Why Does Camo have Green in it?

Have you ever wondered why the majority of the camouflage patterns hunters wear while deer hunting have green in them? 

After all, aren't the woods just dead brown and gray this time of year?

Well. . .

No, they aren't.  Especially this year, when temperatures have been warmer than usual, and we've have rain, but no snow that stuck.

See for yourself.

Moss on stumps and rocks are green:

Lichens on trees are various shades of green:

Grass and other cold-tolerant plants are still green in the leaf litter:



So, that is why camo for deer hunters includes shades of green.

(P.S. this public service announcement brought to you by the fact that I am still hunting and there are still no deer here! and I am so tired of looking at trees and birds and squirrels.)

The Deer Disappear Again

The second week of deer season.  More hunting, only now I can only go out in the evenings because I have to work in the mornings.  DH is on his third week of vacation, so still hunts twice a day.  But the deer have again disappeared.  We're both so glad he was able to get one on day seven.  It's not a lot of meat in the freezer, only about 50 pounds or so, but it's better than nothing.

I'm armed with the camera again, taking pictures of everything except deer.

Squirrels

There are apple trees scattered all through our woods, and near the SE stand, is very tall thin one.  Way at the top, 25+ feet up, were some apples still on the tree.  The squirrels were running up nearby trees that were taller, then leaning down to pluck apples off the apple tree.  They couldn't seem to go up the apple tree itself that far; the branches would move and bend too much for the squirrels to be able to get to the apples on the ends.  Then the squirrels would run down to ground level with an apple in their mouth before eating it, or the apple would fall to the ground and they'd run down to retrieve it.

Woodpeckers:

Apparently woodpeckers like apples too.  I was able to watch one eat an apple that was still on the tree.  Bet the squirrels are jealous.

Water that I have to wade through (about 45 feet worth) since it rained a whole bunch the other day.  I could go the long way around, through the field, but that would add lots of mud to the bottoms of my boots, which would then fall off as it dried.  Chunks of mud falling from a tree stand to the leaves below isn't exactly quiet; and quiet is what you want to be while hunting.  So, I wade.  Waterproof boots: a must for hunting.

Yet More Deer Hunting

A summary of the next several days of hunting.

Day four, DS2 arrived home from college around 9 p.m. for the Thanksgiving break.  He didn't really want to get up early to make the morning hunt (understandable after being on the road nearly 10 hours driving just about the whole length of Michigan).  He did, however, go out and hunt later in the day.  I was able to snap a picture of him and DH walking out together, DS2 to his stand in the NW corner, DH back out to the maple stand in the NE 1/3.

What a great statement of father-son bonding this picture is.  And how similar they are: same blaze orange hat worn the same dorky way on their head (dorky my opinion, I prefer to never let my hat stick up like that), same cammies, same boots, same height.  What you can't see is they have the same blue eyes, same dark brown hair, same ability to grow facial hair (DH chooses not to shave, DS2 shaves daily but could have a full beard after only about 3 weeks if he didn't).  DH is an engineer, DS2 is attending the same college (his choice) as DH did, going for the same major (again, his choice).

Neither one saw any deer that day.  But I did!  Not until after it was too dark to even see the sights on my gun, but I saw deer!  The aliens didn't take them all away after all!  Hope returns to the hunters!

The next day, I heard deer, but didn't see them.  DH saw one, but didn't take it because it was small.  DS2 was too busy catching up with old friend to go out hunting.

The seventh day of deer season, DH saw deer!  Boy, did he see deer.  I saw nothing back in my original stand (not very windy, LOL), but in the far north, DH saw about 60 does moving through.  So he shot one.  Now, finally, we had some meat for the freezer!

And More Hunting, With a Twist

Day four of firearm deer season, I climbed into a different tree.  It was still fairly windy, and I didn't care to sit on the ground if I really didn't have to (if I thought I could make 3 hours in the wind without dying) because I do prefer an aerial view of the woods while hunting.  Plus, the two days previous DH had sat in a tree stand near the SE corner of the woods--my tree stand is in the south 1/3, but west end, near the field--and he had seen an owl every time he was in the SE stand.  I wanted to see that owl if I wasn't going to see any deer, darn it!

