9:45 on a Tuesday..

[Whopper Stopper]

Good morning Eddie, OG. Good morning everyone

Sitting in the shack waiting for the  coffee to finish boiling. 12 degrees amongst the poplars and cranberries. I took a walk out to the outhouse a bit ago and heard a lone wolf howling way off in the distance. The sound always makes you stop and listen.

I will spend the day in the stand and then call it a season. I should be able to cross the beaver ponds directly so that will save a lot of walking. I brought a light Spud with to help me across.

I will let you Know what the day brings.

Wishing everyone the best no matter what is on the agenda. Stay safe!

    WS

[captain54]

Morning everyone on the way out the door,it's the last day of our gun season. Good luck to everyone. Till later.

[wallyworld]

Morning all,

Best of luck to everyone hitting the woods this morning !!! Stay safe !!!

[OldSailor]

X2!!! Getting ready to put the finishing touches to my work week!! Enjoy your weekend!! 

[IFF]

  Good Morning ER's  For some reason I feel like I am under the dome,    Looking at my wrist watch its telling me its Friday. Did I miss something ?  Was awful slow at work, not many shoppers, especially in the last hour, even the Gun counter guys were walking around in a daze.  Got the new bow string in, got it put on, still need to install the "D" string, and knock stop and a peep sight,  and back it off some, its set at 60#

Mentioned to brother out west about having a reunion for us guys, and will look at seeing if sometime in June would work.  Think he would rather take a train instead of flying.

Good Luck to all out hunting,  Think Marv, got some snow cover out at his shack.  Don't think I would care to hear the wolf howl, except way off in the distance.

Dom moving a lot of trees ?

well guess I need to decide whats for breakfast and get with it.  Oh didn't see the OldSailor slip in the side door GM.

Take care all.

[ICE WANDERER]

                  Good morning ER's,
                            It's 23* and cloudy here on my hill, looks like snow is on the way. I was going to go check out a lake
                   today but where I go I need my truck but my wife took it to NH to take a bed to her son that my #2 son gave
                   to him! I have her Nissan Altima and I don't think she would appreciate me taking there.
                            Eddie........It's too bad you guys could find a tree on the farm, is it a Christmas tree far or just someone
                   you know farm. To me there is no tradition like going and cutting your own tree. I hope you have good luck
                   looking for that elusive whitetail today!
                            Marv........You too sir, I hope another big one comes your way!
                            captain54.....The same to you sir!
                            Bud.......That's a great friend giving you all that Elk.
                            Oscoda......Good luck with the honey do list, is there a lot of it to do?
                            Wally.........Is Mr. WW still out hunting?
                            I hope everyone has a good Saturday either at work or at play!

                   IW
                           

[tomturkey]

It has been snowing all night. That fine stuff so it added up to only a little over an inch or so. I looked closer at the lake yesterday. I could see there were still a lot of open spots. With this snow on what was skimmed over it is not going to help make ice. At least the ground is froze some what. I talked to my hunting buddy the other night. He said that when he walked to his blind the ground was soft but when he went back to the house at dark it was hard.

Dom You would get more snow than you would like if you were still in Holland. The heavy lake effect snow is hitting from Muskegon south now instead of around Little Point Sauble like it used to.

I just wish that we would get a winter like we used to. All of this freezing and thawing makes me blow a lot of gravel on the lawn  from the 6 feet of gravel from the cement to the black top. It is a little early for this snow to stick for the winter.

Eddie Thanks for sharing the donuts. Boston cream sounds a lot better than Holland cream.

The newspapers around here are all delivered by car these days. The papers still publishing, only put out three papers a week plus Sunday. It would be a lot of walking to deliver them by foot as customers are few and far between. We have an organization that covers two counties called The Old Newsboys. I used to belong to them. They would publish a special edition that was sold on street corners the first Saturday of December. 100% of the proceeds went to buy Christmas presents for the under privileged kids. We brought in a lot of $$ every year. The whole thing was kicked off with wild game dinner the Thursday before. We always had plenty of venison as the CO's would give us unwanted road kills. I wonder how things went this year as the state made it mandatory to have insurance to sell on the street corners. Hum Makes me wonder about the panhandlers, do they need to have insurance.

