I headed north last weekend for my annual fall ritual. It's Deer Season once again.
Everyone gathered at Dan & Deb's cabin on Friday night. Katie wouldn't arrive until after midnight, but her son Mason had plenty of aunts and uncles and cousins to keep him entertained. He's such a happy little guy. I'm sure that DJ feeding him beer helped to keep him jolly. (Just kidding, Katie!)
The opening morning hunt is a wonderful tradition, and this was Trevor's first. He sat in Norm's stand.
I spent the morning in the Breakfast stand. Sadly, I didn't see any deer.
In the afternoon, I took off on a solo hike through the woods. There were deer signs everywhere. For the uninitiated, this photo ain't no Easter basket. That's moss covered with a few kernels of deer scat.
There are some very cool mushrooms growing out there.
I headed for the ground blind along the fence line. It had seen better days. The logs that had been concealing the chairs had collapsed upon them. I took it upon myself to make a few repairs.
How do you like my handiwork? Most of the logs were rotted through and couldn't be reused, so mostly I dragged new ones from nearby fallen trees.
It had started to snow by this point. The forest got very quiet and peaceful. I saw two deer. (Unfortunately, they were just passing through, and I wasn't quick enough to get my camera out before they were gone.) Overall, it was an awesome afternoon.
After dark we headed for Dan & Deb's cabin again. We celebrated an early Thanksgiving. None of the guys got any deer, so we were sans tenderloins for our feast. Still, we had a great meal of baked ham, cabbage rolls, cheese pirogis, root vegetables, and chicken soup. Yum!
The loft offered a great view of the dining room.
Those who didn't fit in the dining room were hanging out in the living room.
Troy brought a friend along this year. Her name is Christina. We've often said if you can manage to spend the night at the Farm, you pass the family's inspection. Well, Christina did it with flying colors. That's her playing with Mason and chatting with Troy.
Ma and booze? Nuh uh.
Well, we weren't very successful at killing deer this year, but we always have a good time. And great food!
See you all next year!
Everyone gathered at Dan & Deb's cabin on Friday night. Katie wouldn't arrive until after midnight, but her son Mason had plenty of aunts and uncles and cousins to keep him entertained. He's such a happy little guy. I'm sure that DJ feeding him beer helped to keep him jolly. (Just kidding, Katie!)
The opening morning hunt is a wonderful tradition, and this was Trevor's first. He sat in Norm's stand.I spent the morning in the Breakfast stand. Sadly, I didn't see any deer.
In the afternoon, I took off on a solo hike through the woods. There were deer signs everywhere. For the uninitiated, this photo ain't no Easter basket. That's moss covered with a few kernels of deer scat.
There are some very cool mushrooms growing out there.
I headed for the ground blind along the fence line. It had seen better days. The logs that had been concealing the chairs had collapsed upon them. I took it upon myself to make a few repairs.
How do you like my handiwork? Most of the logs were rotted through and couldn't be reused, so mostly I dragged new ones from nearby fallen trees.It had started to snow by this point. The forest got very quiet and peaceful. I saw two deer. (Unfortunately, they were just passing through, and I wasn't quick enough to get my camera out before they were gone.) Overall, it was an awesome afternoon.
After dark we headed for Dan & Deb's cabin again. We celebrated an early Thanksgiving. None of the guys got any deer, so we were sans tenderloins for our feast. Still, we had a great meal of baked ham, cabbage rolls, cheese pirogis, root vegetables, and chicken soup. Yum!The loft offered a great view of the dining room.
Those who didn't fit in the dining room were hanging out in the living room.
Troy brought a friend along this year. Her name is Christina. We've often said if you can manage to spend the night at the Farm, you pass the family's inspection. Well, Christina did it with flying colors. That's her playing with Mason and chatting with Troy.
Ma and booze? Nuh uh.
Well, we weren't very successful at killing deer this year, but we always have a good time. And great food!See you all next year!
