this nice 5 pointer opening morning. The boys passed on 10 additional deer that weekend. Two of us never saw a deer. Can't remember when the last time I hunted the opener and never saw anything but it really didn't matter to me. As long as the boys see critters, I'm happy. Anyway, I've got 6 more weeks or archery and a 4 day does only (with rifles) season in early December. So weather permitting. I still have plenty of tree sitting ahead of me. Oh, and speaking of weather permitting, we've had about a foot of snow over the last three days.
Deer are still moving but only at night. I pulled my trail cams before the storm and only have one back out. I'd like to do some more scouting around so hopefully we won't get hit too hard over the next two weeks. Snow is rather tough to walk in right now but it's supposed to really warm up by next weekend.
I've got to find a secret location for my next great stand. It will be grand. The tough part will be what to name it.....

Bow Hunting - 2012

Every year bring new challenges when it come to bow hunting. It seems that the shoulders ache a little bit more and sometimes it feels good to sleep in in the morning.
I started a week late this fall as we were touring out East and wasn't sure just when we would get back home. One thing I was looking forward to was hunting with my bud Kurt. He started bow hunting this year and it's kind of nice to have a partner. At least on the weekends.
I was hunting my favorite stand, The Hotel California, three weeks ago when I got busted by this doe. I moved at the wrong time and she was gone. Last Friday night, we were out. We had 20 mph winds with gusts up to 30. Oh, and did I mention it was snowing? Well I was really swaying way up in my stand when she came by. I put my arrow over her back. She heard the "thwack". looked around, and walked away. I'm just glad I shot high and didn't wound her. What's interesting is that when I check my trail cam pictures a day later, here she had come back 5 minutes after I left my stand for the night. I was in my stand well before dawn Saturday morning, she came by again and wasn't so lucky this time. She only went 100 yards but I'm damn glad I had help. We had to drag her about 100 yards up hill to where I could get my ATV. Again, it sure is nice to have a partner.
I'll put the bow away for a couple of weeks. There's a turkey left to be hunted and there's a few grouse that need to be chased. By then the bucks will be in rut and it will be time to haul out the bow again.
I know it's only a doe Al but this one was for you!

The Wall

Took a road trip a couple weeks ago. Went to Niagara Falls, Canada down to Jamestown, Virginia and parts in between. Saw a lot of neat stuff and places we'd never seen before. Went to Gettysburg, Mount Vernon and Washington D.C.
Of all the places we went, there was one I had to visit above all others, that being The Vietnam Memorial Wall. I graduated with 755 classmates and we lost, to my knowledge, five in the war. In junior high, I played football against Dean Vasquez. He was a big, soft spoken Hispanic kid. He didn't say much and after playing against him I decided football wasn't in my future. He went on to letter at our high school. In fact, I think he lettered as a sophmore.
He lived a block away from me but I never really knew him. In those days, you had so many kids on your own block, you never had to go outside of it to make friends or get guys to do things with.
He joined the marines after high school and was killed in 1968.
For anyone who still reads this blog, if you go to D.C., visit the wall. Take your kids with you if you can. Look at the names. There are 58,195 of them.
May we never forget.....

Alva Rankin February 19th,1951-July 23rd,2012

As I walk the woods and listen to the wind, you will be with me. Rest in peace my friend.....

Walking Ditches - 2012

The weatherman said there was a 40% chance of rain Saturday and the radar wasn't too promising, but that never deters us. It's not allowed to rain when we walk ditches. Of course, the DOT didn't inform us that they would be sand blasting cracks and filling them in with tar. Again, that doesn't matter either. We still walk and pick up trash.
I mentioned last year that John and I would walk those 2 miles by ourselves if we had to but our friends still give up a Saturday and pick up trash with us. Well, except for that live Bull snake. We left that alone...
So I want to thank Mike, Kurt, Lyle, Stone, Tommy, Kevin and his son Anthony, andUwe and his son Danny for walking those ditches with us. The missus and John did all the cooking and I whined about all the cuts on my legs. I gotta learn not to wear shorts when I walk the deep weeds....
I still see the occasional driver that stops for us as we cross the street, smiles and gives us the thumbs up. They see the signs on each end of our road. They know who we are. That makes me feel good.
We'll be back next year.

Return to Long Lake - Volume II

Last year Mike and I returned to my old lake for a day of fishing. Had so much fun we decided to go back. Of course, since I tend to overdo things sometimes, we went for a week this time accompanied by our "significant others".
Mike and I like to ultra light for panfish and the fishing was beyond stupid. We caught and released hundreds of nice crappies and sunnies and had a picture taken with a sampling of those we kept. I have  great picture taken on the cell phone but can't figure out how to download it onto the computer. Geez, I'm a putz!  But I digress.....
Late in the week I took a drive over to an old friend's house. I worked with him for four years when we first moved up to the lake. I was a pretend carpenter. He pulled out a couple of rusted old lawn chairs and we sat, petting his dogs, and talked about the past. I asked about some of the people I met while in the trades. Some have passed away, some have moved on and some continue to work in the area. Talked about the times we had together ice fishing, hunting and, of course, working together. Talked about our families.
I waved goodbye while backing out of his driveway. He was kneeling in his yard hugging his three dogs. A solitary life for my friend but I guess it's what he wants now.
On the way back to the resort I took a few back roads and drove by some of the old job sites I had worked on. A lot of memories. I'm a nostalgic guy but I don't miss that part of my life. It was a means to an end and it was time to move on.
I do miss the fishing, however, and I will be back.....