14 November 2012

Catching Up...

I spent the first three days of our deer season hunting out of the camp built earlier in the year. I got in late the evening before the opener and it was quite cold, around 25 degrees that day. I didn't have a lot of light left so first order of business was getting some wood in and a fast warming fire, a teepee fire.



Before ignition.



After, when it took off it really took off!



Hung my water supply from the cooking pole to keep it from freezing. That stainless steel bottle is a new one for me, it's 64 ounces!



Dinner was beans and slabs of pork from a boar I killed earlier in the year over in Michigan. Before I started cooking I converted the fire lay to a star.







Camp that night was quite cozy indeed.



The next morning it was cold and some snow had hit the ground. First order of business was coffee, another teepee fire.







And then set off for the day under some cold battleship grey skies.




Deeper in, there was a cold mist moving through the woods, coupled with the snow the conditions were not good. Our weather has been a roller coaster this season.







Around noon I spotted this guy about thirty five feet up a tree.



I contemplated taking him for the pot but they are often way more trouble than they are worth, though I have to say the first one I ate wasn't bad at all.



Skunked for the day, cold and wet, I headed back to camp. Pretty scenery but rather treacherous.







Back in camp, a log cabin fire lay and dinner, more slabs of pork.





I've got venison, hare, grouse, squirrel, in the freezer and the late season left to go. It's been very challenging so far this season, weather is wild and all over the place. Deer are hunkering down and not moving much. Good heavy snow is late, but once it sets in the hunting will dramatically improve I think.

Hope your seasons are going well!

13 comments:

  1. Beautiful pics as usual AG, some really great camp shots in there. Well atleast you are good, better luck next time on the hunting. I'm hoping to put some meat in the freezer soon myself.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Looks like you had some time well spent, despite the conditions.
    It is always a toss up whenever someone sees a porcupine- like you said, the work usually leans people to not shoot.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Agreed, someone told me it's bad luck to kill a quill-pig. Dunno, this one walked for now. I don't have them close to the house anymore, but when I first moved up here my dogs and these dudes did not get along. Sorry to say my dogs weren't smart enough to avoid round two.

      Delete
    2. I have heard the same- they should be left for the lost hunter.

      Delete
  3. Great post. Are you just stalking the deer then? Do you worry about sent control at all? The only way I have hunted deer is from a tree stand.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Sometimes I still hunt, more often than not I'll take up a position at one of the many ground blinds or tree stand I have throughout the property. I hunt the wind, I'll set up at the appropriate stand for time of day and wind direction. Sometimes I'll move through the day from one location to the next based on wind changes.

      In the mornings I'll set up around corridors between feeding and bedding areas, the problem here in the north woods is there's very little of that happening. Browse is mostly everywhere deer don't necessarily move if they can help it. This has become especially true as our wolf population has grown. The less the deer move the less scent trails they have, the less they are exposed, the less risk they have. They've got browse right up in and around bedding areas. Because of this their daytime movements are very restricted until extreme weather changes or they get bumped out, or the rut.

      Delete
    2. Thanks for the reply. I hear ya on movement. I am a little south of you in the stillwater area. I spent the last two weekends out and did not see any movement.

      Delete
  4. Great photos again AG. I was skunked this year but then I was only able to get out opening weekend. Congrats on the success. I laughed when you talked about taking that Porcupine for the pot as that thought wouldn't even come to mind unless I was in dire straights. Had beaver once, didn't know what it was when I took the first bite but I couls sure tell it lived in and around freshwater...tasted like river or lake to me.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. HA! I hear ya. Best part of the beaver is the tail. Run a stick through it end to end and put over a fire. After a while the scales with bubble and burn off leaving a rather magnificent piece of fatty meat more akin to bacon than one would think. Good stuff.

      Delete