My husband went to the deer camp Saturday morning and stayed until Sunday. He rarely ever misses church but this weekend he even missed church because...he had important work to do. Now deer season doesn't start for 4 weeks but it will take several trips between now and that date to have everything ready. This is what I understand had to be done:
Photo by Flickr
1. Check the deer stand to be sure it hasn't rotted since last year. If the boards have rotted they could break while you're up there and you could fall to the ground and you could break your leg. Ask me how I know that. Yep, it happened to him. That year he was on the side of the mountain and had to walk a mile or two out. Thank goodness he had a friend with him to lean on. I was at home having a yard sale when his friend drove up in the truck with my husband in the passenger seat and said I'm taking him to the hospital - you wanta' go?
2. Put out the deer feeder. You have to train the deer to go where you want to aim. If you're going to sit up in one of those deer stands then the deer have to come to you. Doesn't seem fair to me but there you have it.
3. Hurricane Ike knocked out the electricity in lots of Arkansas last week, including the deer camp. Yes they have electricity, satellite television, and central heat and air. A concrete block house with one huge bedroom (wall to wall bunk beds of snoring men, shudder), a living room and a kitchen but with all the modern conveniences. Including a shower which is rarely used. I digress. The electricity went out for several days and the deer meat left in the freezer thawed. No one was there. Someone came out to check. Found a freezer full of rotted meat. Don't think about it - you'll have nightmares. And now they wonder why they can't get the smell out of the freezer.
4. Deer season is over by Christmas. The deer camp is left empty until the next fall, except for an occasional visit to "bushhog" the grass. Cleaning might be a good thing. Even for a group of men the 2" thick dust, spider webs, and mouse droppings are not what they want to come home to after a long day of hunting. I wonder if they just hose it out but I don't dare ask for fear they might think that's a good idea if they aren't already doing it.
5. He had to find a good spot for his GameCam. That is a camera that you mount out in the woods neer your feeder (see #2 above). It is on a timer and every few minutes it takes a picture, all night long. You get great pictures of startled & big eyed deer, raccoons who could care less if a light is flashing as long as there is food, coyotes who really are sneaky creatures, and occasionally critters you can't identify. The purpose of this is....I haven't figured that out yet. I guess they sit around and watch their pictures and brag about who has the most animals feeding at their spot.
6. Wood has to be cut for the fireplace. Never mind that you don't have but a little wood at home for the fireplace that is supposed to keep your wife warm. Besides, at the deer camp there's lots of wood there for the cutting. And men must cut wood. It's a manly thing.
Edited: I wrote this post on Saturday and set it to post on Sunday. According to my husband the mosquitos were so bad at the deer camp because of the recent rains from Gustav and Ike that he couldn't spend the night. He arrived home just at dinner time. You know how they do that? Tell you they won't be home for dinner, arrive at dinner time and ask what's for dinner? I need help here girls. What is your response when your husband does that. Because I'm pretty sure screaming isn't the right one.
