Basic training

Starting January 19 I will be at the ALERT Academy in Texas going through basic training, so I will not be posting much for quite some time.  I had planned to post some more before I left but I am having some difficulty loading pictures. Here is a link to their website http://www.alertacademy.com/iaa/, and here is a link to their blog http://www.alertacademy.com/alert/blog/.  And I wanted to re post this photo I took last year, it  is one of my favorites.

 

Camp

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Well I have not posted much lately, so here are a few things related to woodcraft and the outdoors that I have been doing.  The pictures are from a camping trip I took back in November.  I wanted to test out some new  equipment, build  a shelter at my camp site, and camp in colder weather.  I started out late so I ran out of daylight quickly, but I was able to build a shelter before dark.  The main idea behind the shelter was to use some cedar tree tops that I knew were in the woods.  So I tied a cedar pole across the two trees at the camp site, and leaned the cedar tops end first on the cross piece.  Then I trimmed all the twigs from the inside and made sure I could get in.  Then I covered the top with leaves and branches as needed.  During the night it kept the cold wind from coming blowing in, all except for a spot that had not been covered, and that kept my face cold.  I will need to improve this shelter in the future,  but it was not bad for being built in a short amount of time.  My fire was very cheery and was easy to start and easy to keep burning, this is not usually the case.  The fire kept heat coming into the open side of the shelter and made it very comfortable, if I had built the shelter a little higher it might have been even warmer.  It got quite cold and there were deer running around my camp all night long.  At one point I heard two raccoons chattering in the dark very close.  Deer were all over the place and I could see them in the moonlight.  The next morning I sat by my fire drinking cups of hot tea warming my insides and watching wildlife, the deer did not seem to notice my fire and walked by quite undisturbed.  A little later a group of turkeys came within just a few yards, it turned out that my shelter acted as a blind and concealed me very well. 

 

I have also been making alot of spoons, forks, and other utensils. This has kept me very busy. 

 

I have also been experimenting with a short bow that is attached to my back quiver.  I use it as a back up for any other bow I take out.  Well that is a little bit of what I have been doing in my woods, I hope you all have a happy new year.

 

 

 

 

Fresh meat

Well I finally got some meat for the table.  I shot this little 8 point buck the evening of opening day of the rifle season, at about 30 yards with my 30-30 lever action.  My brother and I had been hunting all day long and it was nice to finally get this deer at the end of a long and hard day's hunt. The Lord was very good to me with providing all of this meat.  It will be very good eating.

 

 

 



Hunting

 I have been doing allot of deer hunting in my spare time, and although I have not been able to harvest any deer yet I have gotten quite a few pictures on my outings. So here are a few of them.

 

 

 

Here is a grey squirrel, it had a partner in the tree with it, and they just sat there and looked at me like they didn't know what to think of me.  The leaves were wet so I was able to move around without making much noise at all.

 

 

 

This is the other squirrel that was with the first.  I could have easily shot him, instead I shot a few pictures.

 

 

 

This is a buck rub on a yellow poplar.  This and another poplar a few feet from it have been rubbed for the last three or four years.  This is  what I call an annual rub, and it is rather unusual for a tree to be rubbed year after year, at least in my experience.  It is on a fairly well traveled trail and right in the middle of some very thick cover, and leading into a part of a field where I often see deer.  I would guess that the deer (or bucks) feel very comfortable using this area.

 

 

 

My brother gave me these notebooks for my birthday and they are really neat.  I use one to keep all my hunting records in, deer sightings, stand placement, deer sign, and so on.  They come in packs of three and they fit in a shirt or coat pocket very well.  I do not have the web address for Field Notes on hand, but I'm sure you can Google it and find it.  I would recommend them to anybody that needs a small notebook or likes to write things down.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Dawn.

 

 

 

Here is a fawn, I could have shot a whole bunch of fawns if I had wanted to, but I don't like to shoot the fawns.  They just don't know danger very well and they come in close and give more shot opportunities.  I have seen lots of deer, a few nice bucks, LOTS of squirrels!!!, and even a coyote chasing a deer. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And this is my self bow that I am using.

 

Fall hike

This past weekend we had our annual church camp.  The leaves were very nice, and I was able to get lots of pictures.  There is a hiking trail that goes part way around the camp and it goes through some nice woods.  The first day I hiked it was cloudy, damp and cool, the second day the wind had dried everything out, and the sun had come out, but it was colder.

 

 

 

 

Here is the driveway looking toward the camp exit.

 

 

 

My knife.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

American Beech (Fagus grandifolia)

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The leaf in the center is Sassafras (Sassafras albidum), a very useful plant.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Wild turkey (Meleagris gallopavo).  I had been seeing turkey sign the whole time, then I saw these out in a corn field close to the end of the trail.

 

 

 

 

 

Plantain (Plantaginaceae).  Plantain has a host of medicinal uses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Yellow- Poplar (Liriodendron tulipifera).

 

 

 

 

 

 

I think the trail was about a mile long, and it had some easy ups and downs, I was glad to be able to explore some new territory.

Hatchet sheath

This is a project I had back in the summer, and I have wanted to post it for a while.  I knew what it needed to look like, and how it needed to work, so I got out a book or two for reference and here is what I came up with.

 

 

 

This is a small hatchet that my Pap bought, and he asked me to make him a sheath.  Since I am left handed I first cut out a left handed sheath, so I had to cut a second one.  I like to make my leather work out of as few pieces as possible, so this is all one piece except for the belt strap.

 

 

 

This is the piece of leather, suede on one side and smooth on the other.  Also in the picture are my all, and my mallet, a board to punch the holes on, and a book for reference.

 

 

 

This is the finished product.

 

 

 

It is designed to protect your blade, or you from your blade while it is on your belt, and it just slips out the top.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

New gear

Well I've been very busy, so I have not posted for some time.  Last Saturday some of our friends had an open house at their bakery, which is a little more like a fall festival.  I had a chance to come and set up a stand and sell some of my woodwork.  Also there was a yard sale, and I found some good deals on some gear that I just could not pass up.

 

 

 

 

I got some small leather pouches, that my Grandfather brought to my attention, he has a very good eye for camping gear and things that would be useful.  Also I got a small green metal cup, I already have a blue one identical to it, but I liked the color.  The coffee pot is one of my favorite things I got. It is a 3 cup percolator, and quite compact.  I have wanted one like this for a while now.  The boots are military surplus, and and I was surprised to find that they actually fit me, I have a little trouble finding boots that fit me.

The coffee pot.

 

 

 

This is my table, and some of the spoons I was selling.

 

 

 

Some cutting boards, and a rolling pin.

 

 

 

A walnut bowl.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Large and medium spoons, and more cutting boards.

 

 

 

Fresh cooked apple butter.

 

 

 

 



And me.  Thanks for looking.