in preparation for the hunt

I'm sure nobody cares, any more than you care to see a half-dozen pics of my bathroom in a shambles, but here are a bunch of shots from where I thought I was going to locate my deer blind. This morning, the oldest boy, LP and I set it up about 200 yards from here in a narrow cut through a stand of birch, alder and oak, at the base of the ridge shown in the second photo below. The general area looks to be a good spot, at first glance. As you can see from the photos, cover, water, bedding areas, food and natural lanes for traveling to and fro all exist within a few hundred yards. I think this area sees deer in the general vicinity all day and night, if the hunting pressure remains low.






Today we only saw a fox, who, oddly enough, crossed our tracks only 75 yards behind my truck only 1-2 minutes after we stopped to unload the blind and some bait. He was right here, as a matter of fact...

So far, only deer and my tracks show up in the snow and they are hitting the bait piles, hard. Yes, this year I have gotten so old and tired as to join the sorry ranks of apple-poppers across this great nation. It's like hunting people in a grocery store-sit at the end of the frozen foods isle and pop some poor fucker in the head as he reaches for a frozen pepperoni and mushroom, but I’m out of shape and not good for much else besides nodding off in a folding chair after the coffee wears off.

Really, I will get out and still-hunt the ridge as much as my tired, old bones will let me and I even put the ass warmer back, that I tossed in my cart at Wal-Mart, Friday. I'll sit my blind in the morning and maybe evening, but otherwise, it's walk and post, walk and post, walk and post as much as possible. Oh, the oldest and I are contemplating taking pics, or shooting video during our first two days.

I should note these woods begin just about 500 yards South of my house and stretch for about 20 miles to the next road South.