A long weekend in the woods...

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Rain splattered fitfully on the cabin roof. In the midst of a drought I wasn't about to complain. Besides earlier in the night as the very first clouds rolled in they caused a beautiful ring to be formed around the moon. I'd sat out on the cabin's porch transfixed listening to the night wind and moonwatching. No wonder all those coyotes and wolves feel the urge to howl some nights. I put three small pine logs in the stove listening to rain drops. Bop, bop, bop, then nothing, no end to the drought tonight. I used to have a great little cast iron stove out here but someone broke in and stole it a few years back. This one is made out of a 55 gallon drum and I poured two 80 pound bags of concrete in the bottom when I sat it up. It's warm this night and I could make do without the fire but if I'm willing to hunt up the firewood and haul it in I see no harm in being snug. The last few nights have been cold though. In the middle of the night there would be that momment of dread right before I forced myself to wiggle out of my warm sleeping bag and stoke the fire. But the hunting had been good. The very first morning a big doe had wandered under the stand and now I was play hunting. With a doe at the processors, and the rut and the best chance for a good buck a few weeks away, I was spending more time taking pictures and scouting than hunting hard. It was hard not to be distracted by the lovely fall foliage. Even then I still blew a chance at another deer last evening. I'd dressed too warmly for the evening hunt and was sitting there cooking when I heard footsteps behind me in the fallen leaves. Then nothing. Nothing for the longest time so I assumed whatever had made the noise had left. I slowly slipped my hat off to vent some heat. Almost imediately two flies began taking off using the top of my head as a landing strip. Landing and taking off. Taking off and landing. I slipped the hat back on my head. Somewhere behind me a deer began to blow softly. It was one of those evenings in the country where sound carries seemingly forever. The train passing six miles away sounded like it was right at the end of the gravel lane. Two hunters camping a quarter mile from my stand didn't realise I heard every word they said. One had killed a four point buck and needed help dragging him out of the woods. The other cussed and complained goodnaturedly.
Light began to shine thru the cabin window this morning. Looking out I saw the glow of the rising sun just starting to brighten the eastern sky. I hunted the ladder stand just up the hill from the cabin. A stand for first mornings and last days when the climbing stands are packed away in the truck. About an hour after daylight a grouse flew into a tree about twenty yards from me and then eyed me nervously. This stand is on the edge of a ravine and even though it's in the woods offers something of a view. I sat there wandering why the grouse didn't flush then saw why. Above the hill opposite me two sharpshinned hawks soared. One landed in a treetop and the other dived down at him playfully. Steeply at first then flattening out into a big double spiral around the others perch. Then they flew off. My grouse then flushed. Crunch, crunch. A deer? No it was a fine gobbler walking the other side of the ravine. Yesterday morning I could hear a whole flock of turkeys scratching in the dry leaves downhill from my stand. When we first purchased the place there were very few turkeys, it was a testiment to how much the woods have grown over the years. It was one of those fine fall mornings where I could sit on stand all day but I had to pick up my deer and head home so I regretfully climbed down. It had been a fine weekend in the woods.
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A ring around the moon.
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A trail camera doe
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I made a side trip on the way home to visit an old friend, the Otway Covered Bridge built in 1874.Nearby is Shawnee State Forest, the largest area of contiguous woodland in the Ohio.

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