Well, Fred is here and we are hard at the hunting, as well as eating, already feel like I've known him for years...but then that's the nature of this trad family, ain't it? Anyway, I thought I'd tell this story a bit differently since we will be here at the house each night...I'll try and do daily updates. Mind you, I said TRY
Thurs 10/4/07 - Fred's flight got in fine, he road the MARTA rapid transit up to near my office where I picked him up around 2pm. We went had a bite of Mama Fu's excellent Chinese and started telling war stories....Man has Fred been on some exciting hunts! I knew I was going to have a lot to live up to...but thankfully, Fred is a genuinely easy going as anyone could ever be, especially for a guy from NJ (no offense to my fine yangese bretheren above the Mason/Dixon Line)
We went to walmart where Fred proceeded to sign away his children's inheritance for a yearly out of state....I of course consoled him that he was not only going on Terry's hunt in a few weeks but he could return to help chase hogs or turkey in the spring. I thought he would sprain his wrist swiping the card so fast...
Long drive back to the Coots house gave us more time to talk, and of course the more I heard him the more I liked him. Introductions to Miss Kim, Chase & Connor were made and we wasted no time changing and into the woods.
I put Fred on the Ridge stand, it's done very well the last 2 years on evening sits, I had hopes the one tree that had been dropping acorns would get some deer movement. Sadly, the weather was abysmal for this time of year....80 degrees is at least 10-15 too many for this time of year. But we were optimistic as Fred suited up
Fred confided he often did not wear a harness when in the stand....and hearing of the thickly branched pine trees he often sits in, I can understand why. But 10 seconds on a GA platform and he was pretty happy to have the belt. I left him to what we hoped was an eventful evening
I slipped back down the hill back towards our entry point where I had a climber waiting.
Up the tree, I had a good view of the (now dry) creek bottom that I had seen 2 deer in this year, feeding on a red oak dropping acorns.
I knew it was not the best bet, but with our limited time that evening it was a good option. Our drought coupled with a late frost has really damaged our acorn crop in my area. Trees that were reliable producers are bare, no white oaks that I can find on my place have acorns so my usual feeding areas did not look hopeful.
Got to go nap before tonights hunt....I'll try to catch ya'll up when we get back....