Rambling Thoughts on Deer Season

It's been an interesting deer season so far for me. I've been hunting some, although not as much as I would like to. (Isn't that always the case!) I have enjoyed every minute that I've spent in the woods, but so far I'm still waiting for the main ingredient for venison jerky. I thought it might be fun to share some random thoughts about deer hunting I've had this season while sitting in a stand or blind.

Squirrel in the Soybeans

1. First of all, why is it that I am almost sure to see turkeys when I'm deer hunting and deer when I'm turkey hunting?

2. How does an animal as small as a squirrel make more noise coming through the woods than a 100 lb deer?

3. If you stare at an empty soybean field long enough, you can begin to see things that aren't really there.

4. Bushes, stumps, and other objects can magically appear to be deer, especially at twilight.

5. Never borrow a muzzleloader from someone and then take it hunting without shooting it first to check the scope.

6. If you do not follow number 5, be prepared to take two shots and then watch your deer leave the country without a scratch on it.

7. It's fun to walk by your hunting buddy's trail camera and make funny faces on the way to the stand.

8. Those nice bucks that appear on your trail camera in July and August will vanish exactly one day before the opening of archery season.

9. Raccoons must like having their picture taken by trail cameras.

10. Days when you're at work are sure to be the days your hunting partner will see deer.

11. No matter what happens, watching the sun come up over a bean field, or set in the woods as the owls start talking makes every minute spent hunting worth it.

12. There is no such thing as a bad day hunting, deer or no deer.

Good luck to all you hunters out there!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Joseph

OBN Photo Prompt: Fall Colors

Editor's Note: The credit for the pictures in this post goes to my wonderful wife, I was along for the trip but she was the photographer.

Over at the Outdoor Blogger Network they posted an outdoor photo prompt asking for a post showing fall colors. I thought this sounded like a good idea, so I decided to post up some fall pictures from a little further west than my neck of the woods. The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of my favorite places to visit, especially in the fall when the mountains really show off before winter arrives. I haven't been up to the parkway this year for a visit, although I did make it up to Boone, NC a few weekends ago. The colors were starting to really show, but sadly I didn't get a chance to make many pictures. I hope you enjoy some of the "greatest hits" (in my opinion) from the last few seasons on the parkway.

This is actually the spot where I proposed to my wife!

Looking Glass Falls

Looking Glass Rock

The view from Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak in the eastern U.S.

Travelling down the parkway

 I hope you enjoyed these as much as I do!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Joseph

Backyard Ramblings

As fall is getting into full swing here in North Carolina, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the summer and share a few photos that I've been meaning to put up here on the blog for a while. I apologize for the lack of posts on here lately, a good bit of my time has been tied up working with the FFA chapter at school. I've really enjoyed it, but most of the activities don't really fit into the "outdoor" theme of this blog so I haven't done much writing. I have done a little deer hunting, but other than a debacle that occurred the last evening of muzzeloader season, there hasn't been much to write about. That particular day deserves its own post, if I can stand to write about it. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this last look at summer.

I may have mentioned this in an earlier post, but my wife and I purchased my grandparents' house after we were married. When I was young, our yard was one of my favorite places. It always seemed to have more lightning bugs (or fireflies) than almost anywhere else. In the summer there were also June bugs, and I used to love looking for the nymph shucks of cicadas on the old oak trees. I remember calling them cicada skins as a child, and I used to have a fair sized collection by the end of summer most years.

This is a collection of pictures that my wife and I made in our yard this summer, and I think it helps remind me why as a child I didn't need 1000 acres of woods to entertain myself. I loved the woods, and still do, but I always seemed to find adventure just out the back door. Nature has always been fascinating to me. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do. 

Cicada nymph shuck

Black snake in the garden

It seems like I spend a good bit of time in the woods or on the water, sometimes within a five minute drive from home, and sometimes several hours away. However, it always amazes me to see what I can find in my own yard. I wish I knew more about mushroom identification, if anybody recognizes any of these I would love to know what they are.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Joseph