High Speed Beef

 Yep, it's that time of the year.  Pull the lightning stick out of hibernation and rack in a fresh shell.
The state of Michigan has deemed us worthy enough to have a go at some early season does.
It is my understanding that the herd has progressed to a saturated state ( as if you couldn't tell by the carcasses that litter the highway and rural country roads) and the DNRE needs our help to thin the herd.
Yes the DNRE.  Department of Natural Resources and Environment.  It seems as though they have done such a great job at managing our hunting, fishing and camping that they now have the power to manage our environment.  Who only knows what that is going to cost us.  So anyways in order to thin the herd the DNRE has placed a bounty on the heads of the doe population.  Should I say a reverse bounty.  Somehow they have figured that $15 per tag should help get them out of debt or rather get "us" out of debt.  Sounds to me like they are not quite as concerned with the doe population as they are with making some money.  I won't dwell but if they charged $5 per tag then I might line up at the counter with the rest of my hunting comrades and buy our limit of 5 per day.  Yes I said 5 per day.  Can you imagine shooting 5 deer in a day?
I am lucky enough to have the facilities and the capabilities for home processing but some do not and the local butchers are charging between $75 and $110 a deer for processing.  Multiply that by 5 and most need a small lottery winning to put some venison in the freezer.  Where am I going with this?  Nowhere really.  Just whining about the price of a license.   It doesn't do any good because I purchased one anyways.  Next i will purchase my combination license which is $30 and allows me to shoot 2 bucks.  Then I will purchase another 2 or 3 doe license.  It doesn't matter because the addiction to hunting and sausage/jerky making is too powerful for my checkbook to resist.  So here we go.  First night of doe hunting.

Of course all I see is BUCKS!!!!

This guy was a 6 point or so.  He didn't stay out in the open very long.

This is the view from the left side of the stand.  This grass path runs out to a 100 acre corn field.

This is the view out the front.  A pine stand to the front and a pond and thickets to the right make for a nice bedding area and the deer are frequently moving through this tall grass to and from their bedding and feeding areas.

These two guys were at the end of the grass path next to the corn.  A scrubby 4 point and a 6/7 point.

This little unicorn walked right out in front of me at ten yards.

That was all I saw the first night.

The neighbor shot two does and donated one to me for some good grub.

Start filling the freezer back up.

It's nice to sit in the quiet and read with the background noises of nature.

Saturday morning I took Kaitlin with me and the morning started all right but then a storm moved in and it began to lightning and thunder.  The deer were pretty much bedded down and not moving.  We sat through the storm anyways.  We just closed the windows and Kaitlin curled up in her chair and napped while I read my book.

Isn't she just adorable?  My mighty huntress!!

Once the storm let up we both decided to call it quits and head for pancakes and sausage.

I'll try again tonight.