WS Boiled coffee!! I have not had any done that way in fore ever. I do get some simular when the filter gets messed in the coffee maker. Hearing the wolf howl is a lot better than seeing a skunk by the out house door in the dim light. I got a new battery in the mail for my flip phone yesterday, that is around 3 years old. I paid around $6 to replace the battery in a $5.00 phone.

Good luck to every one hunting today. WS be carefull crossing the beaver pond. I have gone through a few while trapping beaver.

[hunts2long]

Good Luck to all you hunters out there. Low was 23 this morning. Now up to 26. Got home from the airport at 1:30 this morning so wasn't up real early. Wife is fixing late breakfast. She cancelled her trip to Rochester to visit her sister. Her sister has a bad cold so wife is staying home where I have a head cold.
I will be watching the BIG game today. GO NAVY, BEAT ARMY. The game is a win/win for me. I was in the Navy, but the wife's donor was a Cadet at West Point. They are a special group of young men and women....h2l

[Deal Ninja]

Hey all, I haven’t read any posts, but scored on a doe at 8:40.  Still in the shack with BIL hoping for that buck, but happy to connect with a doe!  It’s been a lot of boring hours put in.  Will post more after the hunt this evening. 

[masoneddie]

Way to go Mark...
  We didn't see much this morning, sat until 10:30. Came home to grab a bite to eat fast, heading back out till dark!
I swear the deer have tunnels they're using again.... .   Snow should be arriving soon, maybe that will get something going.  Will check back in this evening....best of luck guys!   

[wallyworld]

Congrats DN        hope that buck shows up soon 

Good luck this afternoon Eddie, hope the snow gets them moving for you     all the movement around here seems to be under the cover of dark 

[Capt.Jim-N.J.]

Morning, Everybody

At 11:50 am EST, I have small crystal snow falling at a good rate, it was predicted to be between 3 - 6 inches when said and done, temp. holding at 30 deg., no breeze

A cop buddy of mine who retired sent me a message yesterday with a pic. of 5 inches of snow which fell at his house in NW Georgia, where they don't get snow, from what I
     gather, it is the first snow fall seen there in over25 years, and of course he lives in a gated mountain community, the roads are supposed to be 1-1/2 lanes wide there, makes
     me wonder if they even have a plow for a pickup, let alone for any thing else

I'll be back - just heard a noise that sounds like a fender bender outside, nosey me

Be Safe-Stay Warm-Have Fun-Tight Lines or Straight Shots-Records & Limits-Good Eats-Get Well Soon

[Whopper Stopper]

Good afternoon everyone

Congratulations Ninja

It has been a tough morning here. I am sitting in a hang on stand at the far back part of my property. When I left the shack this morning it was 9 degrees with an 11mph wind.

I saw 1 decent buck however I can only shoot a doe with my bow. There is about 3" of snow.on the ground with 1" of fresh falling overnight. There actually we're a few tracks so I have hopes of something before the day is over.

Right now the cold is making things a little uncomfortable.

I will let you know how things go.

[captain54]

Hey ladies and gentlemen. I hunted till noon today,the last day of our gun season. Had a herd of does roll into me(8) at about 40-50 yards unfortunately all does and skippers. I still had a tag but really was only hunting for a buck. First year of not seeing a buck in gun season. On a very sad note I lost a buddy today to a very tragic quad accident. He die in the woods hunting with his brother son. Very tragic and upsetting. I don't think I'll ever ride mine without a helmet. Not the kind of thing to post but things can happen in a instance,so please be careful in doing things you do everyday.
 On a brighter note congrats Mark,I've been pulling for you. Now you can smoke up some delicious treats.
WS so cool to hear a wolf,I've got plenty of their cousins living in my back woods. Yotes that is. They can make the hair on the back of my head stand up. Especially at 4:30 in the morning spring turkey hunting. Well be careful and good luck in whatever on your agenda tomorrow.

