A dear friend.........and a Muzzleloader (PICS ADDED )

[alscalls]

I will be up at 4 am getting some coffee and reading the paper.......nothing else to do as I have been out shooting the same old smoke pole I have shot for more than 20 years....And I am more than ready for tomorrows opener of the early doe season with a muzzleloader.
Below is some things that will be with me in my possibles bag as they are every year. Some of these things may look silly to you, but they hold true Great memories for me. They are.....A short starter whittled with a pocket knife and an aluminum rod worked to a perfect fit around the .50 cal. round ball ....The long end being (Dupont)Teflon I think as that is the Dept. the maker worked at when he made it.
Another thing in the pic below would be a jar full of grease......not just any grease...homemade grease from a concoction of Bees wax right from the hive itself, petroleum jelly, and used motor oil.....God knows what else is in it or the process it went through to get to the wonderful working consistency that will serve me for a lifetime as this is not all of it.
Then we come to the ball paddle, made from dogwood and cut on a homemade band saw right from the firewood pile.....It has been used as a hammer, a ball paddle and lord only knows what else for many years and has never offered to crack or fail me.
I have never lost a ball from it and hope I will always hunt with it.
Lastly the rifle built from a kit, Browned not blued, Buckhorn sights, and as smooth a trigger as any could ask.
All this done by my father in law, best friend a fella could ask for....The morning he passed away of a heart attack, I ran to him giving him CPR till the paramedics came..........I miss him
But I will hunt with him forever with these silly little things he made and as the years pass I have taken many animals with this rifle.....Never without remembering.....as I will tomorrow,no need to kill one...as long as I remember.
I will be by myself but not alone as my thoughts will be of the dear friend that helped me with more than just silly things.

[pitw]

I failed to see anything Silly in that picture .  Every thing looks good to me and with the memories story it makes them all even more special .  Have a great day tomorrow and I hope you get to burn some powder as well .

[Hawks Feather]

Yep, seems like you will have a special time tomorrow.  Are you going to be able to get all your hunting in before your college classes start?

Jerry

[alscalls]

Thanks Barry....I will be taking my camera and reporting whatever happens.....

Jerry, the collage is so full of folks out of work......they could not take me this sem.
So I got the entire season off .......new classes start in Jan.
I did get a call to see if I would be interested in teaching Oxy. welding and a couple of other classes but I think ol Nick got the job.....He will be a goodun and I will help him anyway I can.

[KySongDog]

Looks like a .50 cal Hawken.  A TC Hawken kit rifle was my first muzzleloader.  Great gun.   Good luck on the hunt tomorrow.   

[alscalls]

Yup its a Hawken......I built one too .....killed one deer with it and sold it.

[HaMeR]

Good luck on the hunt you two!! 

[alscalls]

We are already finished......Meats in the frig and pics on the way! 

[alscalls]

Well we got there at about 6:15 am  and I opened the front window of the tree stand.....Hunting in the tower stand as it was raining hard, and we need it.
I got my Pop sitting on the gun rack and something soft to rest my friend on for the shot......


It was still not light enough to shoot so I spent my time looking over the stand to see if any repairs are needed this year.....


At legal shooting time I caped the smoke pole and peeked out the front of the stand to see they have been moving the logs around in the lick we made and have eaten the leaves off the trees we cut.....So it should only be a matter of time.......


It stopped raining and got brighter when We(Me and Bill  ) hit 3 doe bleats On my friend Bill's call, one long and 2 short thinking that Waynes deer probably had a youngin still hanging around to see where mom went.....I Believe I was right cause here came a small doe right to the stand.
You cant see it as I was a little busy....


Every move we made made the old stand creek and groan so as slowly as we could we got ready and when my friend barked the whole stand filled with smoke.........as I opened the door for some air I seen my target coming full tilt to the back of the stand....Kicking wildly it up ended over a log and here it lay........


Here is where she was when the smoke flew......


The view she had of us...


No need to track this one.......I still dont know how she made it this far as we blew out her boiler room........


We saw 17 of these on the way back.......these were the only ones that posed for a pic.....
10 of them were all around my truck when we came down....


Almost hit this little fella on the way home! .....


I had the most wonderful time thinking of all the friends I had with me today.......Oh they weren't there but I was sure thinking of them......and I got a little meat for the table. What a nice rain......I hope you fellas had as much fun as I did this AM......Good luck when ya do go and remember.....your never really alone......unless you want it that way.

[Bills Custom Calls]

Just so you know Al,I was there,and I was thinking just how much fun it would be if I could be doing that same thing about 20 minutes after starting time  I am sure glad you got some food in the fridge now 

You can probably do the same thing tomorrow if ya want can't ya 

[alscalls]

Sat. deer has been on the smoker for Wayne for most of the day..........






Bill:
We are only allowed 1 for each early season...
then we get like 11 total for the rest of the entire season.

[alscalls]

Bill you need a tree stand like that....... I rarely hunt from it as it is a neat stand to take a kid, or elderly, even handicapped folks have hunted from it and I regularly have first time hunters sit in it......but since black powder dont like rain I figured I would this time.
I know the deer was small but mama said bring it home no matter what size so first bald one is what I shot.
I usually hunt the top of the ridge which is another 30 min walk uphill.

I heard a coyote howl again today as I was dragging this thing out.......no need for the ATV as it was all down hill anyway.
They howled at me and Wayne wile skinning his on Sat.
Those things seem to follow me and howl when I am leaving .....

[John_NY]

Great story Al. How were the ticks? Up here you have to grab the deer quick before the ticks drag it off.

John

[pitw]

Right on Al  .   Who got to touch the powder off?  Good eating and good on the mind set critter laying there.  I've never been in a stand like that but it looks pretty cool.  May have to build one on the new land.

[alscalls]

John:
I have not seen a tick in several weeks here.......we do not seem to have those little ones like you all have....a few but not many.

Barry:
That stand..... if you keep the right windows closed seems to help hide your scent well but it can be noisy after a few years of use. And it is a nice place for a nap..... I have a huge heater for it in the real cold weather....makes it nice for the kids.

[JohnP]

Al that's about the best thing I read all day and there ain't nothing silly about it.  That venison on the smoker looks good and we have none in the freezer. 

[alscalls]

Thanks,
Most folks see that and think its raw yet.......that is completely done and looks like that all the way through!
OMG its so good we have smoked a whole deer and I have ate so much that when I burp I swear I see smoke.....