I left for the cabin around 9:30 a.m. on January 2, 2010 and it was about 18 degrees when I arrived. I lit the kerosene heater and headed into the tree stand with my Model 12 Winchester 12 gauge shotgun around 12:30 p.m. It was as cold as I've ever hunted but I was pretty well rugged up. The sun was shining brightly and the wind was blowing in my face from the north west. After seeing nothing for three hours and after several periods standing and sitting, I saw movement from the northeast area where the pine trees were cut last year. First there was one doe, then two, three and finally four. They were walking straight toward the stand but were too far to my right to turn for a good shot. After waiting for several minutes, finally all past me except one and I shot her. She went about five yards and dropped.
The rest of the day and evening was spent taking her to get checked in and then butchering her by myself. The next day, I brought her home and finished the job after about six additional hours of work. My freezers are full and we'll have deer meat until next year.
The hunting season is now over for me and the next time I head to the cabin, it will again be to clear brush and cut trees for the stove. I bought a mobile television set but it was too cold to function on the last trip so I hope to get the cabin warm enough to turn it on the next time. Not that I can get a signal but I'll take a DVD to watch. As it warms up and the days get longer, I will not need a TV but until then, I have to have something from civilization to keep me busy for the evening.
Until next time.
Friday, January 8, 2010
Thursday, December 3, 2009
Isolated Hunting Cabin and Land For Sale in Giles County Tennessee
Maybe, maybe not. We'll see. If interested, submit a post and I'll contact you back.
Wednesday, November 25, 2009
Land and Cabin For Sale???
After an eventful trip to the land on Sunday, November 22 and Monday, 23, 2009, I was ready to put my cabin and land up for sale. Trouble started upon my arrival when my wife purchased a new cell phone. The sales representative had to get my permission to change my account and I was fine with that. However, I did not know that my service would be cut off. I was at the cabin at that time so I figured it was all about the wife's phone so everything should be fine! Wrong. Something came up and I needed to contact my wife so I had to drive 20 miles to the closest gas station to get to a phone. Fortunately, a young woman offered her cell phone so I reached the wife. At that point, I found out that the phone company changed my service accidentally and now I would have to go home to have a new chip in my existing phone.
On a drizzly Sunday afternoon, I was deer hunting with a rifle and within an hour of getting in my stand, I saw a good sized buck rubbing and scraping about 45 yards to my left. I already had a good buck this year but this one looked like it could be about the same size so I decided to take the shot. I leaned my rifle on a branch that rests to the left front of my shooting lane and decided to take him. Thoughts of the need to get another freezer popped into my head but that was not going to be a big deal. Like the last dear, I expected my shot would drop him on the spot. Instead, when the shot rang out, the buck reared up and took off running with the left front leg being limp. I shot again and he fell but got back up. I just figured he would go to the other side of the field and lay down. I wanted to get to him as fast as possible to put him out of his misery. That didn't happen. I hunted my hillsides and the valleys between me and Monte (owner of the land to my west) but saw nothing. I hunted for the buck until dark and settled into the cabin to get rested so I could continue looking for the deer in the morning. I was pretty upset because I had the deer down but couldn't find him. All I could think of was his suffering overnight.
At first light, I took a flashlight and went back to where I last saw the deer and blood sign but couldn't find any other sign. I covered my entire property, expecting to go around a bend and find the deer dead. But it never happened. I next moved over to Monte's land that borders mine in hopes that I would find the deer in a ravine on his property. My last search for the day was to go on the other side of the hill on Fergusson's land to see if I could find the deer laying in the creek, cooling his wound. Before I could start off my road to the left and head toward Fergusson's property, I heard two large dogs that sounded like they were attacking something. I knew immediately that the dogs were at the buck. I went crashing down the hill and I made so much noise that I scared off the dogs. As I got closer to where the sound came from, the buck jumped up and hobbled across the creek and up on the hillside on the other side. I shot one more time but missed.
After hunting two hours on Sunday night and six hours on Monday morning with no success, I went to Bob and Robby to ask permission to go on their property to find the buck. We rode up a trail that went up the side of a hill that was in the middle of two deep ravines. The ravines were covered in very thick brush. Bob got to the top and I went straight up from where I saw the deer last. By the time I reached the top, Bob fired and I felt relieved that the deer had been put out of its misery. But, Bob missed too. I ask Bob to wait in his area and find somewhere that he could get a good shot. I then walked to the top of the ravine and came down through the bottom. I went back to the ravine and began working down toward Bob and Robbie. I jumped the deer again but it was too thick and I did not want to shoot because I didn't know where Bob & Robbie were located. We looked for another couple of hours with no success. Bob said now that he knows where to find the deer, he would be back for a hunt this week and try to find the buck.
In the mean time, I am wrestling with the shot I took and why I didn't get the deer. I finally had to give up but could not shed the heavy burden of crippling an animal and knowing the deer will die a horrible death if no one kills it. I truly hope they do.
This situation caused me to again consider selling the land. I go to the land a couple of times each month and love the time I spend there, whether hunting or just working. I've decided to sell the property if a good offer is made. I consider a good offer to be $50,000. If I don't get that price, I'll probably just keep it until we get closer to moving to Australia in a little over two years.