[wallyworld]

Capt54.....so sorry for your loss    thoughts & prayers to you and your friends family, may your memories of better times help comfort you at this difficult time

[Whopper Stopper]

Good evening everyone!

Capt54 very sorry to hear of your loss. Prayers to all involved !

We packed up and made the drive home. By the time darkness fell I was froze. I had a doe at 25 yards and when I stopped her she took 2 extra steps and stopped behind a Small tree. When she decided to leave she took off like a scalded dog. The last 15 minutes of the day a 6 point tried hard to get me to shoot. I was so hoping a doe would come out of the swamp but it never happened.

Tomorrow I have a tree to look at, and soon it will be time to go to the lake. I heard my spearing lake has 2" of ice so it won't be long.

Best of luck to those hunting tomorrow! Be safe!!

         WS

[mr.clean]

Good late night 9:45 ers snow start falling around 11 Am still snowing lightly small flakes guessing 3 to 4 inches on grassy surfaces between 1 and 2 on roadways.
Captain54 prayers said for your friends family and you my condolences on his passing.
IFF enjoy the deer and elk treats . Hope things pick up customer wise at work.
Eddie good work thanking the WW II veteran. Also sure the boy scouts appreciate you donation. If you braved the weather hope you saw some activity and had a chance to take a shot.
Mealworm looks like you business venture is taking off congrats on getting plowing contract may any employees hired be dependable workers.
Whopper Stopper sorry to hear about phone problems. It must be exciting  to hear a wolf howl in the wild .
Mr. Turkey good story about the newspaper delivery brings back memories of when I helped a friend with his weekly paper delivery route.
Oscoda Ice may you get the project list completed and not run into any major problems.
Capt. Jim sounds like repair on wife's SUV is going to be expensive and time consuming always the hidden damage found when they start taking apart vehicle takes raises repair bill. All the best with new tile job hope the dog is friendly . Must be a major panic state where your friend lives in Georgia.
 Old Goat good luck if you get out on Monday.
Deal Ninja congratulations  glad to hear you were able to harvest a couple of does after all the hours you have put in this season.
Hunts2long may you get over the cold soon wise choice by your wife canceling the trip.
Wallyworld ditto your comments on Cal. wildfires and New Mexico school shooting. Best to Mr.WW if he is still out hunting.

I will check back later to read today's posts.
Steve

[masoneddie]

Good Morning Everyone,
  Capt.54...so sorry to read about the loss of your friend, thoughts and prayers sent to you and the familes Sir.

  21* here this am with 4" of fresh snow on the ground, high of 32 for today. The deer started moving yesterday early afternoon where I was, right around 1:30. I ended up seeing 7 total, no bucks, and no shots fired..one big solo doe just slightly out of my range. Watched two fawns running around playing tag with each other for a few minutes, first time they were in the snow..good stuff.   

  Steve..about the same conditions here with the snow. I could hear the echo's of the Town plows running again from my stand yesterday afternoon. Roads were pretty slick here by 4:30. Hope all is going well for you Sir!   
  Marv..that was a cold day you had sitting yesterday, great effort with tough conditions for sure! Hope the estimate goes well today and now will be waiting to hear some great ice stories from the spearing shack! Best of luck and have a safe season! 
  Jeff...the farm we went to locally always grew /groomed Christmas trees, but with the passing of the original owners several years back, the family members never maintained or replanted any more of the trees. The one son I spoke with said this was going to be the last year for that unfortunately.
  H2..hope you're feeling a little better today Sir!
  Bud...imagine all the on line shopping going on these days has a lot to do with keeping people away from the stores. Hope things pick up for you soon.
  Wally...thank you for the good luck wishes, hoping today Mr.WW scores....we're still pulling for him!   
  Capt.Jim...5" of snow in Georgia must bring things things to halt! I saw they got some snow own in Texas as well, crazy.
  MW...see anything yesterday? Imagine you'll be plowing or have been plowing all night...hope the new plow serves you well this season!   

