Wow, it has been a long time since I last posted. My apologies.
Well, I had a great time deer hunting this year. Rick Dicus and I spent 5 days in Northern Minnesota in November as the guests of Kevin and Tom Ward at their cabin in the north woods. Rick and I had never hunted in the the north woods and while we didn't get a buck, we had a great time in the deer stands, just enjoying the peace and quiet. We could have shot does and small bucks but we were there for a trophy. Tom and Kevin were great hosts and we shared many a story and jokes abounded. The cabin has wood burning heat only and we had to bring in water, the outdoor biffy is fit for a king with electric heat lights etc. We ate very well of course. Again many thanks to Kevin and Tom for their hospitality.
In December Dianne and I met Rick and Shirley Dicus at Shirley's mothers ranch in western South Dakota to hunt antlerless deer only. I blew a shot on a big doe Mule Deer. I forgot to aim low on a severe downhill angle and shot over her. Rick and Jim Foster (Rick's brother-in-law)both scored the first day, Rick got his two does and Jim shot the big doe I missed. I was able to fill my tags the next day on a small whitetail doe and a whitetail button buck. I had them both down by 11am Sunday morning, then it was back to the house for dinner and then the butchering began. We had all five deer broken down and packed by 3 in the afternoon and Dianne and I were on the road by 4 pm. We got into Denison,IA about 6 Pm and met Pete Straub at his Denison Locker and dropped the meat off. Pete did a helluva job again this year on the sausage and sticks yum.
I put the Ranger away November 1, this year and went into mourning for a week.
Ice fishing has been a blast this year, as any of you have visited this blog before know, my bride loves to fish but had never ice fished. Well she retired from Pure Fishing a year ago in November and decided that she wanted to ice fish. We puchased a Fish Trap Guide and I have to tell you, she got right into it. The first fish she caught was a 13 inch crappie, then a 1lb bluegill and you know the rest of the story, she has been kicking my butt with some regularity. I love it, she gets so excited catching fish. We are sight fishing most of the time and it is really a blast, as you ice heads out there know.
I was on the lake this past week three days and did well all three days on Anglers Bay, Big Spirit Lake, IA.
The winter is getting kind of old but we still have ice fishing to fall back on. I am starting to get my equipment ready for summer. ie. respooling reels, sorting and getting things back in order, getting my components boxes ready, replacing hooks on crankbaits where needed etc etc. You should be doing this as well.
As some of you know I have been contributing some articles to "The Iowa Sportsman" magazine as well as "Family Fish and Game" formerly P2H. I encourage you to support these fine publications, they are all about hunting, fishing, camping and all things out of doors in Iowa and the midwest.
Keep your hooks sharp.
