November 26, 2008 Update

I’ve been hunting hard every chance I get this month but I just haven’t been seeing much deer action. I’ve saw a spike and my dad saw three does and a very small 4 pointer. Dad would have gladly taken a doe but it wasn’t a doe day. Where I’ve been hunting I’ve just saw very little rut sign and most of my friends have not noticed much either. I’m not sure what’s going on around here but it’s been a slow year so far for me. Oh well the tide can change any time and I’ll be in the woods Thursday morning, and all day Friday, at the least, this weekend. Regardless of the slow hunting season I’ve had so far I have a lot to give thanks for and I plan on doing so! I hope you all have a great Thanksgiving and a great weekend! Happy hunting!

Chinese Democracy!!!!!!!

Wow! I know this album comes out Sunday, and mine has been preordered since the day it became available, but I found it leaked today and couldn’t resist giving it a listen. This CD is freakin’ awesome! Was it worth the 350,000-year wait that Axl put us through? No. Is it as good as Appetite? No. Is it a brilliant and enjoyable album in its own right? YES! It is not what traditionalists will expect from GNR but if you give it a listen with an open mind I think you’ll find that you love and will be rocking it out for a long while! Well done Axl!

PS

Next time you really don’t have to wait so long, we’ll all be dead by the time a new one comes out if you do.

Bastian VA Rifle Season Opener 11/15/08

Today was an odd day in the woods, I didn’t see the first deer, but I came away feeling very successful anyway. I checked the weather all week and although I knew the best-case scenario for today involved bad weather I decided to be in the woods anyway. I was setting off of a trail, way back in the woods, when the sun came up and the day started off pretty promising. I heard two shots in the distance as soon as legal shooting hours began and I felt a great since of optimism! It wasn’t long after that though and the rain came in. It started off fairly light but ended up pouring for a long while. A lot of people were leaving but I decided to tough it out. My hunting pants and jacket were supposed to be waterproof and I wanted to see if they truly were. Luckily for me, my gear did the job and I barely felt the rain at all! The one piece of clothing that failed me though was my gloves. Other than having to switch to my back up pair, I was dry and toasty the whole time! After I survived the downpour, I thought that the deer would start moving and it would to turn in to a great day to be in the woods. However, I was disappointed when the wind started blowing like crazy and showed no signs of stopping. After I decided that this was not going to be much of a day for deer movement I decided to take advantage of that situation and do some scouting. I looked around for quite a while and finally found some positive sign! I don’t think that I’ve figured this property out very well but I feel much better about my chances. Hopefully I’ll have more time over in Bastian to get a better feel for the property but at least things are headed in the right direction! I hope you all had a great and dry opening day!

Deer Hunting Weight Loss Plan

Since September 6th of this year I have lost 20+ pounds! I’ll grant you that until about a month ago I was running, hiking, and generally trying to lose weight, but that was mostly to get ready for this hunting season. However since October 19th I’ve did little for exercise with the exception of hunting and I’ve lost over 5 pounds. I haven’t been trying to eat well or get exercise but the sport of hunting is still whipping my out of shape body in to hardened steel! I won’t have time to pick my exercise regiment up too much until hunting season is over but I know that, lord willing, by the time hunting season ’09 rolls around I’m going to be in incredible shape! There is no motivation like the unforgiving mountains of deer country to get you pumped up to get in shape!


Updates:
1. I did purchase another Fieldline Glenwoods Canyon backpack for hunting and it actually works much better than I thought it would! I’ve been really happy with it so far!
2. How disappointing was the WEC event last week? I for one didn’t really enjoy much of it at all. They normally have some of the best matchups anywhere but I was disappointed in that last show for sure.
3. I continue to be extremely pleased with my Pursuit 2 XLT!
4. My family and I are doing very well! Harry is happy and healthy as are Jessica and I! Jess and I are both really busy so I don’t have as much time to hunt or post as I normally do but I’m “gettin’ r done” as best as I can!
5. I hope you and yours are doing well!
6. God Bless all of the Veterans out there, thank you all for what you have done for us!

Traditions Pursuit II XLT

I don't know how I forgot to post this but I received in my Pursuit II and I love it! It's such a great gun and it's so easy to load, shoot, and clean! I'll post more on it soon!

WEC 36 tonight at 8:00PM

I had no idea that it was tonight, how did I miss this? Anyway be sure to catch Faber vs. Brown. Faber is a beast!

West Virginia Leads Deer Hit Parade

From MossyOak.com

November 03, 2008

If you’re not into bows, rifles, slug-guns or muzzleloaders, your best chances of dispatching a whitetail another way--via the motorized method--can be found in the hills of West Virginia. There, one in every 45 drivers will become more closely acquainted with their insurance agents this year following deer encounters on the roadway.



Results of a study by the State Farm Insurance Company released last week show that—for the second year in a row—West Virginians have the best chance among all U.S. motorists of hitting a deer with their vehicles. In fact, since last year it’s become even more likely for folks in The Mountain State to harvest a whitetail with their Buick or F-150.



Last year, West Virginian’s odd were one-in-57.

The “Good Neighbor” folks from Bloomington, Illinois put the data into perspective for Mossy Oak News readers, noting that the probability of a vehicle hitting a deer in West Virginia sometime in the next year is roughly two times greater than the possibility that you will be audited by the Internal Revenue Service in 2009 and 1,100 times greater than your chance of winning a state lottery grand prize if you buy one ticket per day for the next year.



Which begs the question: Which would be more painful, a smashed front bumper or an IRS audit?



Anyhow, for those drivers keeping score, whitetail-rich Michigan came in second in the deer hit parade again this year with 1 in 78 odds. It was followed by Pennsylvania (1 in 97), Iowa (1 in 105) and Arkansas (1 in 108).



South Dakota is sixth. Wisconsin dropped from third to seventh. Montana, North Dakota and Virginia round out the top 10.



The least likely state to smack a deer on the highway remains Hawaii, where the chances are only one in 10,962.



Oh yes, State Farm also reports that the average property damage cost of deer/vehicle accidents in the U.S. is $2,950, up 2.5 percent from a year ago.



Be careful out there.