Fun on the ATV

Hi,

We were at our property for a few days this past week.  Mainly we were there to cut trails for our ATV.  Several months back, in full summer mode, we cut some paths in the woods. Starting with the easy routes first.  Over the summer, for the first time ever, many weeds sprung up in the woods.  This was due to much more sunshine reaching the ground after we had timbering done. We really did not want to wade in waist high thick weeds to cut trails.  You know, snakes, poison ivy and other bad things lurks in that kind of stuff.  Now that the growth has died back we got in there and cut some more trails. It was a lot of work, cutting downed trees that were in our way, moving limbs, and clipping the small trees, but it's done and we have our first nice trail to ride on.

Of course, after cutting trails, we spent a few hours hunting deer.  In this particular county it is still bucks only.  I saw 6 does.  My husband saw 5 does.  They were fun to watch as they meandered around looking for acorns.  They were in no hurry.  I had many minutes to watch them as they came into sight then walk out of sight.  No bucks!  Well, with all the work we wanted to get done on the ATV trails I guess that not shooting a deer is okay.

My husband (tongue in cheek) has called me "Lead foot on the ATV".  As you will see in the attached video, I actually run through the woods pretty slow.  Someday I may get used to the ATV and really rip up the trails. Until then I am happy putting around at my own slow speed.  At the beginning of the video Bruce had to locate me, then he followed my ride on the ATV.

Enjoy the video.

Take care, good hunting and good shooting

M.

Still trying to get a deer for my father-in-law

Hi,

Both my husband and I have taken several deer this year, but my father-in-law has yet to get one in the cross hairs.  Yesterday we went hunting at the farm.  Over the past several weeks when we have arrived at the farm we have seen deer in the cow field, all the other fields have horses in them.  Any way, my husband took his dad over to the cow field, hoping to get a shot.  They walked over from our parking spot, through some woods, then on the high side of a horse field, edging up to the cow pasture.  The fence line of the cow pasture is thick with bramble, small trees, and good cover.  They crossed over into the field.  At that point there were no deer to be seen, so they were going to set up in the cover and wait.  The cows had a different plan.  Upon seeing people ie; food providers, they all came over to where the guys were standing.  The cows could not be persuaded to move. After 10 minutes of this nonsense, Bruce and Jim moved on to another area of the property.  Jim staked out a triangle of woods, very near a pond.  But, again, no luck for Jim.  No deer today.

I saw about 12 doe's on my walk through the woods to a tree stand.  Carefully I edged up to a tree to use as a rest, and cover.  I had to wait for the deer to cross over to our property before I could shoot.  After 45 minutes of watching, glassing and waiting, the deer finally ambled off deeper into the neighbors property.  So, my luck was not good today.  Same could be said for my husband.  He jumped up a heard of deer, which ran away for him through thick stuff, never to be seen again.

The weather was perfect, the moon phase was perfect, the deer were not cooperating.  Just another day of enjoying the great outdoors, not a bad consolation prize at all.

Enjoy, good hunting and good shooting.
M.