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I had the first week of November off work.... furloughs were approved, so I took advantage. I spent the first part of the week doing some hunting at the
Ottertail. This being the rut season, I was hopeful....
No luck at home, so I spent the latter part of the week up at the cabin in Wintergreen country. Ivan had most of the week off as well, so we spent some time hunting up there. I saw zero deer up there, Ivan got a look at one nice buck, no shot was available. The first picture was what greeted us one morning at the cabin.... as in the second photo,
trackin' snow.
Not being obsessed with hunting, I took the relaxed attitude and took advantage of not having to get up for work. I got up whenever I happened to wake up, usually around 7:30 or so. Ivan was out fishing most mornings, late season trout at Patterson lake.
Ivan got enough for a couple of meals of fish and potatoes, and they were certainly enjoyed! Tom was also at the cabin for a couple of days. He spent his time cruising the woods, checking new areas and such. He had his dog and shotgun with him, but he got no birds. The grouse population is supposed to be up right now, but none of have seen many birds.
The snow was really nice to look at, but made it really wet in the woods. Temps in the mid 30's, so it was sloppy til it all melted. Dan was at the cabin for a bit, too. He tried for trout at Patterson one morning, but nothing was biting.
The last day we were at the cabin started out with a light fog with full sun behind it. Turned into a beautiful day and I hunted at home Saturday and Sunday with no results.....
This is Ivan's uncle Carl Fisher. He lived a few hundred feet from where the guys' cabin is located. Carl had some health issues this year and he passed away a month or so ago. His presence in Wintergreen country will be sadly missed.
Back to Ottertail Country...
So.... I went back to work for the week of Nov. 9-13. I discovered that I had one more vacation day than I thought I had, so I arranged to use it in two hour blocks during the next week. That was a good idea, as it would let me hunt the last few hours of each day. Soon it would be gun season and bow hunting would have to wait until mid December.
Tuesday the weather was great. Well, for sitting and not getting cold. I got to the woods at 2:45 and sat up there in my Hemlock tree, soaking up the sun. About an hour later I saw a deer picking it's way toward me. It was a buck! It took quite a while for it to get to me, and I thought it was going to pass in an area where I could not get a shot. It stopped, modified it's course a little, and my opportunity was there.
It dropped about 40 yards from my tree. So I field dressed it, got the
four wheeler and got it pulled to the
Ottertail. There I loaded it into the truck to take it for registering. This was all done before dark!! I like that kind of hunt, not tracking half the night and getting to bed at midnight. The new wheeler worked fine..... :-)
This was the view from the
Ottertail that
evening. Much like the photo I have at the bottom of the blog page. That was from about a dozen years ago.....
.
Everything is all set for the festivities.
It made for a very pleasant afternoon meal.
Lot's of people were around for the day.
Hey, Tim even showed up... not a regular occurrence on Thanksgiving.
Oh, yeah, looking forward to this collection..
This is a first, the cooking crew hanging out around the deck. Charcoal, a grill..... hmmmm.
The kitchen was always full of people and lots of preparations going on.
Yay!!! Way to go, Dennis!!!
Late November grilling, can't be beat.
