Tuesday and Wednesday I worked at the church getting everything insulated and ready for cold weather. Wednesday afternoon I went out behind our house for an hour and had Kenton put on a drive in the thick patch behind our house. He put out a small doe which walked about 20 yards from me looking back and watching Kenton. It paused behind a tree and then quietly slipped into the thick part of the woods with its ears and nose in full alert.
Thursday I monitored a Student Teacher at Conneaut Lake High School. Mr. Armato was out sick and Mr. Fennel is working at his last half of student teaching. It was an easy day. I sat and observed took notes and actually got to post a couple comments on MyHoliness. That evening we headed to Erie to get some supplies for the work at the rental and to help out Andy Crouch who had a blow out on the way to work. We grabbed a spare and put it on his truck and had it ready for him to just get in and drive away.
Friday turned out to be a good day. I decided to spend some time mentoring Kenton in the ways of the whitetail. I am teaching him what I know and yet learning more every time I go out myself. Wayne Drury met up with us at our place and we set up a little drive. We waited for Wayne to get set up and watched as he crossed the golden rod field and entered the woods, two doe bounded out and across the field to the other square. As we headed down my newly planted timothy field a doe came fling across the field and jumped the railroad tracks and made a direct line for Andy Graves falling in barn. Kenton and I got set up in a great spot in Mark and Krista Bly's woods and waited for Wayne to push one to us. We were looking for horns. As Wayne got within a hundred yards he took a shot at a button buck and put it down on a gas well road. Kenton has seen me gut out many deer but he watched and asked questions as Wayne did the honors.
I went home grabbed lunch and Kenton decided he was to cold, so I headed back into the woods alone. I set up across a crick in a pine opening with my back to a huge beech tree. The rest of the day was wonderful. Two black squirrels chased each other abd even scared some turkeys that came bobbing in close. I caught a glimpse of some movement about 100 yards through the brush. Too small for a deer and to red. Found out from Wayne it was a red fox. Some noise behind me right at dusk made me peer around the huge tree I was leaning against and watched 4 doe trot past just about 30 yards on the other side of the crick. That ended a wonderful day of enjoying cold air and nature. It is a wonderful time to relax, talk to the Lord and just let your thoughts spin.
The last day for this week of hunting was the most exciting. I knew there was a big buck hanging out behind our church. I circled several hundred yards up the gorge to the point where Kenton shot a grey squirrel this year and quietly slipped down the steep ravine into the crick bottom. The water had receded from earlier in the week and I was able to make my way down to the big bend directly behind our church. As I neared the huge railroad culvert the big buck jumped up and bounded up the hill through some thick brush. I am sure that many would have laid the hillside with lead, but I was waiting for a one shot and drop. It walked quickly and aligned itself with a house on the other side of the railroad tracks and looked over its shoulder at me as if to say "Ha you cannot shoot there are houses on the other side of me." I scoped him good and found a nice 8 point rack that was about 16-18" inside. It was not a real tall rack but very nice and even. After he had given my good view he quietly slipped into the old apple orchard and was gone for the day. Maybe if I am quicker on the draw the next time I will be able to get a shot before he reaches the tracks. My day was over at that point. I had spent 1 hour out and was satisfied with my find. I stopped over at the neighbors and checked out Jack Wilson's nice 125 class 8 point. He took me in his house and showed a huge buck he had shot many years before. I am guessing with my experience scoring racks that it was somewhere in the 150-160 range. Very Nice!
Once back home the boys and I spent time getting ready the calf pen for the next two calves which will be here in two weeks. The last bull was named T-bone and I am thinking about naming the next two Dell (short for Delmonico) and Porter (short for Porterhouse).
I had better quit writing. I have to help my wife get ready for our Church Christmas Banquet.
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