showertime

...had to find a new way to use my waterproof camera, you know, since I never kayak anymore...

What about that spot?

"What about that spot?"

My friend and wildlife artist (taxidermist), Chuck, has a beautiful hunting farm in a nearby county. Almost every year I will accompany him to the farm for a few hunts here and there. Sometimes it is for turkeys, sometimes for deer. He has been hunting the farm for over 20 years. He has a commanding grasp of the animal behavior and patterns on the farm. We generally do very well at turkey and deer hunting. My first big buck came off the farm as well. Yet, every time we pull up to hunt, we park at the mouth of a very large field where an oak finger of woods about 100 yards wide cuts the farmland in half. I always make the comment, I bet there are deer running all through here. It is a point that we must park somewhere and this is the most logical choice. However, I couldnt shake the feeling that it was a great funnel for the deer activity. Year after year, hunt after hunt, we would make our hunting location selections and disperse into the hundreds of acres and various proven stand locations.

I actually was fortunate to accompany him several times this year to this farm and others. I almost shot a 140 class 8 pointer off the "Pete's Stand" location (named after me when I shot my first good buck on 9/11 2001). I watched him for an hour make his way from his scrape into the soybeans in my direction. He jumped back into the woods and then ran off a smaller (but still nice) buck. He returned to the bean field. I hesitantly made a few grunts and he started heading in my direction. But you know, that would be too easy. A punk yearling doe came in behind me and caught my wind. She proceeded to embark on a wild deterioration of my otherwise perfect set up literally moments from arrowing the big brute. He was only 10 yards away but she was in a knockdown dragout staring contest with me and waiting for any movement. I couldnt draw my bow. The buck was totally unaware of the situation. She just wouldnt let it go - come on - just leave - PLEASE!!! Yes, I am a hunter in a tree, big deal, you found me, you won, just leave and nobody gets hurt (except the buck - but I didnt suggest that to her). She finally just couldnt stand it and snorted like she never snorted before. For a deer, that is a successful hunt. She won, she lived, she probably told all her friends back in the thicket that she busted the "big bad hunter". But that is bow hunting and the big bruiser still ghosts through the woods today.

We returned several times to make a run at arrowing the big guy. No luck. I even brought a videographer out with me on one of the tries. Gun season came and still no sign of the monster. One evening brought success to Chuck's son, Cody, as he shot a good 7 point buck trailing a doe. It had a totally broken jaw and blown out eye socket. No wonder the doe was running. That same night, another family member got a look at the big 8 pointer. It offered no shot, just a brief glimpse.

Not winning any beauty contests.

I shot a great 8 pointer at a different hunting spot one evening. Feeling the magic, I begged my wife for permission to hunt again in the morning. We all returned to the farm the next morning. When deciding where to hunt, I made the comment, "what about that spot". Wanting to mix things up, we thought it would be a good idea. I hadnt been into that section of woods in years and Chuck gave me a brief idea of what to look for. I knew the general layout from my studies of the aerial photos and topo maps I use when preparing a game plan for the hunting property. But it turned out to be maybe my favorite hunting morning ever.

There was a fresh glaze of snow on the ground, which is a very rare treat for central NC hunters. Snow was still falling. We all made our way to our morning spots. Mine was an adventure in unfamiliarity. A short walk of a few hundred yards down the field edge and a right turn into the woods - go perpendicular off the field for 50 to 60 yards around some pine blowdowns then turn left and go 50 yards northwest until you find a good tree. This would put me in the narrowest part of the funnel of woods. The snow made it easy to see my surroundings. I found a perfect tree for my climbing stand - a 16" diameter perfectly straight for 40 ft. poplar in the perfect spot with a cappuccino machine in the top of it. That almost never happens. I hear a shot from the other side of the farm. Either Chuck or his cousin has shot on the way to the stand. Usually means a buck running away from a 10 minutes too late hunter.

