and a strong cup of coffee

Have you ever looked up at the sky and marveled at how blue it was? There was not a cloud up there when  Staci and I packed up our snowshoes and headed into the woods to look for sheds. The recent rain had made the snow unstable and we would break through the crust and sink with every step.  It wasn't the best option, but we ended up on the snowmobile trail looking for active deer crossings.   Wet holes had opened up and streams were roaring.  It was a perfect day to be out in the woods. The rain had made some spots icy and some soft and water logged.  We had to pick and chose where we walked and how fast we could go.  I was surprised when we met three snowmobilers on the trail.  They were probably surprised to see us too because they stopped to make sure that we were all set and had not broken down somewhere.  We continued on and as soon as we reached the tree line, we spotted two deer beds - ALWAYS a good sign. We followed t...

It was cold, but the sun was out and Dad, Hubby and I were eager to go into the woods to look at where T3 will be set up, bring in a couple of tree stands and I wanted to look for sheds. The recent dusting of snow helped to see any new deer tracks.  It also helped to see the main trails and activity of the deer herd.  There were a lot of spots that looked like this.  The deer have been on an acorn frenzy and since there is not a lot of snow, they can still paw at the ground and leaves to find them.  Deer paw for acorns buried along the leaves and snow. I tracked a couple of deer from the Sky Condo as we made our way to my treeseat where I shot my deer this year .  It is always amazing and kind of frustrating to see how close the deer are around you and yet, you don't see them during the season.  But, it is also good to see that there are SO many deer around where we hunt.  Some of the trails amazed me.  They were like super highways throu...

Dad, Hubby and I set off to see if we could find some sheds.  Dad has found them before but I really wanted to see what sort of bucks lived through the season.  On Saturday, with a light snow falling, we took to the woods. A very active deer trail Dad had been out doing some cutting and had found a rib cage (sorry that I forgot to take a photo of that!) but he was not sure if it was a coyote or a fawn.  He also found a strip of hide.  Frozen deer hide We headed towards my tree seat to hop on some deer trails in search of sheds but also, to check out the improved shooting lanes that Dad cut for me.  I have already been told that I will be spending a lot of time in my tree seat next fall, so Dad wanted to make sure that I would be able to see any deer within shooting range from where I sit.  No more messing with large, thick evergreen coverings. Cleaner and longer shooting lanes ready for the fall  We walked along the shooting lane...