Sideways snow and a doe!

The only reason I was on a ridge top in Jackson Co. during a blizzard was the doe tag in my pocket, which is a rare thing during high powered rifle season. I had positioned myself opposite the wind from a saddle between to ridges which the deer used to access the valley to the east of the land I was hunting. I had walked up the ridge with Bob who had tried to give me some of his frozen Mcdonald's hamburgers he had purchased earlier in the week for 69 cents. We parted ways and I sat down in my makeshift blind built from dead fall. The snow was blowing so hard that I couldn't see very well and I was becoming miserable. By the time I had decided to give it up for the day I realized my boots were froze to the ground and it took some tugging to pull them free. I needed no more reasons and I headed down the hill while the snow storm pick up its force even more. By the time I reached the field that lays between the cemetery and the old clapboard sided house we use as camp, the weather could be described as a blizzard. I needed meat bad and we would probably start driving home as soon as the weather broke, but I didn't care I was looking for shelter. By the time I reached the porch of the old house I saw Bill sitting in a chair(I don't think he ever left the porch that morning) drinking Diet Dr. Pepper and occasionally stoking the warm morning stove. Before we had a chance to swap pleasantries Bill whispered "I think there is a deer behind you". I spun dropped to a knee and leveled my 30-06 and squeezed one off. The deer went down immediately, it had just entered the field about 80 yards from us. I apologized to Bill for walking up to his deer stand (the front porch) and shooting a deer. He is one of my fathers oldest friends and told me not to sweat it he would have gave the deer anyway since my family eats so much venison. I gutted the 1 and 1/2 year old doe where she laid. It was snowing so hard that when my father and Bob finally came down off the ridge they had no idea what had transpired since the blood was now covered by snow. Sometimes luck is better than skill when it comes to filling up the meat freezer.

Your pal The Envirocapitalist.

Raspberry pickin

We had a great time picking berries in Cove Creek WMA. My Son (below), my father, and myself left out for a leisurely berry picking day and came back with chiggers and a few berries.

We had more success finding Raspberry bushes this year, which is odd since blackberries have been more prevalent in the past. I love raspberries, it was a shame that the ones we found were small and picked over. Which made filling our buckets harder work.

We were surrounded by ragweed and widow's lace at the edges of the overgrown fields where we found the berries. It turns out that while it was a pretty setting to spend the day in, it was also infested with chiggers..........................................................sorry I needed to scratch.

Even though we came back with less than a gallon of berries, the memories and time spent together was priceless. The photo below says it all. A very good little boy learning about the outdoors from his Big Papaw. Thanks Dad.

If you don't hunt, forage, fish or farm, it is probably hard to understand the way the world works and what a miracle God's creation is. Everything you need to survive is out there at the end of the concrete. Just waiting for someone to get of the couch and retrieve it. I love the outdoors.

Your pal The Envirocapitalist.

Expedition Melton Hill

I get off work at 4:30pm. (I know your jealous, I understand.) So I have the ability to grab my intrepid son "The Fish Slayer" and head over to my Dad's whom my son calls"Big Papaw" to take short fishing trips to Melton Hill Lake. I like Melton Hill Lake because it has less residential property along its shoreline than most East Tennessee lakes due to its proximity to a nuclear plant (don't worry it is upstream of the plant). It has pretty good fishing to go with its beautiful scenery and a diversity of fish to catch, you never know what you will hook. Our latest endeavour found the three generations of outdoorsmen putting in at about 6:00pm which allowed us 3 hours of daylight fishing. It was crowded at the ramp for a weekday, but its been that way ever since Bob Hodge, a local outdoor writer, spilled the beans on how nice and uncrowded the lake was. It is still nothing compared to the skiing and boating nightmares of Norris and Loudon lakes which lay nearby and have more boat docks than most Island nations. We had more fun than success if you measure success by how much food was collected from the water. My 6 year old son, of course, pulled in the most fish from the green water (2 bluegill and 1 channel catfish) and most of them were from one cove we call Stumpy Hollow, my father nicknames most everything to the point I don't know the real names of some places I go. The Scenery itself is often worth the fuel spent getting there. My son yelling go faster to my 65 year old father as he drives a modified v-bottomed boat through choppy waters is probably my favorite part. Peaceful cove where Ryan caught the Fish (Stumpy Hollow).

First of two bluegills

Small channel cat which later got stocked in the pond next to Big Papaw's house.

It is like the Envirocapitalist always says "Take a kid fishing so your wife can't hassle you for going fishing to much". After all, it is for the children......right.

Fireworks and Tomatos

Independence Day was great this year. My family and I went to Norris to watch a great fireworks show in a small town setting. Not to mention My Tomato plants seem to be doing great this year (amazing what a little rain will do). Here is the first tomato of the year ( think softball). I am almost as impressed by my green thumb as I am by the fireworks.

Happy Independence day.