Up I go. I am sitting semi reclined 40 feet off the forest floor waiting for morning. I can peer into the field behind me and see a doe feeding. Snow is still falling. It is 30 degrees with a small breeze and I am warm. I couldnt imagine a prettier sunrise. The woods are just waiting to start crawling with deer. still waiting, and waiting. Nothing. I like to hunt hero or zero spots. This is looking like a zero.

My friends and family are calling from different areas talking about their morning. Pat has seen a several - his farm is an indicator of general deer activity everywhere. Matt's daughter Kat (my cousin) has shot her first buck and little Matt is tracking it. Chuck has seen a few including some small buck. The shot was his cousin's. It was at a big buck running a doe in the field he was heading to. I was talking to Matt on the phone describing my spot. I mentioned how perfect it looked, but without the deer I had expected.

A small punk yearling doe emerged from the pine thicket at the corner of the field. Well, well, well, wouldnt you know who it is. And yep, she found me. Now I take great pride in remaining as scent-free as humanly possible while hunting. Wash all clothing after every use in scent free detergent, shower before every hunt with scent free/eliminating soap, wear rubber boots who's souls have never seen anything except hunting ground, scent free deodorant, scent free spray, on and on. I almost never get busted. It is not possible to be totally scent free as breath and dander are biologically unavoidable. But I try my hardest, yet here we are again with my old nemesis.

After about ten minutes or so of Nervous Nelly down below, she sheepishly sneaks out of the area without the familiar "OH-MY-GOSH!! ITS A HUNTER!!! RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!!!" episode. Maybe she felt sorry for ruining my previous hunt. Not ten minutes later, I hear some ruckus off to my right.

Some motion followed by a deep grunt send the alarm bells off. I look up to see some brown deer parts, but my view is somewhat blocked by the 100 yards of oak forest between myself and the deer. I know there is a buck there due to the grunt. The question is what kind of buck is it. Wind is knocking the snow off the branches and it glistens in the sunlight. This is like a dream. During a wind gust, the deer ran for a few feet and disappeared again. I heard a large stick crack off further right. Did they just run away? 3 or 4 minutes go by until I see the unforgettable sight of lots of rack sitting on top of lots of buck. Up comes the gun. There are several branches in my way and the buck needs to take half a step to be in a 10" hole of open air that I can shoot through. He stays put for several moment before he begins to move. Finally, he cooperates. A pull of the trigger and straight down he goes. Several does run off in a blaze. Ahhhhhh......From Zero to Hero in 5 minutes. I make all the usual calls on the cell phone and climb down to see my buck.

Everything went right. I had a plan, it worked. I made a perfect shot. The snow in the forest made it special, and it couldnt have been a better hunt. I didnt get the giant 140" 8 pointer, but maybe someone else will. I think when God was bringing babies into the world on June 26 1975, he looked down, shook His head and said, "This one is going to love to hunt." It turned out to be a mainframe 10 pointer with a small kicker that makes him an 11 pointer. Not my biggest buck, non of us had even seen him before, but it was just a classic, unforgettable hunting morning. Can't wait to have one of these mornings with my son!

Thursday night and Friday Morning.

Timing is Everything. The big one I almost got a shot at in bow season will have to wait till next year.

Complete

Ah,,, finally complete. Six months of work and very little sleep - and we threw in having a baby in the latter stages just to spice it up a bit. I framed it (with my crew), trimmed it out, installed the tile floors, installed all the wood cielings and did all the other stuff that Christmas elves usually do. But it is now done and I am free!!! except for the baby part.


front view
front on angle
family room

family room and fireplace (favorite hangout for the dogs)
Dining roon
Kitchen
Master bedroom
All important man-cave

very noticable spot between right two windows is for the other caribou that is almost back from my wildlife artist.

Petie's room
Petie dreaming of johny-jump-up thing
Now just a few lanscaping touches...

and there was FIVE....

The Arrival of the Ninja Baby!

We introduced our son to the world at 4:35am on April 10, 2008. He came a couple of weeks earlier than scheduled, but 8 1/2 months not soon enough. We are so happy - he's perfect. It is really neat to look at James Simon Peter Beck V - I've always dreamed of what he would look like. I will have more to come when things settle into the groove and I can get a minute.

