Hunting Journal

When I went to the hospital this morning I knew it would have been a great morning to be sitting someplace while enjoying the morning. With the heavy frost and calm conditions I would have been able to hear a deer coming for a long way. In my eyes it was a perfect morning. Once the calendar rolls into November it starts getting good.

A really good buck was killed last night on the farm  I lease with some other guys in Kansas. He was a dandy.

I would like to go walk around in the woods tomorrow afternoon after I get out of work. As you’ll see in my next book I find some type of peace while I’m in the woods so that is where I go when I need to sort through thoughts. Hopefully I’ll have a few hours to do that tomorrow before I have to go to the Dr’s on Friday morning.

Here’s a look at the cover for my new book. The book should be ready by the second week of December.

Back Country Cover Final

Last night was Halloween. A lot of nice bucks have been killed on Halloween over the years. They seem to get moving this week every year. I remember when my dad used to bow hunt in the southern zone this week when I was a boy. He always came home with great stories and I couldn’t wait until I could go. It’s amazing how fast time passes.

My buddy Jeff Jenkins killed a really good buck on Halloween many years ago. It was one of the better deer we ever killed in that area. It was calm, cold and crunchy in the woods that day. He killed him right around 11am if my memory serves me right.

Well, the Dr. called me last night and left a message for me to call her back. When I called this morning I got some news that wasn’t too terribly good. One of my tests showed a few masses on my liver, one of which is 5 cm. The prognosis doesn’t look very good. I guess all I can do is cross my fingers and hope for the best.  The outlook for my vacation at this point looks dim. I’m hoping that somehow, some way I’m able to go, but I realize it’s not something I can control. Over the years I’ve gotten to do a lot of hunting so I really can’t complain. I will not lie and say that I’m not worried because I am. When you’re dealing with a main organ it’s pretty serious stuff. Hopefully they can get to the bottom of it in the next few days. I’ll hold my breath and pray until I hear more.

Hunt hard and hunt safe. The deer are starting to move. Some big bucks will bet killed this week. I’m sure of it. Here’s a picture of our big Halloween buck from a few years back.

Well it looks like the big Nor’Easter just missed us. They got pounded about an hour southeast of here, but we didn’t get anything at my house. However, where I hunt had a nice layer or two of snow when I arrived in the morning. It was 27 degrees when I left the house.

The wind was blowing pretty hard so I decided to do some walking. I saw a lot of fresh tracks in the snow, but no bear tracks. Hopefully they won’t hibernate too early this year. The weather has been a little odd so far so it’s hard to tell what will happen.

Dad kicked a few deer around today, but didn’t see anything. I saw a doe when I was walking back to camp. I also cut a few tracks. It looked like they might have been moving a little bit in a few places. We’re supposed to be leaving for the Midwest on Thursday. I guess it all depends on the results of my tests at this point.