2014 Off Season Support Group Deer Season Thread

[DaveS]

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?

I have not fully decided yet, but shooting for the area between Pensacola and Apalachicola. Those area's are ate up with hogs, and the fishing is great! That's where I've decided to spend my senior years.

 

Dave

Edited January 26, 2014 by DaveS

[Luke E.]

I have not fully decided yet, but shooting for the area between Pensacola and Apalachicola. Those area's are ate up with hogs, and the fishing is great! That's where I've decided to spend my senior years.

Dave

Seems to me that they are thicker towards the Appalachicola side but that's because there aren't all that many near my grandparents area. Plus it's be hard to beat the fishing in Apalachicola bay :)

[DaveS]

Seems to me that they are thicker towards the Appalachicola side but that's because there aren't all that many near my grandparents area. Plus it's be hard to beat the fishing in Apalachicola bay :)

Apalachicola Bay is where I cut my teeth on Salt water fishing. Cast some bait around an Oyster bed and hold on!!! I used to have a beach house on St. George Island (Pine St.) before Ivan destroyed it. I never rebuilt back, for obvious reasons I guess. I love the East Point and St. George area!

 

The hog in that Picture was taken at Crawfordville not far from Apalachicola. I was hunting private land on the St. Marks Refuge boundary. One beautiful place Brother!!

 

Dave

Edited January 26, 2014 by DaveS

[Luke E.]

Apalachicola Bay is where I cut my teeth on Salt water fishing. Cast some bait around an Oyster bed and hold on!!! I used to have a beach house on St. George Island (Pine St.) before Ivan destroyed it. I never rebuilt back, for obvious reasons I guess. I love the East Point and St. George area!

The hog in that Picture was taken at Crawfordville not far from Apalachicola. I was hunting private land on the St. Marks Refuge boundary. One beautiful place Brother!!

Dave

I love the Apalachicola area. It's not so packed ful of idiots as most other good fishing areas. I love going after Redfish and speckled trout. My dad's got a place on around in Suwannee and I enjoy it down there. Anywhere around there should be eaten up with hogs too. Wish I was to a point in life that I could head down that way.

[rugerla1]

Okay, so I didn't hunt today. But, I sure have been thinking about being in the woods hunting whitetail with the temp being like it has been. Not really anything to add to the thread, but the thought is there. I imagine every morning that I'm sitting in my stand, freezing, thinking "any minute, he'll come walking out". 

[DaveS]

Okay, so I didn't hunt today. But, I sure have been thinking about being in the woods hunting whitetail with the temp being like it has been. Not really anything to add to the thread, but the thought is there. I imagine every morning that I'm sitting in my stand, freezing, thinking "any minute, he'll come walking out". 

May I add to that by saying, "If he don't show up in a minute, I'll be walking out!" This cold would be awful hard to deal with. I haven't even been Rabbit hunting. No motivation!

 

Dave

[rugerla1]

May I add to that by saying, "If he don't show up in a minute, I'll be walking out!" This cold would be awful hard to deal with. I haven't even been Rabbit hunting. No motivation!

 

Dave

Knowing that tomorrow will be around 50 degrees makes me laugh. Only because if it was still deer season, I'd be mad because "The deer won't be moving if it's 50!!" LOL

[Slappy]

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! 

Edited January 31, 2014 by Slappy

[rugerla1]

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! 

That sounds like a lot of fun, y'all have a good time Slappy!

 

Oh, and that is hilarious! Can't believe the wolfpack speech didn't make him change his mind :rofl:

[Luke E.]

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!

Gotta live a flake.. especially when they wait until the last minute and you know that they never planned to go in the first place. I'm at my sisters place in NYC and she is set to wed an Irishman in April. Yesterday his "best mate" text letting him know that he wouldn't be making the trip but it gets better.. His daughter was supposed to be the flower girl so I'm guessing the 4yr old won't be making the flight on her own.
See what happens when you get me going on flakey folks :) .
Anyways, I hope y'all's camping trip goes great and everyone leaves with all the body parts that they arrived with!

[Slappy]

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!

[Luke E.]

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!

Man, he sounds just like a friend of my wife's. Was supposed to be a bridesmaid and all the others had already been measured for their dresses. She wouldn't answer the phone for a week and a half then said she just didn't have the money for the dress so we paid for it. She went and had the dress custom made for her (not cheap) and 4 days before the wedding she called saying her mom was sick and that she was stuck in Kentucky. Ended up putting a cousin that was about the same size in her place. Found out 2 days later that she never left Nashville. I kinda wanted that girl to lose something on a camping trip ;)
How long are y'all camping for? Sorry if you've already mentioned it and I missed it. Haven't opened my computer in over a week and it's easy to miss things on the phone. What do you guys usually get into while camping?

[DaveS]

 What do you guys usually get into while camping?

Stay vigilant fella's!!