Full Circle

breath

Russell Fork Gorge 2008

Not Where Your Mother Wants You to Be...

RUSSELL FORK GORGE

That doesnt look dangerous does it?....

Kevin has had his eye on this one for quite some time now. I never really put much consideration torwards it. I was wrong. This was the meanest river I have yet run, but one of the best. Kevin and I met up with some ace kayakers from around the area and took a tour of the gorge. Edgar, Matt, Trevyn, Clinton, Kevin and myself headed out for the daytrip. Only Matt had run this one before and it made for some great scout and run creeking in the class "dont swim" department. At the level we ran it, it is a class IV+ run which means that it has some V's in it along the way. It is a dam release river, but we were only catching it at a moderate flow due to rain. At release levels, it is a true beast. Not a good place to be if things go wrong. Lots of undercuts, sieves, caves, pins, and other bad things waiting for unfortunate souls.



I loved it. Had two beatdowns, won both of the battles, Nobody swam, didnt break any gear, didnt even get scratched up bad. It was a good day on the river. Not terribly challenging, but very serious in nature due to the danger factor. Apparently, lots of good paddlers have met their end here - at a rate of at least one per year. Dont mess up....



Here is the crew scouting Tower


Me entering Tower
Me boofing around the hole at Tower (had to "launch" off this rock to avoid a big ugly hole)

Me landing after the boof at Tower (sweet rapid)

Edgar coming through the last drop at Triple Drop
Matt running through somewhere on the river
Edgar cutting into the eddy at Triple Drop
Me turning the corner into the final hole at Triple Drop
Me finishing the boof at El Horendo (10 footer - slide to boof). About to land in a world of White

Wilson Creek

Ah, finally, Wilson Creek...

I am sizing up my line above Triple Drop (got rocks?)

Kevin Ratliff, Marc Miller, and I ran Wilson Creek for the first time on Christmas Eve. Trän was working, and the river was running. Santa doesnt drop whole rivers into a stocking, so we had to go to it. It did however rain just before the holidays which made for a Christmas Wish come true so to speak. Somehow, we had just never made it to this river yet.

Getting ready to boof the flake at Boatbuster

This was a fun run. Not too much danger, but lots of slides and slots to hit. Markably less difficult than the Watauga Gorge. It was just pure fun. There was not alot of "impending doom" as sometimes experienced on harder rivers. This is, I guess, good and bad. Good for just enjoying the experience, bad for leaving and still wanting more! Kevin and I ran it pretty clean. Marc did so as well with the exception of one out-of-boat experience (obe) as a result of a lodged paddle on the river bottom. He likes his paddle, but he likes to breathe as well! As he was working things out (under water), his skirt imploded and left him no choice but a cold swim. He bailed on the entrance to 10 foot falls in the tight boulder jumble. Fortunately, he did not go through 10 foot falls swimming - though his boat washed over. He made shore before the real fun and we collected up gear below. Just a little added adventure, thats all!

Kevin busting through Triple Drop

Intrestingly enough, I took Shaphan again during the week after Christmas, and he had a swim in the same place. It is a real good spot to get out of control, and punishing for it. Just alot of boulders clumped up together with alot of current as well.

Entrance to 10 Foot Falls (just below the swim site)

Hiking back for another go on Boatbuster

Getting ready for The Wall

punching through Thunderhole

Punching through the hole at 10 Foot Falls

typical Wilson Creek ledge

boofing the flake on Boatbuster

somewhere on the river

We met a fellow named Scott Houston. He is a semi-local which means he lives close enough to drive up everytime it runs. Here we are talking over some of our global domination strategies.

working my way through Triple Drop

Kevin making poster ready action shots while boofing at The Wall

Grant not to be undone at The Wall

All in all, this was a great river. In fact, I did it 3 times that week! You've got to love the holidays! I will be back for more. And for Andrew in AK, and Steve in NYC, I need to take you guys to this one sometime.