More deer hunting opportunities...

It's the days after Christmas... I had a great time this year. We are a very fortunate family and we try not to forget that. We are all together, healthy (small set-backs with the kids having some little problems here and there do not count :)), our parents and immediate family doing also well, and no need to worry about having food at the table; it is there.

Having said that, my son, Costas, had what turned out to be a 24-hour flu over Christmas. It started on the way back from church on Christmas Eve - he did fine at church, no problems at all - and the poor guy spent Christmas Eve night emptying his stomach every half hour at first, then every hour, every 2 hours at the end. I think at the end there he got too tired and just fell asleep in our bed. On Christmas day the excitement of gifts kept him mainly awake, but he was tired and beat. He got better during the day - no fluids leaving is body - and on the next day he was good as new!

After Costas my wife, Margie, got hit a bit from the same bug probably. She took it standing up. We went furniture shopping and this cured everything :)

And today, it was my daughter's turn. Poor Sophia got up with a slight fever and upset stomach. She is tired and laying down on the couch next to me as I am writing this. She is drinking alright, but no food. She is a trooper. She did not want the TV on, so while she is taking a nap, I am surfing the Internet and writing this entry...

After all this story, I am getting to the part about deer hunting. As I am checking the WI DNR web site, I am looking at the white-tail deer hunting season this year. I knew that there is an extended period for earn-a-buck that started on Dec. 24. However, I was under the impression that the period was to end on Dec. 31. I wanted to go today, but between my sick Sophia and a weird warm-up that ended up with rain and melting snow (it reached 48 degrees out today) it was not the time to be in the woods for me. I had given up on getting a deer this year, but I noticed that the end of the bonus season is not Dec. 31, but Jan 4. This is the Sunday after the first of the year! As I am having Jan. 2 off work, there might be a chance for me on the 2nd, 3rd, or even 4th of January to get out there and try once more before this season is over!

Good news!

Now I just hope that my little girl is going to be way better tomorrow.

Deer Hunting 2008

Spiros and Dimitris joined me again this year.

Curt got a nice buck at the closing time of the opening Saturday.

We retrieved the buck the next morning.

I saw a big buck around 11am on opening Sunday morning, but did not get the chance to shoot. It may come back... one day...

Turkey Hunting - Fall 2008

This year I ended up with a turkey permit for the fall hunt. This is a good treat since I did not get one of these last year. I always prefer the fall hunt to the spring hunt; it's longer, you are not limited to only toms, and the weather is usually better (nice crisp fall mornings as opposed to possible rain and maybe ticks!)

So, I tried my luck for the first time on Saturday, September 20, one week after the opening day. I was all set up by 6:45am; the morning was gorgeous and not too hot at this point in time. It got a bit hotter later, though. I spent about 2 hours waiting in my little camouflage tent but nothing showed up. I was also not able to hear any turkey noises that morning.

After the still wait, before I packed up the tent and the gear, I walked at the edge of the property and looked down at the neighbor's corn field where very often turkeys feed. Sure enough, there were 50 or more of them down there... unfortunately for me too far away and in an area inaccessible to me.

Oh well, that's the name of the game; you cannot always succeed! On the other hand this gives mo more opportunities to go out and try again. The plan is to try this coming weekend again.