So I took the camera, bundled up, and went to the SE stand (which, by the way, is pretty much blocked from the west wind by all the trees between it and the field) to owl--er, deer--hunt.  DH graciously moved to the platform in a maple tree (the "maple stand") in the NE 1/3 of the woods.

That morning, I didn't get to see any deer and heard maybe 1-2 shots in the neighborhood; we're all wondering where the heck the deer have gone.  Wild speculations abound: the deer were abducted by aliens.  Animal rights activists sprayed our property with Deer-B-Gone.  The deer all ate too many GMO soybeans (this year was lots of soybeans in the neighborhood since the spring was too wet to get much corn in) and died.  The coon hunters we heard in the woods late in bow season were actually out rounding up deer with dogs and hauling them away in livestock trailers. . .

This lack of deer is really getting frustrating.  I divert my frustration with watching for other interesting things in the woods, like this owl DH has been seeing.

Sure enough, about an hour an a half into my hunt, I look over my shoulder and nearly jump right out of the tree in surprise.  About 10 yards away, staring at me, is a barred owl.  I didn't even hear it fly in and land in the tree that is so close.  Those things really do fly with no sound!

Unfortunately, I was too noisy getting the camera up to my face and the owl flew away before I could get a picture.  But it was so cool!  Totally worth not seeing any deer that morning.

I returned to the same spot that evening, determined to be much more suave with my photography skills.  Waiting, waiting, and the owl spotting scene--where I'm startled to make eye contact and nearly fall out of the tree--replays itself.

You have to admit, if you were sitting in woods that were getting dark with the setting sun and you saw this over your shoulder you'd instinctively freak out a little too.  Kind of like something out of a horror movie, this face in the gloom.

 As you can see, I was able to get a cool picture without scaring the owl this time.  I took a couple while it was in that spot, then it flew to the same tree it had been in that morning and I took some more. 

Still no deer this night, but I did get to see the owl try to catch a gray squirrel.  Unfortunately for the owl the squirrel saw it coming just in time to dodge and get knocked off it's tree by the owl.  That gave the squirrel the chance to run into a hollow tree nearby, where it cussed that owl out good, and let all the other squirrels know there was danger.  Lucky squirrel, unlucky owl, and me thinking it was so cool to see the owl in action.

About an hour later that evening, when it was nearly dark enough for me to come down from my tree, I saw the owl zip by below, only a foot or two off the ground.  It was a lighter black streak in the dark, flying silently and quickly as it took advantage of the clear path our 'road' through the woods offered.



The Hunting Continues. . .

Day three, bitter cold.  Ground is frozen.  Wind is howling. The dog's water dish, out on the front porch, has an inch of ice in it.  Let's not even talk about the dismal state of the chicken waterers with their shallow pans.  Time to clear a spot in the basement for them to thaw.

But enough about farm chores.  It's deer season!  Back to the main focus here.

I don my trusty Carhartt Arctic insulated bibs, as well as a fleece jacket that zips to my chin, my orange fleece gator and an extra hat.  These are all additions to my hunting ensemble of the previous two days.  So now I'm wearing: two layers of socks, long johns, a turtleneck, the zip-up fleece, a sweatshirt, jeans, Carhartt bibs, hunting coat, fleece gator on my neck going up the back of my head, a black knit hat, my reversible hat that is fleece camo on one side and orange knit on the other, and thick camo gloves that I will have to take off to work the safety and trigger on the gun should a deer actually come by.  Whew!  I have so many layers on I walk kind of like the tin man--not very gracefully. 

The walk out to the woods, through the open field, is a chilly one.  No, scratch that, chilly doesn't begin to describe it.  It's a frigid one.  This feels like muzzle loading season, or the late doe hunt around Christmas time.  What a change from the temps near sixty we had on opening day.  Have I mentioned before the wind we get here?  Seems like the only non-windy days at this little place here are in July and August when it's so blisteringly hot and humid you actually want the wind back.

