Nov. 14-20, 2021

Weather | 11/14, 33°, 39° | 11/15, 30°, 57° | 11/16, 29°, 61° | 11/17, 0.01" rain, 47°, 50° | 11/18, 26°, 40° | 11/19, 19°, 45° | 11/20, 26°, 55° |

• Sunday, 11/14: Preparing Lift for Departure
  
  • Northwest wind gusts up to 41 mph meant for a poor hunting day and I didn't hunt all day.
  • On the first morning dog walk, Plato caught a whiff of something and was upset through the entire walk. Then, on the way to the house, Mary and I caught the smell of a skunk. While dumping ashes from the woodstove, I noticed the strongest skunk smell near the electric fence of the near garden, right next to the hydrant. We think a skunk got zapped by the electric fence, let go with a little of its stink, and rambled off.
    
  • Mary finished moving books from the downstairs west bedroom to the sunroom.
  • I drove to Prairieland near LaBelle, twice, bought diesel in 5 gallon increments, and topped off the fuel tank in the lift that will be taken away tomorrow morning. After over $6000 in rental fees over 6 weeks, we won't have that 11-ton beast on our property, anymore.
    
  • I moved and stacked good shingles that were in the lift's basket to appropriate locations in the machine shed.
    
  • I took the garden hose and a stiff scrub brush to both sides of the 8 DuraDeck panels. Then, Mary and I loaded them into the pickup.
  • I did online research on building deer stands and blinds. It's time I developed better concealment possibilities for hunting deer.
    
    
• Monday, 11/15: Mom's 87th Birthday
  • I talked with Mom this evening. She had an eventful birthday and was even taken to dinner to a new restaurant in Glendive, MT. Mom heard from lots of relatives and friends, which pleased her, immensely. We talked for about an hour about lots of things.
  • The United Rental truck driver was scheduled to pick up the lift between 10 a.m. and noon. He knocked on our door at 8:15 a.m. I knew he'd be early, since he always is early, but this is earlier than I expected. He drove the lift down the lane, loaded it, and left.
  • I grabbed receipts, tied drip flashing that I bought, but never used, into the back of the pickup, and drove to Quincy. I fueled at Fastlane. It cost $65 to put 21 gallons in the truck. Gas was $3.09 a gallon. I got credit at Menards for the flashing and 11 tubes of roofing cement that I returned. I dropped off the DuraDeck panels at Sunbelt Rentals and received credit back for 2 weeks of rental for the panels.
  • Mary did 2 loads of laundry and dusted and sorted books.
  • After lunch, I walked to Bobcat Deer Blind in the north woods and watched squirrels bounce around in leaves all afternoon. I heard a deer snort at me out of sight to the east, but never saw it. After sunset, I kept hearing footsteps, but couldn't see the dastardly deer. It turned out to be an opossum heading for the creek bed below me. I went home. After 2 days, I've fired zero bullets. Mary said, "Think of all of the money you're saving."
  • Mary mowed the grass immediately north of the house.
  • I'm not hunting tomorrow morning, because if I shot a deer, we'd have to butcher it in 70° temperatures. That's too hot! Temps below 40° are preferable.
    
    
• Tuesday, 11/16: One Shot, No Deer
  
  • After updating the checkbook, I checked to make sure the rental refunds came through. They didn't. I'll be checking daily and if I don't see anything in a week, I'll be called to find out why I'm not getting a refund.
  • Mary washed a load clothes.
  • With a SSE wind blowing, I went to the Cherry Deer Stand at the NE area of our property. I didn't see anything for about an hour. Then, a doe ripped by, running SE to NW, followed by a grunting buck with short horns. A few seconds later, a bigger buck ran into sight, did a loop in front of me, then ran through the cedar trees below me, crashed through a fence and disappeared. Not more than a few minutes later, a just legal buck appeared, turned sideways to me, so I shot. It ran to the north and I thought I got it. Two more bucks showed, one with a huge rack. I let them run off. It definitely was a day of horny deer when one doe running by raised the alert sign for 5 bucks. I got out of the stand and wandered around, but never saw any blood or any sign of the deer. I walked back home and got Mary. Together, we looked everywhere near the Cherry Deer Stand, but didn't see a thing. Evidently, I pulled the rifle when I squeezed off the shot, and completely missed the deer. It was probably a good thing. Venison from bucks in a lather during rut tastes like tough leather. The deer shooting gods helped me out, today.
    
