Boys Weekend

Joan celebrated her birthday with a girls Disney cruise.  This provided the perfect opportunity for a boys farm weekend.  And we tried to make the most of it.

I got out a day early and spent a night in stand.  I went to the stand where I had seen shooters during my last hunt.  I missed some of "prime time" because one of our dogs developed a raging case of angry digestive tract.  She's fine after a couple of nights in the vet hospital.  I did see a buck this time but it wasn't one of the ones that I was looking for.

Meanwhile, the Asian beetle onslaught has continued.

Eric and the boys arrived near midnight Friday night.  We started Saturday with a farm breakfast.

Elliott and Tommy were excited to be at the farm with the dogs.

Elliott was lusting after driving the vehicles.  We let him passenger ride.

Tommy really wanted to try fishing even though it was not the optimal time of year.

We dipped lines for a while with no action at all.

So I put them to work with a few chores.

And then we went to the range.

Eric got them going with the 22 rifle.

They were banging steel plates at 100 yards.

Then he gave them a turn with his 44 mag.  That thump was more than they appreciated.

So back to the 22.

Then we moved up to the pistol range.  Video of the Action

Once again they were banging steel.  Video of Elliott on Target

It only made sense to confirm zero on the crossbows before heading to stand.

Yep, still on target.

Elliott and I went to the barn stand.  We took a spare chair.

We got settled in for the evening action.

Tommy and Eric went to the pond stand.

They saw a couple button bucks and a decent buck way out at the main field.

Elliott and I had 4 does come in and then a young 8 point came in to check them out.  This trailcam photo is while we were in the stand in the background.

This is the buck and he entertained us by chasing does around the field. Video of Buck

It went on for some time.

And was a lovely night in stand.

So then we went back to the cabin and relaxed for the night.

We had Italian sausage for dinner but Grandpa didn't provide for desert.

Chef Tommy made a creation in cupcake papers that included marshmallows, chocolate chips and whipped cream.

 

The next day we advanced to shooting off sticks.

We did sitting and standing.

Elliott wanted to shoot pistols some more and Tommy really wanted to try to hunt squirrels.

So Tommy and I went off for a walk in the woods.

Tommy had an eagle eye and spotted a flock of about 20 turkeys.  Then he spotted a deer coming up behind us.  It turned out to be a dumbo button buck who walked in to about 15 yards from us. Video of Button Buck  It was a nice walk and great to see the turkeys and deer.  But we were disappointed to not see a squirrel. 

Of course, we had to have some Ranger rides.

They had a 6 hour drive home and a school day on Monday. I stuck around and spent more time in stand.  Lots of does again on Sunday evening.

On Monday, I got in stand and got infatuated with this hawk.  He landed right on my mock scrape.

I think that he was a Coopers Hawk.

He took off flying and pounced on something in the field.

And while I was watching him, three does were staring straight up at me.  I was busted.

But the hawk brought his mouse back to the perch and had a meal. Hawk Having Dinner

It was entertaining even if I did pretty much blow my hunt.

I tried the stand again on Monday night and had a few does.

Here's some of the trailcam activity.  The bucks have definitely been in searching mode.

We had an unusual early snow event.

These does don't look happy about it.

The usual coyotes.

A bobcat or two.

And here I was fixing up the orchard a week ago.