Despite the wind, I dutifully climb up into my tree stand and settle in for the morning hunt.  I have remembered to bring the camera.  Which is good, because again, there are no deer.

Leaves that are now dry and very crunchy.  Nice for alerting us when deer are approaching.  But also nice for alerting deer when hunters are walking through the woods.  A mixed blessing.

I almost turned into a human Popsicle that morning.  Barely made it three hours, even with all my gear on the wind had me chilled to the bone. 

Throughout the day, temperatures dropped as the wind picked up speed.  So, for the evening hunt I opted to abandon my post in the tree, and instead man the 'apple blind', which is made out of plywood and luan and is nestled into some wild apple trees about 50 yards north of where my tree stand is.  The apple blind has views of the woods and the field, and, more importantly this day, walls and a roof to help shield me from the wind.

I have traded in my aerial view of the woods for one that looks more like a movie viewed on a wide screen television:

A light snow is in the air, small white flakes hang suspended in the wind like dust motes in a summer sunbeam.  Hard to see, but still there (the camera didn't pick them up).

The field, viewed through the top of the door (it's a 1/2 door):

And, the distinguishing feature of the apple blind, the "mouse chair":

The mouse chair came to this little place here after completing a life of service as the driver's seat in my brother-in-law's old van.  When the van was scrapped, the seat was salvaged because of it's promise to be a comfortable spot to sit while hunting. 

At the time the apple blind became the apple blind (it spent two seasons in the far NE corner of our woods before DH decided it didn't have enough elbow room for him, and graciously gave it to me, who at that point had been sitting on an upturned pickle bucket in the weeds near the apple trees), the mouse chair was added to it, perched on a couple of cinder blocks to bring it to the right height.

But it wasn't yet the mouse chair.  The first season I sat in the apple blind, I often had children in tow.  Even before they were old enough to hunt on their own, they often sat with DH or I to experience what it is like to deer hunt.  And their first season when they are old enough to man the gun themselves, we still sit with them until they (and we) are comfortable with them sitting alone.

Well, one of the first days of using the apple blind, DS2 came hunting with me.  He was just 14, and this was when the minimum age for hunting with a gun during deer season in Michigan was still 14.  So, I graciously let him have the chair while I sat much lower (barely able to see out the windows) on a folding camp chair next to him.

The next day, DH went out and used the apple blind. I believe the kids were in school that day and I was at work in the morning.  DH saves his vacation time for deer season, and usually hunts 2-3 weeks straight (he also bow hunts).  Anyway, on this day DH went to pick up the chair to adjust it slightly (if you don't pick it up before trying to turn it, it makes horrible loud noises on the cinder blocks), and when he picked it up he found a squashed, dead mouse.  Apparently the poor mouse had been under the rigid bottom of the chair when DS2 sat on it the previous day, and DS2's weight was enough to crush the mouse to death.

But that's not when it became the mouse chair.  It wasn't until the following year during deer season when I sat in it and could hear squeaking near my ear (the chair has a high back on it) and then felt movement down my back--inside the back of the chair--that it became the mouse chair.

Since then, the hole in the seat has appeared, where mice have chewed into it to make an access from the top of the cushion to their nest inside.

Hunting.  Not for those afraid of mice.

Thanksgiving at This Little Place Here

We are having a quiet Thanksgiving, just DH, DS2, the two DDs and I.  DS1 is deployed currently and unable to take leave for the holiday, so we have left him messages via the computer. 

The morning began with feeding critters, then getting the (homegrown) turkey into the oven before heading out to the woods for the morning hunt.  Back in the house about 10:30 a.m., the TV gets turned on to the football game, and the girls and I go into the kitchen to get busy preparing the big meal for today.

Pumpkin pie, from a pumpkin we grew, was baked yesterday.  Today is apple pie, and DD2 pares and slices the apples while I make up the crust.  Meanwhile, DD1 gets some (homegrown) sweet potatoes washed up and on to cook.  Then she peels and cuts up potatoes, and puts those on to cook also.  Once the pie is in the oven, I punch down the dough that has been rising for rolls, divide it into 20 pieces, and put them into pans to rise before baking.  DD1 has moved on to mixing up a green bean casserole, DD2 is taking the peels outside--apple peels to the chickens and potato peels to the compost bin.