  • By pulling Mary away for a half an hour to look for a nonexistent deer, she wasn't able to rake up grass she mowed around our compost bins and in the south part of the far garden. She wants to put that grass over the rows of planted garlic.
  • I weedwhacked tall grass down on a 100-foot path just west of the Bartlett pear tree, tacked up a target and sighted in the 30:30 rifle...something I should have done before going hunting, but didn't have the time. The first shot was in the ring just outside the bullseye. I raised the scope up 2 clicks. The second shot was in the bullseye. It wasn't that far off. I definitely pulled the gun as I shot at the buck, today. It's sighted in, now, so I know for sure it wasn't a gun malfunction, just a dipshit human shooting the gun.
  • Mom says they experienced horrible winds in Eastern Montana, today. She said wind blew a semi over. A check online reveals they had gusts to 65 mph.
  • Mary scared off a flock of Bob White quail when she came rattling home with the hand truck, after taking the garbage can down to the end of our lane.
  • Bill sent us the following photo, taken by Paul Friz, a fellow member of the Truman State University Astronomy Club, of which Bill was a member. Bill says Friz works at Langley research and is a cool guy to follow on Facebook. The photo is of the Kilauea volcano in Hawaii.

  

  Kilauea & night sky, by Paul Friz.
  

• Wednesday, 11/17: Shopping in Quincy
  
  • We drove to Quincy for a shopping trip. When we left home, rain was falling. We think that was the only rain that fell at home. In Quincy, we ran into more rain. We made 12 stops and returned home 4.5 hours after leaving for our shopping trip. Yes, Bill, we shopped like the Navy Seals taking out Osama bin Laden.
  • Fortunately, we got home in time to get the chickens put away in their coop well before darkness fell. Amber literally smiled when we let her out of the house. I emptied the Cadillac while Mary did most of the evening chores.
  • The rain and a strong NNW wind meant deer hunting would have been miserable. We heard one shot after sunset from property to the north of us. Otherwise, it was quiet.
  • The following photo Katie took of the Aurora Borealis in the sky over Venetie, AK a couple nights ago.

  

  Northern Lights above Venetie, AK, by Katie Melvin.
  

• Thursday, 11/18: Second Shot, No Deer
  
  • Mary cleaned house, today.
  • I didn't get up early to hunt. Instead, I went to the cedar trees NE of Swim Pond for a couple hours starting at noon. A strong WNW wind veered to NNW in the 2 hours I sat leaned up against the trunk of a cedar tree. There are plenty of tracks in the trail that goes down to the base of the pond's dam. I didn't see anything but a squirrel.
  • After lunch and at 3 p.m., I walked to the Bobcat Deer Blind. A deer spooked and ran north that was standing on the trail to Bobcat. At sunset, 2 deer downwind of me snorted and ran east. At about 5:10 and with only 9 minutes left of legal shooting time, 3 does came down the valley north of me, crossed the dry creek bed and ran up the valley just west of me. I took a shot and missed, again. I just can't hit the broadside of a barn this year. I searched up the hill and didn't find anything. I walked home, shed clothes, grabbed a flashlight and searched the woods all the way to the west field...nothing. I've shot at moving deer in the past and hit them, but I sure can't seem to do it this year. Two shots and no venison for me as of today.
  • I saw a pileated woodpecker in the north woods while hunting. It was really loud and quite large. I also watched a hawk fly through trees, tipping sideways to dodge branches, then land in the top of a very large oak tree. Mary says it was probably Cooper's hawk, that has rounded wings, enabling it to navigate well through timber.
  • The full moon was rising to the east and through the trees just before I saw the 3 does.
  • I read today that the infrastructure bill recently signed into law raises federal infrastructure spending to its highest share of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) since the early 1980s. Who was our U.S. President in the early '80s? Ronald Reagan. Republicans in the 1980s had no problem approving infrastructure spending. But, it seems to be a problem, today. I call it yellow-bellied and two-faced. Der Führer said "Nein!" so most U.S. House GOP lemmings followed suit. That's not an impressive action.
    
