Be Prepared
I remember from my old boy scout days the scout “motto” was “Be Prepared.” Well October first is fast approaching and it is time to get your act together concerning the upcoming bow season.
I drove over to my lease property this morning in Hillsdale thinking I was prepared to take care of business. The first thing I did was check out my “hay blind.” We’ve had a lot of rain this month, and the ole blind didn’t fare to well from all the moisture. I had placed a tarp over the roof of the blind, but evidently the wind blew part of it off, and some of the bales fell to the ground. At this point it does not look like this experiment is going to be a rousing success. Oh well, if it doesn’t pan out I at least have some feed for the deer.
Next I attempted to put my rivers edge 20 foot tree stand up. I am not a tall person (5-7) but I am stout (225), and do you think I could get that darn 89 pound ladder stand in a vertical position? I think “physics” comes into play here somewhere! Not to mention the fact that I haven’t lifted weights or worked out in many moons. Anyway this “little girly man” had to leave the rivers edge laying on its side-horizontally. Part of “being prepared” has to do with being in good physical condition. Looks like I start hitting the weight room, before I can’t even lift my bow and arrows.
Next I cut some shooting lanes, and did a little scouting for deer sign. One of the areas I hunt, the woods butts up to a 120 acre corn field. I was dumbfounded to see the amount of corn stalks laying on the ground. No wonder farmers complain about crop damage from deer. This farmer will loose many acres, to the deer, before he picks his corn this fall.
While I was driving to my area I saw several other hunters doing the same thing I was doing-getting prepared. I will be going back over, in a couple days, with reinforcements to tackle those ladder stands. I tried to get help on this trip, but seems no one wants to help bake the pie-they just like to eat it!
Mike
September 1st, 2007 at 12:06 pm
Hey Mike, if you can’t get help, can’t you take a rope to throw over a limb and use your weight (you didn’t look like you weigh that much) to pull the stand up?
Your right about being in shape to hunt. Too many people I know are bad shots, hit a deer, injure it, but don’t have the stamina to track it down. That’s what gives a bad name to hunters. I also knew a really well built guy that lifted weights all the time that fell out of his tree stand, landed on his back and bounced. He only cracked a vertibrae. Could you do that? Better strap yourself down.
September 2nd, 2007 at 11:58 am
Your idea of eating meat without hormones and additives is the reason hunters, not just environmentalists should join the fight to keep the air, water, and land clean. Otherwise the wild critters, like many of the fish and birds, end up ingesting mercury and all kinds of contaminants. A corn fed deer may also be full of pesticide. Many crops begin with bio engineered seed that has pesticide right in it. Corn kernals for planting have contain pesticide to keep corn worms away. Nice huh? Stuff like this happens when no one is looking. As far as hormones, Lake Michigan, as big as it is, was found to have traces of female hormones, and pain relievers in it from all the stuff flushed down toilets. We’ve got to stop pollluting.
September 4th, 2007 at 5:09 pm
I’ve had problems standing them crazy stands up myself. If you don’t have something firm to lock the legs they are almost impossible to get upright.
BTW, I’d be willing to guess that half the guys in the gym couldn’t even put the thing together, let alone get it stood up in a tree!