Slappy

Man thats awfully nice of you Luke.  If something like that did work out, that would be really awesome and I'd love to take you up on that offer.  This is indeed a strong community of good people! 

Thanks for the words of encouragement Dave.  It really ate me up yesterday.  I only got an hour of sleep Friday night.  I am feeling much better especially knowing that he is ok.  

Well normally we camp out at my family's land Friday night to Saturday morning.  Then we go backpack at Big Hill Pond state park.  Spend the night in the woods, then hike out and go home on Sunday.  We look forward to this every year and this year was no exception.  Its the only time this large of a group of my college friends get together and we truly cherish these times!    Well this year was different.  In a bad way...   We had a member of our party make a bad decision on the Polaris.  He lost control and rolled it end over end breaking his arm and getting an 11" complex laceration to his head.  I've never seen so much blood in my life.  One of our members made him a sling and applied pressure to his head wound.  We got him in the truck and drove him to the hospital.  As bad as this situation was, God was gracious to us all.  His injuries could have been FAR worse.  He also had a passenger and a dog with him and both of them came out without a scratch.  Alcohol was NOT a factor in this circumstance which is also a blessing.  We were able to get to the hospital quickly with out getting stuck behind any cars or red lights.  He was then transported to The Med in Memphis which specializes in trama. He was treated and released just hours later and is doing well at home.  No concussion, no skull fracture, no spinal injury and his broken arm looks like it wont even need surgery! Praise the Lord!   I have learned many new things because of this.  First of all, there will be strict rules for utilizing the Polaris or any farm equipment for that matter.  I don't want to just say nobody can drive it anymore but I will make it to where nobody will have a chance to be irresponsible on it.  Secondly, I have even more of a conviction to get some first aid training.  Thirdly, I found myself being a little standoffish around our hurt member.  He was already being taken care of so there was no reason for me to be taking up space around him, but I am concerned because I found myself wanting to stay away.  Part of this may be that I am still healing up from my knee injury and am pretty limited to doing anything anyways.  I just don't know for sure and I really want to be that guy that can spring into action.  I wasn't even queazy around the blood or when I saw the laceration to his head.  Lastly, I learned the value of EDC (every day carry) items.  I had several things with me that helped such as a flashlight and a Fisher Space Pen that I keep in my wallet.  I used my pen to write his Mom's number on my arm because I was afraid that something could go wrong if I recorded it electronically and would be unable to contact him to get the number again.  Lastly, when I broke my elbow in a complete accident back in high school, I made it a fact, that I will NEVER do anything that I consider an unnecessary risk (such as driving faster than I need, or climbing somthing or anything that could cause injury).  I learned that I also need to apply my same level of risk aversion for OTHER people as well because not all of them have the same level of caution and decision making that I do.   He owned up to his mistake.  Apologized profusely for ruining everyones weekend.  He is a good friend and I do not expect any outstanding issues because of this accident.  I know it wasn't my fault, but if anyone got hurt by anything I will still feel responsible for it.  And I am sure yall are wondering how the Polaris turned out? Like a freaking boss! There was a very small part of the bumper that got bent but that was it.  Nothing wrong with it at all.  The roll cage did its job.     Another cool note was that my buddy was actually pinned underneath the thing and was able to lift it up off himself enough to pull himself out before my other buddy with him was able to get to him.  Amazing what a little adrenalin can do.      A "like" to this post does not mean you are glad he got hurt.  :-)

Yeah the wolf pack speech was the ace up my sleeve for him. It fell in deaf ears. I really can't figure out if he anxiety issues about leaving home or his wife has him on a 3" leash or a combo of both. I would understand if he just told us the truth. Nobody would make fun of him, but lieing every year for 6 years gets old. Last year his excuse was he had no money. So we all chipped in and made sure that he would not see a single cent leave his pocket, and he still didn't come. This year he said he was worried that the ice/snow storms would happen while we were there. Then we told him that it's not even going to be below freezing! Now he is saying his grandmother is sick and he doesn't want to leave his wife to take care of her by herself for a day and a half. Lol Luke. I hope we return home with all our body parts too!

I am going camping tomorrow at my family land with a bunch of my old college buds.  We do this every year since college and its always a great fun reunion! Lots of stories being told and retold. One of my college buds is a complete flake.  So naturally, he flaked out AGAIN on us this year.  I even gave him the whole, "We are a wolfpack!" speech and it still didnt work.  haha  oh well, we will try again next year! 

I actually told my wife this year that one of my new years resolutions is to get medical training.  I have no prior medical training and don't want to be caught flat footed in a situation where I could have made a difference but didnt have basic knowledge.  Keep me updated on this please!  

  Man that would be great!  I have never hog hunted before so I bet this would be a fun weekend for us all!  Very nice of you sir!  What part of FL?

What did you shoot him with Dave?

Welcome to the dark side ruger! The water is nice isnt it?

Yep! Looking forward to it myself. I fished last weekend for both bream and bass and didn't get even a nibble. Hopefully they will kick into gear soon!

Prayers sent.  So sorry to hear! 