    
• Friday, 11/19: Two Stints Sitting On Plywood, Viewing Deer
  
  • I got up at 4:30 a.m., ate 2 pieces of toast, and put on my winter gear. Mary walked dogs and caught the end of the lunar eclipse.
    
  • I left the house at 5:30 and walked to the Cherry Deer Stand to the NE. The moon was full and shining brightly in the west. When it was just starting to lighten, but I could barely see (well before legal shooting time), I saw 2 deer walking quietly from north to south a few feet to my east. A flock of small ducks flew over and landed in Swim Pond, south of that deer stand. For over an hour, I heard them splashing around in the water. Right as the sun started rising, a buck with only 4 points on its rack, in other words, not legal to shoot, walked out into the open just east of me, and stood there for about 20 minutes surveying things. He was a nicely filled out animal with beautiful markings. I was glad he wasn't legal. He gets to live another year. Occasionally, he raised his nose and sniffed the air. I think he was getting faint wisps of my scent. Finally, he walked off to the north. I returned home by 8 a.m. 
  • On the way home, a huge great horned owl lifted off from a bare grass spot in the north field and flew west, to the north woods. It had a huge wingspan.
    
  • Mary washed the curtains, then washed the inside of all house windows. After the curtains dried a little, she brought them in, ironed them, and hung them back up.
  • I replaced the storm door latch.
    
  • I left the house at 1 p.m. and went back to the Cherry Deer Stand. A strong south to SE wind blew, with gusts to 22 mph. I never saw a deer, but I heard deer snorts 2 different times, from deer downwind, or north of me, who smelled me on the wind. Something was rustling around beyond the cedar trees south of me, but I never saw what type of animal was making the noise. A big flock of Canada geese flew over during this rustling. I walked home at 5 p.m., with a very sore butt from sitting on a piece of plywood for hours.
  • We enjoyed a bottle of 2021 dandelion wine (see photo, below), celebrating wrapping Christmas presents the earliest we've ever accomplished this task. The wine tastes very good. Mary says the wine begins with a tang, and then moves through a warm phase, from the ginger. It finishes with a dandelion floral taste.

  

  2021 Dandelion Wine...it's yummy!
  

• Saturday, 11/20: Pig-Pen Goes Hunting
  
  • I didn't get up early to go deer hunting. After the roof job, I'm tired, these days.
    
  • Mary washed sheets.
  • Bill showed up at 12:30 p.m. He's here for a week.
  • I walked to the Southeast Cedar Deer Blind at 1:30 p.m. Even though I didn't see deer, I sure heard them. I felt as though I was Pig-Pen from the comic strip Peanuts going hunting. Deer snorted from far away to the east of me, to the west of me, and to the north of me. Then, after sunset, a shot rang out. It was the guy (nephew of the owner) on the metal deer stand just east of our property and next to Wood Duck Pond. All of the deer might have been snorting from his scent. The end of legal shooting time was 5:18 p.m. I packed it up and left then. I thought I was hearing deer moving around in the woods east of me, but when I left, I realized it was a rabbit. Squirrels are thick in those woods. Lespodeza is growing south of that area, where deer once moved around. I don't think they like moving through lespodeza and we need to work to get rid of it, because lespodeza is taking over our property, along with cedar trees.
  • Mary and Bill raked up grass she cut a couple days ago and used it as a mulch over top of the newly-planted garlic.
  • We all ate nachos and watched the 2019 movie, 1917, about World War I.