On a drizzly Sunday afternoon, I was deer hunting with a rifle and within an hour of getting in my stand, I saw a good sized buck rubbing and scraping about 45 yards to my left. I already had a good buck this year but this one looked like it could be about the same size so I decided to take the shot. I leaned my rifle on a branch that rests to the left front of my shooting lane and decided to take him. Thoughts of the need to get another freezer popped into my head but that was not going to be a big deal. Like the last dear, I expected my shot would drop him on the spot. Instead, when the shot rang out, the buck reared up and took off running with the left front leg being limp. I shot again and he fell but got back up. I just figured he would go to the other side of the field and lay down. I wanted to get to him as fast as possible to put him out of his misery. That didn't happen. I hunted my hillsides and the valleys between me and Monte (owner of the land to my west) but saw nothing. I hunted for the buck until dark and settled into the cabin to get rested so I could continue looking for the deer in the morning. I was pretty upset because I had the deer down but couldn't find him. All I could think of was his suffering overnight.
At first light, I took a flashlight and went back to where I last saw the deer and blood sign but couldn't find any other sign. I covered my entire property, expecting to go around a bend and find the deer dead. But it never happened. I next moved over to Monte's land that borders mine in hopes that I would find the deer in a ravine on his property. My last search for the day was to go on the other side of the hill on Fergusson's land to see if I could find the deer laying in the creek, cooling his wound. Before I could start off my road to the left and head toward Fergusson's property, I heard two large dogs that sounded like they were attacking something. I knew immediately that the dogs were at the buck. I went crashing down the hill and I made so much noise that I scared off the dogs. As I got closer to where the sound came from, the buck jumped up and hobbled across the creek and up on the hillside on the other side. I shot one more time but missed.
After hunting two hours on Sunday night and six hours on Monday morning with no success, I went to Bob and Robby to ask permission to go on their property to find the buck. We rode up a trail that went up the side of a hill that was in the middle of two deep ravines. The ravines were covered in very thick brush. Bob got to the top and I went straight up from where I saw the deer last. By the time I reached the top, Bob fired and I felt relieved that the deer had been put out of its misery. But, Bob missed too. I ask Bob to wait in his area and find somewhere that he could get a good shot. I then walked to the top of the ravine and came down through the bottom. I went back to the ravine and began working down toward Bob and Robbie. I jumped the deer again but it was too thick and I did not want to shoot because I didn't know where Bob & Robbie were located. We looked for another couple of hours with no success. Bob said now that he knows where to find the deer, he would be back for a hunt this week and try to find the buck.
In the mean time, I am wrestling with the shot I took and why I didn't get the deer. I finally had to give up but could not shed the heavy burden of crippling an animal and knowing the deer will die a horrible death if no one kills it. I truly hope they do.
This situation caused me to again consider selling the land. I go to the land a couple of times each month and love the time I spend there, whether hunting or just working. I've decided to sell the property if a good offer is made. I consider a good offer to be $50,000. If I don't get that price, I'll probably just keep it until we get closer to moving to Australia in a little over two years.
Saturday, November 14, 2009
13 Point Buck
While this blog is really about the cabin, some of the time is for hunting. Today, I shot this 13 point deer that the game camera caught in July of this year. A doe came under my stand and I decided not to shoot at her and about 20 yards behind her was the buck.
The other photo is the gold lined stove. After three weeks and $850, it is finally working. However, the cabin filled with smoke because the metal putty around the back of the stove cracked. I'm waiting for the putty from the stove maker and hopefully, I will be able to use the stove more.
Sunday, November 1, 2009
Ghosts and Orbs
Over the last four years, the game camera also catches some unusual and unexplained phenomena. Take a look at the orbs and the deer colored ghost!
Stove Saga and Buck Fever
I received a letter from my stove installer Saturday and he advised that he needs yet another part to install the stove. I went down and talked to them today and ended up buying the only pipe extension I could find. Hopefully, the stove will be installed by next weekend.
There is plenty of fire wood from where the logging company cleared some of the land this past summer and I cut up quite a bit this afternoon. Now that I'm home, I'm feeling the pain:-)
Meanwhile, buck fever is on again as the game camera caught several pictures of a buck and doe. The buck was pictured first and then the doe seemed to run almost past before he moved at her. The buck appears to be a seven or eight pointer.
Next Saturday is the first day of muzzle loader season and I hope to see that buck while in my tree stand. I will be on leave next week and will spend most of the week at the cabin hunting, and hopefully staying warm by the golden stove!
Monday, October 26, 2009
Wood Burning Stove Adventures
I've had a box stove at the cabin for three years but never installed it because every year, I run into too many troubles and too much money. This year, I decided to do it anyway. The first person who came out to give me an estimate, said it would be $800+ for parts and insulation through the roof and over $1,100 for parts and labor going out the side of the cabin wall. I decided both options were too much so I gathered the parts myself and hire one of the Amish to do the installation. The parts are costing much more than expected but I don't have a choice. $700 for the parts and about $75 for labor is still much more than expected but at least I'll have the stove operational. I'm looking forward to cutting my wood and using it for the stove. Then, to have the ambiance of the heat, the light from the fire and the crackling of the burning wood, it will all be worth it. I'll share more and pics when I've spent the first night with the heat of the stove.
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