April 6-8, 2001

John Williams, Scott Sitzes and I took our kids to the lease for some scouting, turkey hunting and plain old fun.

It looks like a completely different place with all the rain. We saw plenty of deer and Madeline and I saw a turkey while scouting, but no kills.

I highly recommend you get down before it gets too hot. Check out the new pics. PICTURES

September 22-24, 2000

John S. and I took our kids to the lease to set up John's feeder and fool around. It was a great trip. Here are some of the highlights...

Friday it was a hot 97 when Madeline and I arrived at 7:30 p.m. We saw a rattlesnake by the front gate while waiting for John and the boys. It was around 10:00 p.m. So be careful when out scouting.

They did get some rain since our last visit; not enough to make a big difference but every bit helps.

We saw lots of deer at all times during the day. No big bucks but some young ones and lots of doe. We also had a great dove hunt on Saturday and the kids loved it.

We got John's feeder up and pen built on Saturday. When we checked it Sunday morning around 8:30 a.m. all the corn had already been eaten and tracks everywhere. It's gonna be a good spot.

On Saturday I checked Scott's feeder and he had good and bad news. Good news is that there was a doe at the feeder in the middle of the afternoon. Bad news is that there were three goats caught in his feeder pen. (I released the mops with not a single thank you from them!) Seriously though, I did not have time to run some wire along the bottom third of the pen but that really needs to be done or I'm afraid there will be some dead goats to account for. So whoever gets out there next please consider helping out.

We were also woken up very early Sunday morning to a loud crashing sound which turned out to be John running from a bat that had flown into the trailer. So Madeline, Cort, Pierce and I sat back and watched a heck of a show as John finally cornered the bat in the Garden Tub and slayed the beast with a broom.

We checked John W. feeder on Sunday morning and all was well. While traveling to Robs feeder to check it out it began to rain. By the time Madeline and I got back to the trailer it was pouring and I was a muddy mess. One thing we are going to need is some door matts or carpet remnants. One second out in that rain and that beautiful pastel carpet is camo. Note that when you enter the trailer there is a large dirt spot from us scrambling to get things in from out of the rain. I vacuumed the trailer but left that small area to dry figuring it would vacuum up better once dry. I was so glad to see the rain that I didn't really mind the mess.

We bought some protein feed and left three bags in the trailer. You can find it at Compton's but it is pretty expensive at $6.75 a bag.

See you on the 4th!

August 12, 2000

John W. and I took our girls to the lease to do a little work and play.

We stopped at the feed store west of Menard for protein cubes and arrived an hour after closing (12:00 Sat.) so corn was purchased at Super S for $4.25 a bag.

We put feed in my feeder and found a place for John's stand and feeder. However we were only able to put his stand up due to repair needs on the feeder. We did notice that the old group did come and get their stands and feeders.

Overall the place looks very sad due to the drought. As you can see in some of the pictures below the ground looks like mid winter.

On the bright side we did see some doe with their fawns in the middle of the day which I felt was a good sign given the conditions.

As you can see from the pictures, the water (& electric) has been hooked up.

We also found a very nice motel in Eden called the Slumber Inn. It has been open for less than a year, is very clean and has the only pool for miles. The double rate of $55 was reasonable too.

See you weekend after Labor Day!