Tuesday

2010 hunting day 4

Yeppers ... I'm still at it ... trying to join the rank of thousands in the state and harvest a deer.  So far ... my luck has not been with me.  Nor has it been there for Mom or my brothers although my nephew Billy got a 7 pointer today. 

How my day went:

It was around 1:00 this afternoon before I even thought of getting my butt out into the woods.  It's cold out ~ in the 20's and even though I have my little shack to sit in ~ I still have to get a fire going in it and get it warmed up in there to be comfortable.  Today was not a good fire starting day for me.  I swear ... half the magazines now days are made of fire retardant materials.  After scrounging around in my pile of junk mail that I took out there for fire starting purposes it dawns on me ... I have only two matches left on the shelf ~ so I better do this right.  I crumple up some paper ... add a few dry twigs and strike the match.  DANG!!! My match goes out before I even set it to the paper.  Great ... now I have one match. 

Okay... here goes nothing.  I light the second match, making sure I'm closer to the paper this time before I strike the match.  The sulphur on the match gives a quick little spark and goes out.  Are you kidding me!!  Now here I am without a fire and without any more matches.  Then I notice the match that just fizzled on me has a minute, tiny little bit of sulphur that hasn't ignited  .... good enough for one more try.  Fingers crossed ~ I strike ... and it ignites!! I quickly hold the flame under the paper ... and the paper just curls and gets black but doesn't go up in flames.  Stupid fire retardant paper ... I hate junk mail !!  I drop the match because it's getting too close to my fingers but it's still burning.  I notice on the floor a piece of birch bark about the size of a dime.  I pick that up and hold it to the remaining match flame.  Time is of the essence!  It ignites the birch bark ... which is just enough to ignite the little twigs I have over the paper ... the bark and the twigs are burning before the stupid fire retardant paper ~ unbelievable... finally... the paper catches hold and my fire takes off.  All in all .... it took me about half an hour messing around to get this fire going.  AND why I ask myself am I doing this ???  Oh I remember ~ because I like swearing at junk mail and burning it up!!! 
~~
The sun is shining ... maybe my disposition will improve.  It's been so dreary and gray outside, kinda like my hair.  I just got a bunch of it cut off and all my summer blonde is gone and it's looking quite drab.  I feel like a gray barbie ~
Not that I ever looked like a blonde barbie ... lol

~~~
The twilight hour is approaching.  That last hour before the sun goes down ~ the shadows in the woods are becoming more prominent ... and rather eerie looking. 

An owl just flew in and landed briefly on the stump that the sentry red squirrel uses to chatter to himself.   He's only there for a few seconds and silently flies off as quietly as he flew in.  They're amazing ... how quiet they are ... all you hear is little swoosh of it's wing and it's gone.  In fact, it really was there so briefly I'm not even 100% sure it was an owl; possibly it was a hawk because it's head seemed too small for an owl.   Hopefully, it was in the right place just long enough that the trail camera got it's picture.  I'll find out tomorrow when Sam switches out the SD cards for me.  I'd do it tonight when I'm done hunting; but like bringing a watch ... I also forgot to bring along another card.  I am soooooooo forgetful!!

Until next time...
So it goes in my neck of the woods.
~mel

7 comments:

  1. Brrr... for all the good it did you to be out hunting, I bet the nice warm house crossed your mind once or twice too. lol
    p.s. The pies turned out great!

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  2. Mel, all I can say is, You are a very resourceful hunter. Today, I drove 50 miles to hunt, dragging my new 60XC Mule, and upon arrival at the unloading spot discovered I had left the ignition key on the night stand where I had put it last night!!! ☻ ☻ ☻

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  3. Well I for one enjoyed our day together. Boy am I glad we got the fire going, I was getting cold. LOL
    Get a cigarette lighter!! I graduated to that out in the woods. Amazing how one spark can start a forest fire and ...etc...

    Lot of that forgetful stuff going around.
    Thanks for the day, I hope you don't suffer too much for it. Better luck tomorrow, the tale of the hunter.

    Love you girl, take care of yourself.

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  4. RE: Cher ~ tomorrow morning is pie day at my house.
    RE: Fred ~ ohhh no!! Did you have to drive all the way back for it???
    RE: Jack ~ I had a cigarette lighter in my bag; but I don't like that "click" noise. The only click I want to hear is the click my gun makes when I take it off the safety to shoot that big buck. If the fire wouldn't have started ... I would have clicked ... but in all honesty ~ I forgot I had the lighter with me too! lol

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  5. Mel, I bet it was a little-headed owl!

    Glad you got the fire started. Jack had
    the right idea about the lighter. I know
    I would make the clicking sound over
    freeeeeezing. Besides, all the shaking would make
    you miss the big buckaroo.
    Good luck, Happy Thanksgiving and
    God Bless... love ya, me

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  6. No, Mel...just let the thing sit at a friends house and went with him in his truck to hunt on his cousin's farm. We saw three huge does - but nothing we could shoot. I was glad to at least see one and be reminded what a deer looks like in the woods!

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  7. The deer think the click of a lighter is a squirrel snapping his jaw...don'tcha know! Dad used to talk quietly to the animals all the time, letting them know what he was up to. I used to love sitting with him. He always said that the only sound that the deer fear is a sniff...cause that's one thing they cannot do...they can sneeze, cough, pass gas, even sounds like they giggle once in awhile., but no sniff instead of blowing your nose.
    Hope you have better luck tomorrow.
    Sleep tight......the pies and cheesecake were awesome...thought you would stop and sample them with me over our morning coffee.
    BlessYourHeart and Don't Stuff Yourself

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