Vacation Time

The wife and I took last week off and went to Hatteras Island.  We stayed in a nice little house in Salvo which is just south of Rodanthe.  This year we also took my Mother along who really enjoyed herself. The ride down was especially long thanks to an overload of traffic on 95, but once we got there I forgot all about it.  Here we are crossing the Oregon Inlet Bridge.

Once we got settled in, Donna and I did the celebratory shot of Tequila.

We had a great view from the top deck of the Ocean and Dunes.

I started surf fishing with the hopes of catching a shark or something with some size but the first couple days only yielded a croaker and a clearnose skate. I would end up catching about 10 skates and a few more croakers.

I went and fished under a bridge and caught some cutbait (spot) and a few for the pan.

That night I went back down to surf fish and BAM!!!!!!!!!! 
I caught my first shark.  I know, its a small one but I was fired up.  I caught my first shark a 12" sandshark.

I actually did catch another one the next day, a 24" dogfish shark but I didn't have a camera, but Donna was there and saw it.

I went down to the bridge again and caught some more croakers and spot for bait and the pan the next morning.

I decided instead of throwing away the waste I would go down to the beach in the rain and feed the gulls.  They appreciated it very much.

There is a ship wreck, or some kind of boat part sticking up out of the surf that Donna got a picture of. It is  part of the paddle wheel from the ship "Pocahontas" which wrecked during the Burnside Expidition during the Civil War.  Kind of a cool sight to see.

It was a fun trip, and I can't wait to get back down again.  Now do we go the Colorado next year, or back to the beach.  I know what Donna's vote is......

Here are a few more random pictures.

1st Walk

I am really slacking this year.  I have not stomped one time yet so I decided to hit a quick spot after work yesterday.  We were expecting some rain and snow later in the evening.  About 5 minutes into it I spotted this small 4X.

The picture doesn't really show how small it is so here is another for reference.  hehehe.

Then I spotted a tine sticking out of a tangle.  I snapped a picture and pulled out this skull.

I did pick up one other small one and got back to my truck before the rain and wind started.  Not a bad bounty for the first walk of the year. Its still early yet.

5th Annual Cap-Off Party
The Seasons Over

Going on for about 5 years now I have had a bunch of buds stop by after the season is over to help me get the cap off my truck.  As usual it was a good time with good people and some funny stories. And my dear wife Donna did a super job with the food.  Chili Dogs and Lasagna.  This was probably the coldest one in the low 20's and wind.  But there was plenty of spirit to keep things warm and upbeat.  Also the longest one because I didn't walk into the house until 1:30.  Thanks for the help fella's, and I'll see you in September when we put it back on.

After the work was done it was time to have some fun.

There was some strange hooch there as well from a guy called Redneck Dave.  He said that was a banana floating in there.

Um, Thanks Dave.

Shooting

Donna wanted to shoot her new gun that I got her for Christmas so we went out to do some plinking.  I got her a Rugar SR22 cal. semi-auto.  Its a sweet little shooter. She has been shooting with me for a few years now but today she had her own gun.

I also brought the ole single six, and a Marlin semi-auto rifle.  22's are really alot of fun to shoot.  They are cheap, not loud and do not blow your wifes arm off.

We punched some holes in the target, but better than that we had fun.  Looking forward to many more days shooting with my wife.

The Empty Woods

This is basically what I have been looking at since just after Thankgiving.  Woods that have no deer in them.

I have been caught in a terrible pattern of not seeing deer.  The few that I have seen have been far off, or with tails waving as I walk in and bump them out.  And whats worse is my freezer.  I am dangerously low on venison.  Usually I am stocked full this time of year. This is pathetic.

I can only hope that my luck changes soon on what has been a historically bad season. I have not shot a deer since early October.

Dads Buck

In about 1971 - 1973 my Dad shot a buck along with his best friend Frank during the Pennsylvania Gun Season.  That would have made me about 8 - 10 years old.

My memory is a little foggy, but I do remember some smiles, and celebrations. I also know that this was the biggest/nicest deer my dad would ever shot in his life. He did shoot his share though. There was one wider 10 but it was real short. Plus back in them days you were lucky to even see a deer. Frank was getting into taxidermy and ultimately mounted it for him. Mom even let him hang it in the living room where it hung proud for years.  Notice in this picture that the zoom includes his mount. Thats Mom and Dad........and Dads 8.

After he passed away in 93' somewhere along the line Mom asked if I wanted it and of course I took it and hung it on my own walls.  With years passing and that "now" old mount slowly deteriorating, and me shooting my own bucks and mounting them it unfortunately ended up in a closet.  I had always thought that it would be cool to have it remounted.  But the cape from that kill would have to be a special one.  In November of 2010 that "Special Deer" walked in front of me at 8 yards.  I was carrying a longbow that day, and while this in entirely another story I shot my first trad buck.

This was the perfect cape for dads buck.  It wasn't a bigger buck than his PA mountain deer, and it had somewhat of a winter coat.  I wrote a story about that longbow buck that was published in the 2011 Summer issue of Maryland Bowhunters Society "Rubs & Scrapes" where at the end I mentioned using that cape for dads buck.  Well after a year and a half of being in the basement freezer and numerous requests from my dear wife to get it out of there I finally took it to the taxidermist this past Summer.  I took a few snapshots of the old mount that shows just how bad it had gotten.  And with all do respect to my good friend Frank Ondrejack, he was just learning the process back then.  Plus I doubt my Dad had to pay much of a taxidermy bill.

I got the call from Jason Poole Taxidermy that it was ready so I made the 2 minute drive and went and picked it up.  I couldn't be happier.  Its looks fantastic, and the cape matched the horns well I think.  I asked Jason to do the same mount type as Frank had done.  Two alert ears included.

Before:

After:

Before:

After:

So once again after all these years, my dads only wall mounter take its rightful place back on "The Wall". I miss you dad.

Now on to the next project.  As I remember right and hopefully I will get the chance to write that story, this was my Grandfathers "only" buck.  Stay tuned..........heheheheheh.

This Bad Season Continues

Not really much to report.  I have seen a few bucks, but not shots.  I decided to go back to a back-yard spot to shoot anything.  This doe came in and gave me a 25 yard shot.

 
And she ducked.