Thanksgiving Day Deer

Back in "the day" you might hear about a buddy getting a deer from the buddy himself, or another friend, or down at the general store, or at the check-in station (often the same place as the general store). Nothing is so simple today. I was down in Connecticut, celebrating Thanksgiving with family, when my daughter told me my friend Jim back in Underhill got a buck. My daughter, Maddie, had just received a "tweet" (from Twitter) from Jim's daughter - with a happy picture of Jim attached. News travels very fast these days. Now to be politically correct, Jim's daughter's photo didn't show Jim's deer, only Jim sitting down with a BIG smile on his face.

Here is a picture of Jim's buck that he was smiling about. I stopped up to take a look at the deer on Sunday and to ask Jim about the particulars. He shot the deer in Underhill, around 7 AM on Thanksgiving morning. He was a nice 6 pointer and weighted in at 166 pounds (the deer, although that could probably apply to Jim too...though not the 6 points). Jim said he was waiting for some deer to move through a ledge cut he had scouted. Sure enough he saw a big doe start through the cut, followed by a smaller doe. Immediately after the does passed through, along came the buck. I think Jim said it was about a 50 yard shot. He dropped it with a couple shots from his Ruger Model 77 30-06 with a 3x to 9x Leupold scope.

To the right is a picture of Jim being supervised in his barn by his Lab Abby. Jim said he always wanted to get a deer on Thanksgiving Day. Just another blessing to be thankful for, living here in Vermont. And while news may not travel like it used to, nothing changes the shear excitement of hunting or filling your tag.

Congrats Jim and good luck during muzzle-loader season!

I'll work on the formatting in future posts. I'm still trying to figure this damn thing out!

Hunting Stories...everyone has one

My wife, Karen, and I just returned from a lovely Thanksgiving celebration at my brother's house in Connecticut. I told my family that I was writing a hunting and fishing blog and would be writing an outdoor column for the Mountain Gazette. That was the cue needed for the "did I ever tell you about the time" stories to begin. My first editorial comment was, "I can't write about that, that was illegal!" To which the storyteller responded, "yeah, don't write about that."

That is the beauty of hunting stories...everyone has one - even if it isn't their own. I just talked to my buddy Jim tonight who shot a buck up in Underhill on Thanksgiving Day. I know there will be a story connected to the deer when I stop by to admire Jim's buck. No one has more hunting stories than my cousin Sonny. Sonny has spent a lifetime hunting in the Adirondack mountains around Tupper Lake. Sonny deserves his own blog post and will get one in the near future.

Speaking of hunting stories; send me yours. You can contact me at Kristopher@SportingAfield.net. If you have a good story about hunting maybe you'll read about yourself in the Mountain Gazette. Also send me any hunting or fishing news you think worthy of print. I want to make my column "Sporting Afield Outdoor Report" as useful and interesting as possible. All story embellishments will be kept strictly confidential, although the readers are smart enough to know that no one gets a 200-yard shot at a running deer in the Vermont woods.

First blog post for Sporting Afield

Wow, my first blog post for this blog. I'm sure this is the road to fame and fortune.  We'll call this my background blog post.

I grew up in Vermont reading Ranger Rick magazine, learning the fine art of woodcraft from the alpha males in my family - such as the never-fail way to start fires with petroleum products, and roaming the hills with family and friends. Now, I'm like an aged version of Ranger Rick, with much more fur, who developed a predatory instinct unfit for a children's magazine. I've been described as an outdoorsman with more enthusiasm than skill. I have certainly experienced less success using more techniques and gear than your average hunter or fisherman.

The intent of this blog is to capture all the local scenery that makes up what it is to hunt, fish, and enjoy the outdoors in Vermont. I'll be reporting on local hunting and fishing news for Bolton, Cambridge, Jericho, Underhill, Westford, and Jeffersonville, Vermont. My blog posts will include interviews with outdoorsman and women, hunting and fishing insights, hunting and camp stories (some real), gun dog stories, game reports, perhaps some product reviews, and a smorgasbord of hunting and fishing stuff – whatever is in season.

What will make this a great blog is to hear from you. If you have any information or story that you think is newsworthy or you just want to tell, please comment on my blog or send me an e-mail. And please, send me a photo or two if you have them. I promise not to give away a favorite hunting spot or fishing hole...but I am certainly willing to accept an invitation if one is offered. I am guaranteed to leave game in the field.

Let the mixed metaphors and trite outdoor expressions begin!

I spoke with Mel at Jericho General Store today and he said he has already checked in about 140 deer, up from last year. The largest deer so far was just under 200 pounds.