More Missouri

The trip to Missouri is always good... my niece, Nicole who drove down from Kansas City with her boy friend just to see us was very happy to see us... It had been a while since she had seen Cody and myself... She is working and going to school and i cannot remember what for... but she is going to school... There is Ryan who is a skate board nut.... he is very good on the board.. Ryan is the kind of kid who is a natural when it comes to sports... he picks it up easily.. in fact 2 years ago he came out to visit and grandma bought him a skim board for the beach... in less than 30 minutes of pratice he was just as skilled as the locals. In fact some kids came up to him to ask him questions about how to do some of the moves.... the kid is good.. Well i have survived turkey day... i am sure i put on some pounds.. so much for the diet.. oh well... i did go for a walk today... it was at the shooting range... my brother Bern and I shot some sporting clays today.. it sure beat going shopping.. not my thing.. as i see it shopping for Christmas starts about 2 days before the 25th... I look at it this way, less to look at, less on the shelves and less to decide on...... i like to keep it simple... and i love the pressure... i can usually get it all done in about 3 hours... well take care all..

More Missouri

Well the scenery photo is the area we hunted. this is the road that i had the privilage to hunt. My brother Don and his daughter Rachael were hunting to the right of the road. Its a stand of trees about 40 yards deep then a field planted with winter wheat.. A very good draw for the deer.. There is a small hill between me and the hill in the back ground, there is where Cody was located i was to the left... great place to hunt.. Cody also was able to bag a nice hooded merganser while duck hunting. Again he was in love with the place with all the hunting and fishing available to do only minuets from home.. He could see how addicted one could become to a life of this... I mean why work... we have to travel for hours just to access areas like this so to us its a major deal... Being from California its a trade off.. Weather is the key... it was mid 70's on thursday when we landed, blue bird skys... it was great.. But not for hunting.... The colder the better i hate to say... on friday it was blue sky and at 7 am it was 73 deg... by noon it was lightning and thunder, pouring rain and the temp was 40 deg... wow... saturday morning the temp was 25 deg. with a north wind of 5 to 10 mph.. it was cold.. but like i said.. this is what we want.. it was fun just to sit and watch and listen to the huge flights of snow geese going by looking for fields to feed in... there were also small flights of duck following them... it was great.. i just love watching all the wildlife... in fact while sitting in the stand before trading with Cody i was watching a coyote playing in a field i thought about poping it but i was here for deer and did not want to spoil the area... some people think it may be boring just sitting there waiting for something to walk by but ya really get to just sit there and relax and watch, there is so much going on, tweedy birds flittering around, different birds of prey migrating south looking for food, listening to song birds, really its hard to concentrate on hunting... i know i missed some deer cause i only saw the rear of some...not paying attention again... well last but not least my niece Rachael... what a girl... she was the first to get her deer saturday morning, field dress it and when we get home with it she has it strung up in the tree and starts to skin it out and de-bone the meat... she was done in half the time it took me to do it... that girl can out hunt and fish me.. i am very proud of her... a true outdoors woman.. and thats our weekend.. wow what a trip

Buck fever

Well to say that we had fun would be an under statement. As you can see Cody out did the old man. He bagged himself a 6 point buck, the shot was at about 100 yards plus. The best part was that i got to witness the whole thing. I was sitting in a stand, consisting of a wooden box with a chair in it and a wood roof overlooking a hill side. I had put Cody on the other side of the hill, in another stand which was metal, over looking a pond with a small spring. The north wind was in his face and the morning tempurature was 25 degrees. Cold By 9:30 Cody had enough and came to visit me. He was cold, so i told him to switch with me, it was warmer on this side and i had seen some deer running around and even taken a shot at a large doe. Cody said that uncle Bernie had gone back to the truck already so off i went. I got into the stand and man was it cold, the wind was relentless and just cut right through. Well after about 15 minuets i see my brother Don and his daughter Rachael dragging her deer up to the road so they can pick it up. Well i guessed it was time to leave. I walked over to Cody and as i crested the hill i see he has his riffle shouldered looking to the right. I wispered do you see something.. he nodded yes, are they doe's again he nodded yes... so i started to scan the woods looking for them when all of a sudden we hear brush breaking and look to the right as this buck walks out into the open. Cody quickly swings the riffle left and stops to spot it. It walks about 5 steeps and turns broad side and stops... I am now wispering shoot it. shoot it...Bang the deer turns facing us straight on.. I am now yelling shoot it again its still standing, shoot it again.. Bang the deer starts to leap and drops dead. We both ran down that hill and there on the ground was a beautiful 6 point buck... man what a trophy. I gave my son a hug and said Wow what a deer i am very proud of you son. He was all smiles.. even today i do not think you could wipe that smile off his face.. I said i would drag it up to the road so go get uncle Don and bring the truck. Time of day a little before 10 am. oh and the little button buck on the back of the truck was mine.. i bagged him that evening sitting in the metal shack... more pictures of Missouri to come....
This was the best trip i have ever had....... like the saying goes... 2 airplane tickets to Missour--- $550. 2 non-resident deer permits $290. Seeing the biggest grin on your son's face after getting a deer on his first deer hunt... priceless.