Right before the rest of the food is done cooking, I slice up staled bread for stuffing, then saute celery and onions in lots of butter.  Add sage, thyme, salt, pepper, and some turkey drippings, then mix well with the bread cubes for a stuffing so good even stuffing haters will take seconds of. Before I tired making stuffing from scratch, I never cared for stuffing.  And once I convinced my daughters that mine didn't taste like any they'd tried before--which was always made from a box or bag--they found out that they like it too.  Stuffing is incredibly easy to make.

Stuffing
9 cups of stale bread cubes (put about 10 slices of bread on a wire cooling rack overnight to get stale, then cut into cubes)
3/4 cup butter
1 1/2 cups diced celery
3/4 cup chopped onion
1/2 tsp sage
1/2 tsp thyme
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp pepper
turkey drippings (1/2 to 1 cup, depending on how moist you like your stuffing).

Saute celery and onion in melted butter until soft.  Stir in seasonings.  Add turkey drippings and pour over bread cubes.  Stir to blend, then serve immediately.

The rest of the turkey drippings get made quickly into gravy, and the meal is served.  Turkey, mashed potatoes, gravy, candied sweet potatoes, green bean casserole, corn, stuffing, and rolls.  Nothing extravagant, but all of it from scratch and most of it raised right on the property.  

That is something to be thankful for: this little place here that provides us the means to access high quality and naturally grown food.  The ground to grow the garden.  The zoning that allows us to raise poultry.  The acres of woods that mean we can go deer hunting not by driving long distances to remote areas, but simply by walking 300-400 yards from our beds.  Our children, three quarters of whom are able to be home today, and all of whom are growing to be such responsible adults.  And our marriage, still strong after all these years, despite many trials and tribulations along the way.

Simple blessings.  The best ones of all.

Hunting. . . Waiting on the Deer.

So, day one was a bust.  Hardly any deer seen, none taken, or even aimed at.  Day two began with high hopes and slightly cooler temperatures.  In my bundling up against the brisk west wind, I forgot to bring the camera with me in the morning.  But, ended up I didn't have anything to take pictures of anyway, except for trees.  No deer, and strangely, not even any birds that morning.  Usually I see at least a half-dozen different kinds of birds, and always chickadees.

The morning hunt of day two was dismal.  No shots in the neighborhood (did everyone go back to work after opening day?), and no deer sighted or even heard on our property.  Sat just as long as the day before, then went into the house to warm up. 

Brief interlude from 'hunting camp' to do some grocery shopping, then back into the woods about 3:00 p.m.  The air temp has dropped and the wind has gotten even stronger.  In my stand, I realize that I'm way too close to the open field--not enough of a windbreak and I'm going to be pretty frozen by the time full dark arrives.

I did, however, remember to bring the camera. So, for your viewing enjoyment and a taste of what happens to your mind when you sit in a tree stand for hours in cold weather without seeing any deer, I present:

Pockets I sewed into the inside of the tree stand skirt when I made it.  Very handy.  Looks like I should have sewed on a few more ties, though, to counteract those pockets.  It's kind of saggy.

My knees, showing off my new camo pants (bought on clearance last Feb. for $7 if I remember right).  I've never had camo pants before.  Really like my new britches!  Now my legs look like trees :0)



Strange but sort of pretty fungus growing on a tree, way up in the air.  The next day this same stuff was totally black and deflated, probably from the cold overnight temperature.



Woodpecker holes in tree behind me.

Fox grapes (wild grapes) still on the vine, about 20 feet in the air.  Those wild grapes just grow and grow and grow, eventually smothering their host tree.  I'm really surprised no birds had eaten them yet.



End second day, still no deer.  Even less shots heard in neighborhood.  DH & I getting frustrated; we're using up valuable time off work sitting in the woods looking at trees, squirrels, fungus, and grapes two stories off the ground, but no deer.