J. Rob Davis gets a deer at 86 years young with his recurve!

I just received a letter dated December 27, 2012 from Maryland bowhunting legend Mr. Davis. He expressed his Christmas wishes to all and described the taking of yet another MD deer with his recurve bow on November 30th. At 86 and unable to get around Mr. Davis hunts from his golf cart. He managed to score a young doe! What an accomplishment. He is an inspiration to us all. Merry Christmas Mr. Davis indeed! Keep on at it!!

socked in with snow and venison stew

Nothing better than hot venison stew when the weather makes it impossible to hunt.

Young Garrett dreams of the days afield he will experience!

121912 Happy Birthday & Happy Holidays

Happy Birthday Garrett! I hope everyone has a joyous Holiday season with family and friends.

Yup....still waiting!

Still waiting on the baby. Over a week late now. I briefly got a chance to get out to the woods Saturday afternoon under the guise of collecting some pine branches and cones for Christmas decoration. The woods was nice and the sun made it feel like April rather than December.

Is eased through the woods and saw no other orange clad hunters for the second ML season. I think they are all gone for the year and things can get back to normal. I crept up on a few squirrels and launched an arrow at one about 30 yards away and came darn close for that range.

I got my branches with my trusty K-Bar, which proved easier for the task than the hawk I carried, and quickly left for home….expecting something to happen at any time. Nothing did. Seems patience is important for other things in addition to hunting. Sold the jeep to the landowner that afternoon also! I hope her son likes it and secures us continued hunting privileges.

I also had a chance to whittle some on my hickory selfbow I had been working on for a couple years now. I only work on it when the humidity gets lower in the winter.Made me pick up my older selfbow and I was hitting well with it…..hmmmmmm. I may have to try for one of those backyard feeder does with this and the homemade arrow I have. Another quest still unfulfilled ;-) My hideously bright squirrel arrows are coming along also. They will be too ugly to lose I think. another coat of poly and I will be ready to fletch.

Venison Jerky

Had a chance to make a couple batches of jerky. Mike provided some ground for the project. Used a commercial mix.

Loaded up the jerky pistol. Set the timer on the dehydrator. Yummy snacks in no time!

I did have a chance to hit the woods on a very foggy Saturday morning for a few hours. Nothing seen except a squirrel I had come about 4 feet away before he saw my eyes move. I missed him as he scurried off at about 15 yards.

Never forget!

My great uncle Julian:

caught a glimpse in daylight

Still roaming!

The gun is no fun

Brent, Mike and I joined up early Saturday morning for a gun hunt at the R farm. I carried the flintlock, Brent his shotgun, and Mike the contender pistol.

The parking area only had one vehicle in it. I headed to the back of the property on the rocky ridge. Brent was down in the bowl in his tree stand a couple hundred yards away. Mike headed to the left property boundary adjoining the park land.

Right at first light through the foggy air, a shot booms from down in the adjoining valley. Approximately 30 turkey that were roosted and about to fly down, get startled and fly across the ridge I am on. What a sight! I watch the group that fly by calling and a sentry bird stays high in the tree at their new location guiding the rest in. The other half of the birds start gathering up and crossing the ridge in front of me on foot. I counted 13 birds that crossed in bow shot distance in front of me from that small group. What a racket they made. They continued to feed a few hundred yards away for about an hour until they finally wandered off in front of Mike. They were very loud with so many in number. When they crossed Mike he had a doe sneak in behind him and all he saw was the tail waving through the thickets. I had to take Mike back around noon and wouldn't you know there were 7 deer bedded down 10 yards from my truck. Those deer are not dumb. They knew it was safe by the houses. I dropped off Mike and went back to the woods where Brent was in the process of moving his treestand. As I eased back along the trail I heard a BOOM very close. I saw the guy in orange quickly afterwards. I looked down the trail and saw 2 deer heading towards where Brent was in the morning. Figures.

Then this lazy guy has his friend drive a pickup truck through the woods to pick up the deer he just shot. Right through the middle of the hunting woods. Thank you! Against the landowners explicit directions mind you. We sat the rest of the afternoon and saw nothing besides other hunters...lots of them! Then, I went to unload the rifle and the pan failed to ignite the charge. Then I reload and the pan fails. Then, the third time, the gun goes off. I head to hockey for my last game before my "baby break" and I end up blowing the game. Wiffed on a point shot with less than a minute left in the game and an empty net. The guy easy takes the puck and they score. Game over. What a frustrating weekend.