Dads Buck and Thanksgiving

The past few weeks have been quite a whirlwind.  We sat through the first Hurricane to make landfall in the US in the month of November in 40 years.  Nicole made landfall on the east coast of Florida as a Cat 1 and had 60 mph winds when it got to us.  The rain was pretty intense for 6 hours and the trailer rocked a bit.  We were covered by the neighbors rig and I had parked our truck within an inch of the trailer.  That helped.  I also started my new job at the hardware store.  My flights home were a little messed up and we had to drive to Tampa for me to get out.  

We had about 30 veterans on our flight from the Korean War to the GWOT.  They were on their way to DC for Veterans Day ceremonies.  They gave us a send off in Tampa and a fire truck welcome in DC.  It was a neat group to be with on the flight.  I made the rest of my connections easily and made it to the UP on time. 

The celebration of life for my dad went off without a hitch and there was an excellent turn out.  There was a bit of a winter storm over the weekend, but it only kept a few people home.  Thanks to everyone who came out, brought a dish and supported us.  Thanks to The Finns as well for hosting us. 

After the weekend, I went to see a few of my friends and stay  at their camp for deer season.  A few days of it anyway.  I hadn’t hunted at home in 16 years and it had been 3 seasons in general.  Camp, good food, friends and the woods were great therapy.  During Nov 14th dinner and drinks it started snowing.  For me this was like snow on Christmas.  

The alarm went off at 0500 on the 15th and I was sitting over the food plot by 0555.  It was snowing softly and pretty still in the woods.  My dad and I always had hunting and fishing in common so I felt pretty close to him in the woods and had a one way conversation with him.  At 0618 and 0625 I heard single shots in the distance.  At about 0633 I had two doe come in, but something up the hill spooked them.  A few minutes later a basket racked 8pt came over the hill and presented me with a clean shot.  

At the rifle crack, he fell in his tracks and I was the first one at camp to get their buck.  I think I need a suppressor as the muzzle brake on the 6.5 is a little loud.  I went down the hill, talked to dad again, thanked the buck, maybe had a little cry and got to work.  I stayed at camp a few more nights before returning back to L’Anse.  We took care of a few family things and my mom helped me process what was left of my deer.  We wound up with the tenderloin, 6 packs of backstrap and 37-1.5lb bags of burger thanks to Joes LEM grinder.  Good eating.  

I flew back to FL on Saturday, arriving Sunday and it’s good being back with Katy and the kids.  It was 12* with a snow covered runway when I left Marquette.  Fingers crossed everything goes smoothly for a while.