LOL, you guys bring me much joy and happiness.  Yes Dave, I think a new thread should be started. :-)    So hunting wise, I am really only working on setting up some turkey blinds in pre-scouted spots.  Last year the turkeys were NOT following their usual spring patterns.  The reason for this was the cool temperatures.  This made it nearly impossible to hunt them the traditional spring way by calling them in.  They were nearly silent! The people who were successful in hunting turkeys had them patterned.  They knew where they would be and at what time and set up in front of them.  Thats what I plan on doing this year especially if they are silent like they were last year.     Deer hunting wise...I still need to clean my rifle!!  I am so bad about that.  As it gets closer to spring, we will be prepping our fields to plant a variety of things.  Soybeans, Cowpeas, Corn and maybe a sunflower field for dove.  So I am pretty excited!  I also want to hang a few new stands in some new locations.     One thing I want to do this off season is to expand my effective range.  I want to set up targets at distances of 150 yards out to 300 yards or so and see if I can make ethical shots.  If I can, great, I just expanded my effective range.  If I cant, then I need to figure out whats wrong, but I will know how far I can shoot before I start making low probability shots.     One thing I have noticed is how the deer all of a sudden start showing back up now that the season is over! haha, sneaky SOB's

Welcome Brother!

Y'all made me do it. Update in first post!

I got excited when this thread was bumped back up! haha  I agree with Ruger...seems like the season has been closed for months already!  I may need to start a "Pre 2014 Deer Season" thread to help us cope! 

Prince Mongo here. I don't know much about him but that he is really rich, very eccentric and runs (and loses) for Mayor every year. He also thinks he landed on earth from another planet.

Depends on who is reporting it. If it's MSNBC it's an arsenal, if it's CNN it's a stockpile and if it's Fox News it's just a good start.

Thanks for the story Ruger!  That is 1,000 times better than my first hunt!! I didn't see JACK.  haha!  You are a true gentleman and a hunter.  Thanks for teaching the next generation.  I hope you get some deer down tomorrow!  Prayers sent!!

  Thats good you are giving it some thought.  You should always be intentional with how you plan and where you plan to hunt.  This will lead to seeing more deer.  Now, that being said....if things start not going according to plan, don't worry about it!  Let me tell you a story about a hunt I went on this year...   It was opening day of bow season this year and I am in pursuit of my first bow kill.  I meet my dad at his house and we make our way to our family property and get there super late for a morning hunt around 7:30am!  So "problem" number 1, is that was not there during their peak activity.     So when we get to the property, I am still nursing a knee surgery so there is no way I can walk to my stand.  My dad has bad hips so there is no way he can walk to his stand.  So we decide we will take the 4 wheeler that was out there.  Well we tried to start it up but the battery had died.  No worries, we had another battery with us just in case.  So we swap out the battery and get it started up.  So "problem" number two is now I am even LATER than before!   We hop on the 4 wheeler and I get dropped off right at the base of my stand because of my knee surgery.  So "problem" number 3 is we made all that racket going to my stand scaring everything away in a 300 yard radius.     "Problem" number 4 occured when I went to grab my jacket.  I had placed it in the back bucket of the 4 wheeler...right in the way of the exhaust.  My jacket reeked of gas!!!  You know with Bow Hunting you need to get them in close right?  Well thats awfully hard to do smelling like gas.   So we had a lot of things going wrong before we even got in the deer stand.  Once I got into the deer stand, I really did not have good expectations.  But like I said in my "So you want to hunt" thread, mental toughness will have you ready when the time comes.  Well I wasn't in my stand but 30 minutes before Mrs. Doe walks out and I send an arrow right through her.  So yes you do increase your odds of seeing deer my thinking things through, but you can also be successful even in less than idea circumstances.   

  We are relying on you man! 

I have 2 pipes and a humidor full of cigars. It's been a while since I have smoked the pipe though. Really need to break those guys out. I'd smoke that thing 3-4 times a week back in college. Cigar wise I'm a big fan of full flavored cigars. Liga Privadas, Oliva O Maduros and Oliva V's are some of my most favorite. But I also love the mild ones like a Montecristo Classic.

Dave is correct.  Keep your newly printed card in your wallet.  You may want to laminate it if its not already because they do get worn out over time and you'll probably have to pay a few bucks to have it replaced.  You wont need to show your hunters safety card when you buy a license, but if a game warden checks you, he will ask for it.  

And thats a wrap for my 2013 deer season, unless of course I was a poacher, then I can hunt year round.   :squint:   Time to start maintenance on the property, trimming up trails, fixing washed out areas, setting the feeders back up and planning for the summer food plots.  This year we will be planting cowpeas, soybeans and corn.  Maybe a few other things but I'm not quite sure yet.     I don't ever remember being sad about deer season ending.  I am just really getting to be a softy in my old age (28 geesh), realizing that life is short and I never feel like there is enough time to do the things that I love.  I have my faith, I know that when the time comes I will have ultimate fulfillment in heaven but I am here on this earth now and I still will miss the blessings we have here on this earth but I digress...   I got my first bow kill as well as my first muzzleloader kill this year and we have taken 12 doe off our property consistent with our herd management goals.   I am glad to see many here have had safe and successful hunts as well!  We have learned more about our properties we hunt, more about deer patters and behaviors and have all become better sportsmen.       Next up will be Turkey Season March 29th!  Someone needs to warn my dogs that I will start practicing my calling soon.  It drives them nuts.     Anyways, I have certainly enjoyed the hunting conversations this season.  Now lets get talking about thunder chickens and fishin'! 

Well I didn't see anything but a few crows. Still love being outdoors though!

I haven't seen a thing. Wind is stating to pick up and the sun is out. Going to give it a few more hours before a lunch break and then may come back out. Y'all may laugh at me for this but I can take it. The combination of about 4 hours of sleep, a warm heater and not seeing anything made me so sleepy! So I laid down in my blind and took a 20 minute nap, then got up and drank a 5hr energy (those things keep you awake because they are so gosh awful bitter!). Needless to say I an feeling much better, but I also probably had the biggest buck in West TN cross my field when I was catching some z's. Haha