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Uzae_SqbmDE

 

Dave

Edited February 1, 2014 by DaveS

[Slappy]

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.  :-)

Edited February 2, 2014 by Slappy

[DaveS]

Sorry you and your friend experienced an accident like that. Also don't worry about standing back while someone else helps. Moral support at times can be powerful medicine to the sick and injured. As far as first aid training goes, basic first aid is a good skill to have. You just never know when it will be needed, as you have learned. Put you a good first aid kit together and keep it handy while on your little camping trips. Always remember that a head wound will bleed like you've never seen!

 

Don't let all this eat you up my friend, things happen, need to deal with them as they do. Just look after your friend and let him know that you truly care about his injuries and his well being.

 

Dave

[Slappy]

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.  

[Luke E.]

 Man I sure hate your weekend turned out that way. I used to race motocross and before that, growing up there were always 4 wheelers and dirt bikes around and a lot of the times we were doing stupid things on/with them and there's not a one of us that shouldn't have been dead any less than a dozen times by the age 18. God seems to take pity on the ignorant (not meant negatively) because at that point we never worried about more than a broken arm or ankle but looking back we should have been worried about "death or even worse" (my childhood best friends grandmothers saying) yet none of us ended up with anything very permanent. 

 I'm glad for everyone involved that it turned out no worse than it did because having had friends and personally been in critical shape in ICU I know it can be mentally taxing on everyone but especially the person in your position Slappy. Down be to hard on yourself and while take some safety precautions is always a good thing, you can't bubble wrap everyone and save them from themselves not to mention it can take the fun out of things if taken to far. Sounds like you have a good friend and have no need to be worried about any sort of legal recourse so that's a blessing in itself.

 As for med. training, it never hurts to learn but could definitely hurt not to. I have some knowledge (way more than your average joe you pass by in the grocery store) but have been telling myself I need to get more. I've been building a very extensive kit that includes items related to trauma and the further I get into the trauma items the more I realize how little I know so it's about time. Maybe that's something we should try to put together regionally, like choosing someone well versed in first aid and trauma procedures and having anyone interested here to meet up out on one of our properties for some informal training and maybe some shooting or camping afterwards. Might be something to try and plan as we get closer towards the spring time. Slappy I think you're the only one regularly involved with this particular group that doesn't live reasonably close so if we can get something like this put together around here you'd be more than welcome to crash in our spare bedroom if you wanted to make the drive. Just something for all of us to think about.

[Wiljo05]

So I couldn't stay out of the woods too long! This is day one of my LBL coyote hunt. Got a buddy and his 16 yr old brother with me. Second set of the day at the 4 minute mark 3 came in hot and busted the 16 yr old as he mounted the gun. 3 dogs, 3 shots and no fur busted. Made about 5 other sets today and no luck. Gonna beat em up pretty hard tomorrow and head home after lunch.

Hoping tomorrow will be more productive. Nothing like 3 dogs full tilt at you to break the winter blues. And it's all on GoPro vid! Edited February 4, 2014 by Wiljo05

[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! 

[rugerla1]

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! 

Hard to beat this crew ain't it Slappy! I really look forward to hearing from everyone on here daily, even if it doesn't pertain to me. Everyone is always looking out for each other. Love this place!

[rugerla1]

So I couldn't stay out of the woods too long! This is day one of my LBL coyote hunt. Got a buddy and his 16 yr old brother with me. Second set of the day at the 4 minute mark 3 came in hot and busted the 16 yr old as he mounted the gun. 3 dogs, 3 shots and no fur busted. Made about 5 other sets today and no luck. Gonna beat em up pretty hard tomorrow and head home after lunch.

Hoping tomorrow will be more productive. Nothing like 3 dogs full tilt at you to break the winter blues. And it's all on GoPro vid!

Even though no fur was busted, I bet that adrenaline was flowin!!! Glad y'all got to see something. Good luck tomorrow, hope you're posting pictures of some yotes!!

[Wiljo05]

Yeah it was pretty exciting. Of all the hunting I do, coyotes get me more shook up than anything else. Nothing like being the point of aggression or mimicking the food source for these dogs.

They are super aggressive this time of year, and while I know they won't get any closet than 7ft (last year one was shot and rolled to my boots) kt still makes it intense! Hoping to put my buddy and his brother on some tomorrow.

Any of y'all in mid tn let me know if you wanna make a few sets one weekend, plenty of yotes to go around it appears! Edited February 4, 2014 by Wiljo05

[Luke E.]

Yeah it was pretty exciting. Of all the hunting I do, coyotes get me more shook up than anything else. Nothing like being the point of aggression or mimicking the food source for these dogs.

They are super aggressive this time of year, and while I know they won't get any closet than 7ft (last year one was shot and rolled to my boots) kt still makes it intense! Hoping to put my buddy and his brother on some tomorrow.

Any of y'all in mid tn let me know if you wanna make a few sets one weekend, plenty of yotes to go around it appears!

 

 I could quite possibly be up for making a few this weekend if you're up for it. My wife going to be out of town all weekend so I won't be working around any other plans.

[Luke E.]

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! 

 

 Be glad to have you. It doesn't seem to work out to well on here when things get planned way far in advance (gives to much time to come up with flakey excuses) but maybe sometime in March I will start trying to work out the logistics.

[Luke E.]

BTW good luck in the morning Joe.