16 August 2007
Returning From Vacation and Heading For The Woods
Posted by Darrell under: Rantings Of An Outdoorsman .
Well, I’m back. Mexico was absolutely fantastic. At some point in the near future, I hope to post some pictures - such as the giant sailfish I had the privilege of witnessing a friend catch. I highly recommend Ixtapa, Mexico and will post some of my ‘experiences’ sometime later.
As you can imagine, returning home after 2 weeks is pretty hectic. I’ve got grass that is a good 18 inches tall, piles of stuff on my desk that is requiring my ‘immediate’ attention, hundreds of posts to read from my fellow outdoor bloggers, thousands (literally) of emails to review and respond to, and feeders to fill (there are some deer, turkey, raccoons, and squirrels that probably missed me more than anyone else).
I’ve found that the best way to deal with a huge pile up of stuff (rather than stressing out) is to prioritize it. Decide what is most important and then do that first.
As you might have guessed, I spent my first day back from vacation in the woods. I checked and filled all my feeders. I checked all my game cameras and downloaded the pictures - over 1300 of them. This took a full day and was more difficult than I had anticipated. I had to start by buying over 20 6V batteries. Sounds easy? I can promise that it isn’t. I had to go to three stores to find that many batteries.
Then, of course, I had to go to Bass Pro to buy my corn. You probably are wondering why anyone in their right mind would consider buying corn at Bass Pro, rather than at a feed store. Well, amazingly, the Redhead deer corn that Bass Pro sells is the best packaged corn that I’ve been able to find. I can throw a bag over my shoulder and hike a half mile through some really thick stuff with confidence that the bag will hold together. Most of the corn I buy at the local feed stores is packaged in paper bags that won’t hold together after soaking up a half mile’s worth of sweat.
Sweat? Yep, sweat and lots of it. You see, I can’t keep from sweating when carrying 40lb bags of corn in 103 degree heat. So, while some of you might be so bold as to suggest that I returned from an extended vacation in Mexico only to take another vacation in the woods, I must contradict you. Hauling corn for 8 hours in 103 degree weather is NOT a vacation. However, I will admit that I loved every minute of it.
Now, its back to the daily grind of real work and other mundane pursuits (like mowing) until Friday afternoon when I’m heading back to the woods for an entire weekend of brush clearing and feeder filling.
In the meantime, I hope to catch up on everyone’s blogs and write a few posts of my own. I want to thank everyone again for all their comments on my blog while I was gone. THANKS!
6 Comments so far...
Kristine Shreve Says:
16 August 2007 at 7:28 am.
Yay, you’re back! We missed you around here.
Glad you had a good vacation though.
Arthur Says:
16 August 2007 at 8:49 am.
Good like you’re glad to be back as well. Love being outside. You definitely have your priorities right.
Phillip Says:
16 August 2007 at 10:01 am.
Welcome back from paradise! I love Mexico. Haven’t hunted there, but the fishing is awesome and the people are the best!
Now, get back to work!
Matt Says:
16 August 2007 at 7:29 pm.
Welcome back and thanks for all your comments on the Bright Idea Outdoors blog.
I’d be interested to learn more about your use of feeders, especially what times are best to feed. I should note that I don’t use them and don’t plan to; feeding deer is illegal in Virginia from Sept. 1-Jan. 31. But someone asked me about how to use them today, thinking I might know something about it since I have hunting “connections” in other states.
Darrell Says:
16 August 2007 at 7:44 pm.
Matt, I set my feeders up to feed about 1 hour after sun up and 1-2 hours before sundown each day. The deer decide for themselves when they want to eat.
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