Holiday Greetings

                   But I heard him exclaim, ere he drove out of sight-------
                      Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night.

                Everyone please have a safe and enjoyable Holiday Season!

Time well spent

My son and I had a chance to spend some time together in the woods trying our luck in taking a buck during the 2014 Muzzleloader season. Using our flintlock smoothbores and dressed as rangers out of Fort Detroit in the year of 1762.

Working as rangers, Eric took a little nap while I kept watch.

Our plan was to set up off the second ridge over from the upper fields and catch the deer as they make their way to their bedding grounds. Well so much for plans for as we made our way down the ridge line we had deer running everywhere. They must not have gotten the memo, because they weren’t supposed to be there yet. We worked our way down to our spot and set back to back against a large oak but, as our luck would have it no deer. After sitting for a few hours I left my son to sit and I walked the ridge line down to the end and dropped down to the bottom and walked it slowly, stopping every now and then back to my son, hoping to move one his way. Again no luck!

We then moved to the other side of the ridge to sit and watch a trail that runs between two thickets hoping to catch the buck that runs a bunch of scrapes along the trail. Again no luck!

So now it was time for lunch, so we worked our way back and met up with friends for lunch.

Returning to the woods around three, with  plans to hunt the trails leading up to the fields. Again, no luck, we didn’t see a single deer. We blamed the warm weather with the temperature around 50, the deer just weren’t moving.  

We both had a great day together in the woods something we don’t get to do very often. So did we get a deer, NO! Did we have fun, you bet we did!

Just in time for Christmas

       Hand sewn leather belt bag (5"w x 6"d) made of veg. tanned leather, dyed dark brown and treated with bee's wax. The bag has welted seams and a 1" gusset and a small inside pocket, will take up to a 2 1/2" belt.

Small Shot Pouch

Small shot pouch, (5"h X 2 1/2" w)  The pouch is small enough to carry in your shot bag or even in a pocket of ones weskit or jacket. Hold enough shot for five or six loads.
Made from 4/5 oz. veg. tanned leather, hand sewn with waxed linen thread, dyed and treated with bees wax. 

Thanksgiving

Finished Shot Bag #26

Turkey Dinner

My daughter in law, Leeanne, who is a great cook and a chef, fixed the wild turkey breast  for my birthday dinner. She did a great job and the food was outstanding!

The menu was:
Wild turkey breast done on the grill, wild rice, carrots & squash and a sausage gravy,
homemade butternut squash soup made by my wife and bread.
 What a fall feast!  

Fall Hunt, 2014

This past Thursday Oct.23, I had the opportunity to head to the woods and try my luck at hunting some fall turkey and squirrel.  The weather for the day was to be blue sky and lots of sunshine, in the high fifties, a great day to be in the woods.

I meet up with my friend who chose to hunt the hard woods so he drove further in and I parked at the gate, I was to hunt the ridge. I parked and quickly got my kit together and picked up my fowler and headed in. After crossing what is called the sand bridge I stopped and took in the woods in its full fall color and thanked god for the day and then primed my flintlock. We were to try for turkeys until lunch time then squirrel in the late afternoon. I wanted to hunt the two- track that follows the ridge because at different times that I have been out there I have run in to the birds also walking it. As I walked slowly along scanning the trail ahead I didn’t go far when a big fox squirrel run up a tree and began to chew me out for disrupting his day. A little further down the trail I came across some deer laying about 30 yards in off of the trail. I think they would have let me walk pass if I hadn’t stopped to check them out. I found a good spot in which I could watch the trail in both directions far enough to ready for a shot if a group of birds were to happen a long. So I sat and enjoyed the sights and sounds of the woods until I needed to stand and stretch out my legs, checking the time it was almost one o’clock so I decided it was time to move on. I continue to move slowly down the trail hoping to see a flock moving ahead of me but, all I kept seeing were squirrels they were everywhere. I even had one sitting on a branch with a large nut in his mouth not more than 15 feet away. I moved closer, talking to him, saying he was lucky I wasn’t hunting him at the moment but he better move on because I would be back and he wouldn’t be so lucky. He never moved as he watched me walk by, my wife asked if he ever said anything back to me, and I replied no! How could he, he had a nut in his mouth.

That was the last straw, it was time to make my way back to my car and grab an apple and my hunters orange cape, and start hunting squirrels. In Michigan you need hunters orange to hunt any small game but not to hunt turkeys so to keep me on track I left my cape in the car. As I neared the end of the trail and started to drop off the ridge I spotted some turkeys ahead but, as luck would have it they spotted me and weren’t hanging around. I slowly move further down the trail when I spotted a head of a turkey just off the trail and no other birds that I could see. I pull the cock back on my flintlock and brought the gun up at the same time the bird stood up and stepped to the edge of the trail were it was met with the full blast of number 5 shot. The bird was down and flopping so I ran up and put a foot on his neck to keep him there.

Wow just like that I had taken a bird, it was a young jake and would make fine table fair.

My friend hearing the shot showed up, I think he was just as excited as I was. With a few photos taken we took the bird up to the house to put him on ice and to get some lunch.

We returned to the woods with the intentions of eating our lunch and hunting squirrels for the rest of the afternoon. Well that didn’t happen, instead we sat under a tree enjoying the sunshine, the woods and each others conversation. We talked about hunting, and the hobby we both enjoy and just everyday life and before we knew it the sun had drop down below the tree line and it was time to head out and the squirrels would just have to wait for another day. What a great day in the woods!       

       

Finished Order Shot Bag #25

Schoenbrunn Village Trade Fair

This is the ax set that I have made up and donated for the upcoming Schoenbrunn Village Trade Fair Raffle.

For the past three years they have sold raffle tickets for Ken Netting Fowler and other donated Items.

 Ken Netting, New England fowler in 62 caliber, 48" round barrel made by Ken, Jim Chambers flint lock, stocked in walnut with brass engraved furniture. LOP is 13 1/2" weight about 6 1/2 pounds. Stock is relief carved and barrel also has some engraving.  Tickets are for sale, at $5 each or 3 for $10. They can be purchased directly from Jack by sending a check for the amount wanted made out to John Johnson at 1795 Lexview Circle, Mansfield, Ohio 44907. Please supply a self stamped envelope and stubs will be returned to the purchaser. Drawing will be at 3pm on October 19th. Winner need not be present to win.

For more info, Check out their web site at http://www.schoenbrunnvillagefair.org/

Finished Shot Bag #24

Simple leather bag, it is 5 ½” at the opening and flares out to almost 7” and is 7” deep with a 1 1/2” gusset tapering to almost the top of the bag. There is a 5 ½” wide by 3 ½” deep inside pocket. The strap is 1 ¼” wide, tapered down to fit a 1” iron buckle. It should hold all that you need to shoot your fowler or rifle.