  Going to give it another go this morning, solo trip as I have some errands that must be taken care of before noon. My sons will be hunting together and keeping me informed, this fresh snow should help a lot today.
  The Mrs. and a few of the kids decorated the tree last evening, brought a little Christmas spirit in the house again with the lights and ornaments hanging.
  Time to get to ready and see if the deer want to cooperate this morning....cawfee's on...strawberrys and cream being served this morning, oatmeal that is....
Have a great day all, be safe, best of luck to those fishing/hunting!
 

[tomturkey]

Eddie
It looks like every one else is sleeping in this morning. Your regular early hours at work probably wake you up early 7 days a week. Getting up early to go have coffee when I was over deer hunting took a while for me to get to sleeping later.

I had to get the blower out for the first time yesterday, snow blower, not the leaf blower that is. The snow we got was that fine wet stuff. Until a few years ago I just used a long handled push shovel to do the drive. I tried that yesterday but the snow was to heavy to get half way across the drive with being less than three inches. It was surprising too hear a snow plow go by. I did not go out yesterday to see if the beet juice they put down on the main road prior to the snow coming did any good.

The father of a friend was inducted into the Christmas Tree Growers Hall Of Fame in Michigan last summer. He was instrumental in a lot of advancements in the growing of Christmas trees. He was the first to grow Frasier Fir for Christmas trees in the state.   

They also got snow in Louisiana. Years ago they came from the south with semis after getting hit with some snow. They bought every old snow mobile they could find.  They are probably sitting over grown in the weeds now.     

MW
It sounds like your getting off of the road for work was a good decision. You seem to be able to do many things to keep busy and support your self.

I need to get going.  I have to go pick up a kit to fix a blown out spark plug in the Explorer that has been stitting in the yard for quite a while. A freind is going to put it in today as he has a rare day off from work. It will get sold as soon as it gets running. Hopefully the snow on the radar does not amount to much as I can not get it in the garage.

[wallyworld]

Morning all,

WS....hope you've managed to thaw out by now  sounds like some brutal conditions to be sitting in a tree    sorry the time & effort didn't put more meat in your freezer 

Eddie.....sad to have places that have become fond traditions close up    I'm sure the scouts appreciated your business tho 

TT.....hope your weather cooperates so the Explorer fix isn't too bad 

H2L....hope your cold is getting better, maybe CaptJ can hook you up with one of those hot toddies of his 

MrC....town plow just passed by here, guessing more for sanding than plowing as there's just a dusting here so far    although since I started posting, the snow has started falling much harder and seems the wind has picked up also, guess the plows will be out for awhile from the looks of things now 

IW.....hope MrsIW has safe travels returning from NH if she isn't already home    good luck if you're on ice, spud spud spud my friend 

IFF....sure hope business picks up, time DRAGS when there's nothing much to do but watch the clock 

MrWW's brother shot a spike horn yesterday     maybe today will be MrWWs turn    tomorrow starts late bow/muz season so there's still a little time left

Have a good Sunday at work or play. Good luck in the woods or on the ice. Stay safe.

[Deal Ninja]

Morning all!  Well, I slept about 12 hours last night!  I guess the deer shooting/gutting/dragging, loading and unloading took more out of this old fart than I thought!  There were four deer total; a 4 pt. buck and three does.  I initially heard a bunch of noise behind me to my left and the next thing I know, deer were flying by!  lol. The buck and the first doe never stopped running, but the 2nd doe got straight out in front of me about 50 yds. and stopped to look back for the last doe.  That was a fatal mistake.  The .270 barked!  lol  I just had to toss that in there!  I didn’t take any photos of the doe, but my BIL (also my best friend) and I will partake of the heart (amazingly spared by only an inch or so) this afternoon in tradition and celebration of success.

Photo from a previous year:

Eddie, good luck to you and your boys today!  Capt54, I’m very sorry to hear of your friend’s tragic accident.  That’s very, very sad.   My condolences.

Good luck to everyone else still hunting today!  I hope everyone else has a nice Sunday.  Sounds like weather here is going to get interesting starting tomorrow night.  We are under a winter storm watch calling for heavy lake effect snow through Wednesday afternoon.  Better fuel up the snow blower!

