The Axe Man Cometh

 Yeah this is late.... or early depending on your perspective. I have kinda lost track of time since I am on vacation. I have been out doing stuff like????? Turkey hunting pretty much every morning that it's not raining. I heard one gobbler opening morning, you know??? the morning I forgot my call. I haven't seen any turkeys but I did see this guy yesterday.

I know that was yesterday because the day before that I was at my neighbors house doing what I said I would do. He mentioned to me about a year ago that he needed 6 tree's taken down. Me being the idiot I am said, "I could do that for you, no problem". We have looked at the project a couple times formulating a plan on how to accomplish the task. Finally the stars aligned, the 75' cherry picker got dropped off and after a short discussion about what tree and where, off we went. As you looked at them we started right to left since we wanted them all to fall to the right. That way we would have 0 clean up until all tree's were dropped. He had the boom rented for 2 days but it we got done in 1, so we could save a days rental. So it was Bill, Cliff, Cliff's 2 kids and myself, it was a team effort but we got it done. In preparation for this feat I doubled up on Axemen to hone my knowledge and skill.... yeah I mostly just winged it.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

  

These are Cliff's kids Michael and Lincoln they wanted to go up

We didn't get too high before, "Can we go down down"? was spoken in unison.

I told Bill we'd miss the house.

We missed the house

Well that was Sunday and after Turkey hunting yesterday I went over and limbed and sectioned the downed trees. Next we'll move the logs out and rent a chipped for the branches. I already had an ad on FB to get rid of the wood. We have over 15 people that will take some so far. Today I'm going turkey hunting again and then heading into Fort Wayne with Jake to get a truck for the trek to AZ. We'll be leaving early Wed. morn and getting there Thursday sometime I'm guessing.

As a side note: now I understand why Corey doesn't talk to his neighbors.

All done

 We had a cold snap move in over the weekend and it held over to this week. So... cold snap means deer move a little more and I also wanted to check if my turkeys had moved in. I hunted Monday and Tuesday and saw 7 deer that were all yearlings, fun to watch but nothing worth getting worked up over. Wednesday was a different deal, it was around 8 am when I saw a buck working from my left to right at 60 yards. When he got into my 44 yard kill hole I decided I was going to let him walk. He was a younger deer and looked to be an 8pt and if I got the invite to Jake's property his deer are much bigger so I gave him a pass..... until. 

He started on a B line straight up the hill to my stand, the closer he got the bigger he looked. Well when he got to 25 yards I already had him in my sights and ready to fire, I didn't have a choice... I squeezed the trigger and in 2 minutes I had a big buck down, and the end to my season.

I didn't see any turkey's but I had to go back for my bolt and do some limb work. Walking around looking for my bolt I did find quite a few feathers, so now I just have to be there when they show up. The next day I'll hunt/scout is Monday. 

Wish me luck...

More of the same.... with a pic

 Did more cleaning the garage and getting ready for season. It's been hot this week and I actually got quite a bit done even though it doesn't seem like it. Had the annual fish fry out at Jake's on Tuesday, we don't see each other much during the summer, so this is story time and figure some plans for hunting this year. I finally found a duck call that I've been looking for since last year. When I got it (used) I blew it and it sounded terrible, so I got online and went to Mack's prairiewings and ordered every replacement reed and cork they had. After only 4 reeds I found one that sounds awesome, all I really have to do next week is hunt. Deer opened last Sunday and it's been warm like I said but we have a cold snap hitting this weekend and looks like it'll last 'til next week. So hopefully I'll be able to put a deer or a turkey down. 

I did have someone mention that they've been a little sad the last couple weeks because there's been no pics.... Well, here ya go.

That should hold ya til next week.

Ready for the upcoming hunting season..... almost

 I spent this entire week getting hunting gear pulled out, dusted off and fixed and still didn't have enough time. I got the boat winterized and put away along with my fishing poles, my tackle bags are a whole other deal. I got my decoy trailer pulled out and organized as is a Sept. custom also got the wheeler in it. Rigged up a dozen and a half new decoys now just waiting on the decoy bag. Garage is kinda workable but it still needs some stuff moved around. Looks like I'll have more time next week to work on the garage cause I have the internet company showing up at 11:30 am. 

I know looking at what I had to do to get ready for the season doesn't look like much but I assure you I was pretty busy this week.

Deer opens on the first and it looks like I won't get out until at least Tues, which is OK cause I haven't even shot my crossbow yet. 

So much to do and so little time to do it in.

Twofer

 Well another fishing season has come to an end, but before I put the boat away for the year I had to scout a lake I want to hunt. This is a lake I had scouted once before and deemed it unhuntable, but since it is so close I decided to take another look. I fished cast around the whole lake looking for a spot to set up and finally was able to find a couple spots for Eastish winds, so kind of a win there. I didn't stay long only a couple hours and didn't catch anything.... at all.... nothing.

It wouldn't be a twofer if I didn't go out again.... so I made the longest pilgrimage of the year to Lorain, Ohio to fish Erie one last time.

First let me say the launch at Lorain was the worst I have seen on Erie. 

The sign at the entrance said it was 4$ to launch and the sign where you put the money in said 5$, I erred on the side of caution. The actual launch was not very wide and the dock was in much need of repair. The bathrooms had a push button lock on the door and the code was posted (why even have it locked) but the deadbolt above the push button lock was locked. 😲😡 

As my Dad would say,"I just made two trips in one, first and last"

The best part was the..... na there wasn't really a best part the whole launch process kinda sucked. Anyway enough about the launch, let's talk about the fishing.... I chose this launch because I could get to deep water quicker and try to catch some deep eye's. I started at 30' on the North side of the breakwall and caught my first and biggest eye of the trip by 9:39am. 

Then I trolled around FOR HOURS caught 3 shorts from 30 to 37' and a cat at 46'

Sorry bout the pic but the camera died after this one. Again pics just don't do this beast justice, I didn't weigh it because I had it out of the water for a while but I did measure it at 28 1/2". It fought hard I thought it was a goo but when I first caught sight of it, it started to look like an eye. Only when I was ready to land it did I see it was a cat. 

So to recap 1nice keeper, 3 shorts and a cat, after 10 hours of fishing.... If there's ever a reason to end a year, that would be it. 

LET THE HUNTING SEASON COMMENCE......

Oh wait...... the best part... I put off getting gas in Ohio because the cheapest I found it was 3.59$ and I left Angola with the price of 3.42$ so since my truck can make the round trip I held out getting gas. I looked there and back for a decent price on gas. Since I didn't see any I had faith that when I got home I could fill up cheaper.

WRONG...... 

apparently in the 10 hours I was fishing gas became more valuable than gold, and I HAD to put a half tank in for 3.89$ a gallon.😨😱😲😡😭😬😭😭

 

If it comes down to 3.85$ I'll fill it up. 😂