DN

Edit to add:  I forgot to mention this, but the deer was killed in the VERY LAST shooting lane I opened up.  If not for having done that, I would have been trying to shoot through a lot of thick brush and saplings.  So those three weekends of brush cutting paid off after all. 

[hunts2long]

Congrats DN. Meat in the freezer.
It was 22 this morning and less than an inch of snow. Now up to 28 and the sun is peaking out from the clouds.
Had to get up early to take the daughter to work. SOMEONE didn't shut the door and battery was dead. Didn't feel like messing with it at 5:30.
Have a good Sunday....h2l

[Whopper Stopper]

Congratulations Ninja on the excellent hunt and great recap 

      WS

[IFF]

Good Morning, Got caught up on the post when I got home, thought I would wait until this morning to add any comments.

Sad to read of the passing of the friend Capt. 54

WW, well it gave me a chance to see if the Bow I had taken in had the new string installed.  I had never shot it, picked up from a neighbor that said his son had dry fired it and broke the string  Much to my surprise it was, but noticed the "D" string was not.  Maybe because it was on backwards.  So I put it back in the bow press and reversed it myself, tied on a D, and took a couple shots in the test range.  I don't think the guy that put if on in the first place knows that much about how to properly set, and adjust.  I checked its pull weight and found it was set at 60#  Never located any of the tools to do any alignment in the shop.  Think I will bone up on the fine points, so I can double in that department with the one that they have cover the Archery is not in.  Right my watch kept stopping    I expect my watch will run pretty slow today as well.

Does this mean you all will have snow on the ground until spring ?  That's the way I remember winter months when I lived in Wisconsin.    Not so around these parts.  Still looking at 50-60's for high temps, 10 days out. 

DN WTG on being on target.  Old Guys Rule 

Now have to decide if its hot or cold breakfast for me.  And see what I can get done this morning.

Maybe today is MW's turn ?

Take care all

[mr.clean]

Good morning early risers sunny day with blue skies guessing it is in low thirties currently.
Eddie best to you and your sons today snow fall will help with tracking deer activity. Sorry to hear about the Christmas tree farm.
Mr.Turkey learn so much from you I had no idea that there was a Christmas tree growers hall of fame. May you get the explorer running so it can be sold.
Wallyworld hope you do not get a large snow fall especially if snow blower is still in the back barn. Did the doors get installed on new pole barn. Congratulations to your BIL on the deer.
Deal Ninja great story always wonder why some does stop to look back at what freighted them you would think 3rd doe would have took off running at gun shot.
Hunts2long may daughter's car battery just need a jump start. guess it is better to have a dead car in the driveway then be stuck out on the road.

Safe travels to all have a good day.
Steve

[mealworm]

Evening 945rs. DN, congrats on the 4pt!!

Had a busy weekend once again.put finishing touches on the parking lot job on sat,then did a few things around the house while I had the excavator. Today had to clean up some snow then ran some firewood and delivered. Looks like we may get a decent storm for Tues so will spend tmrw getting ready for that.

Eddie, hope u saw some deer today and if not hope u can seal the deal for late muzzy season. No plowing yet we only got about an inch. I did go shovel the WW2 vet I work for.

WE congrats to the BIL hope mr. WW  gets a crack at at something.

TT, making the move to get off the road has been great so far. I hope things continue to go so well for us. It's almost like a cinderella story lol.

Capt.54 very sorry for the loss of your friend! my condolences sir.

H2l, I don't blame ufor just taking your daughter to work,sux monkeying around early in the am.

IFF, thank for pulling for me to get a deer.unfortunately u have to be in the woods to get 1! But all is not lost, if the stars align and the trumpets sound and the angles sing I just may get a chance to hunt our southern zone late muzzle loader season.

Well folks hope everybody gas a good evening and a good Monday, think I'm gonna sip some shine and watch the rest of the eagles game then watch the steelers game

[Old Goat]

Pulling in late I know: Captain 54 sorry to hear of your friends accident. thoughts and prayers to family and friends. Congrats to DN and WW son or brother on the deer. I missed first ice sleeping on the job again. This usually don't happen to me. Picked up bait it's go time.

[masoneddie]

Good Morning Everyone,
  28* on the Hill this am, high of 31 expected today. My morning hunt didn't produce yesterday and I opted to take the afternoon off. The boys did pretty well though, and filled 2 Doe permits. Today starts the late muzzleloader season, so still have some time to put some venison in the freezer.

  OG...good luck if you're fishing today! Checked some small shallow  lakes yesterday morning, won't be long!   
  MW..wtg helping out the Vet!     Good luck with the black powder to you also, hope tomorrows snow is light and we don't get too much...good ice making weather on the way!   
  Steve..thanks, hoping to get out again this afternoon for the last hour and a half again!
  Bud...nice job with the bow repair, hope it seves you well.      I see that Colorado weather is still as crazy as I remember it...hope you get some ice sooner than later.
  H2...funny how that snow stayed south this time around, we ended up with 5".
  Mr.Ninja...congrats on the deer hunting, way to finish!   
  Wally..congrats to the BIL, hope Mr.WW scored yesterday!   
 
  We've got outside work today cleaning up and taking down barricades, and then we'll be calling quits for the outside work this season. 
  Looks like some nice cold weather will be here mid week, crossing fingers tomorrows snow is minimal...can't wait to drill some holes again!
  Cawfee's on..looks like another "instant " breakfast this morning.   
Have a great day all, be safe, best of luck to those fishing/hunting!
 

[Whopper Stopper]

Good Morning Everyone

Light snow overnight with a mild night of 26, high today 34.

Eddie hope you had some sightings in the stand yesterday Looking forward to your hunting report.

MW good luck getting ready for tomorrows snow event. Did you fall asleep watching the Steelers

Bud the Wisconsin winters remain the way you remember them with cold and snow for the most part. I sure hope the lakes can get some ice before much more snow comes.

WW how is the Mr doing at deer camp? Hope he is at least seeing some sign and gets a poke at one soon. Did you get some snow?

h2l hope the head cold is feeling better today Never fun dealing with those.

IW are you heading out fishing soon?

Yesterday we went to my spearing lake and things looked pretty tough. There were only a couple of inches of ice and where I need to be there's less than that. The wind had opened it up causing a real mess with rough ice and shards. Even when it gets thick enough it will be hard to set the house up.

Not much on my agenda today. I have some cans to haul in to the recycling center. The price of aluminum isn't great but I am tired of always having to move bags when going in my shed.

This afternoon we have a funeral in the south metro for the girls Uncle and I have to drop the Buick off for an alignment job tonight. When I had it in for the oil change they noticed some wear on the inside of the tires so I best fine out what that's all about. I am guessing it has to do with a few pot holes I hit in my jungle travels and a hole or two driving around in the woods at the shack.

Good Morning Eddie! Congrats on being able to move the work indoors

Hope you all have a good Monday Above all stay safe!

             WS

[ICE WANDERER]

                Good morning Eddie, Marv, ER's,
                        It's 26* here on my hill, with some clouds!
                        Eddie.......It's a good deal that they save inside work for the cold weather, sometimes I wonder if the state
                really plans things or that it falls in place! lol I hope you can score on the late muzzle loader season!
                        WS.......Those nasty pot holes can sure knock the front out of alignment I hope it's just an alignment and not
                tie rods or ball joints! I hope more ice can be made before more snow falls!
                        WW.......Congrats to the your BIL! My wife decided to stay another night her son reminded her that she
               would be drive after dark and the roads in Vt. that she travels aren't the best, and a lot of the areas have a no salt
               policy. She should be home this afternoon, she's stopping to visit with her mother for a while this morning.
                        I was hoping to get on some ice this week but the lake we were going to got some lake effect snow and with
               this new storm coming tomorrow I don't know how good the ice would be!
                        I hope everyone has a good Monday either at work or out on the ice or still in the woods!

               IW