Our two days with Ken in his camper at his lease were fantastic in spite of some weather that gave even us Michiganders a run for our money.

As we drove up Wednesday night it started raining. By the time we met up with Ken it was really coming down, and I fishtailed down the road to his lease but on the 2-track in we still did better than Ken in his 2WD F-150!

The rain continued all night and Thursday morning it continued with heavy winds. We slept in and ate breakfast together, and Ken had a great collection of classic movies and board games we played a while

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I was itching to get out and see the lease, so we set out in spite of driving rains, cold temps, and high winds. The views and scenery were well worth it; Ken has a lovely arrangement.

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The Texas mud ain't no joke; before we were a hundred feet from the camper we were carrying quite a load on each boot. Even after scraping there was a lot:

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Carrying that weight was tiring and the temps rain & wind wore us out quickly. When we returned to the camper Ken presented me with an extraordinarily special gift, a stag handle Moore Maker custom knife & leather sheath:

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He couldn't know it but as I watched Joe & Tom work w/ their knives while butchering pigs I fantasized about the sort of fine blades I see pictured in posts here. I am amazed at his thoughtfulness & generosity!

We watched a few movies, told stories, sipped Dr Pepper, and got cabin fever.

Finally we could take no more and decided to shoot. Ken & I have, as near as we can figure, been "modern day pen pals" here on the 'fire since around '08 or 9 so we know a lot about one another's favorite rifles. It was a real pleasure to get to shoot his Rem 6mm in a Boyds Classic topped w/ Burris FFII 6x40mm & German #4 after hearing so much about it. Likewise he enjoyed shooting the 257 AI that has performed so beautifully on this trip w/ the M8 6x42mm & German #4 he gave me a few years back.

The evening was spent chatting, eating popcorn, and discussing hunt plans for Friday morn before Elijah & I'd head for Arkansas on our next step toward home. At every point Ken was gracious host, and exceedingly kind to Elijah rubbing him and helping him enjoy himself.

The forecast suggested an end to the rain Thursday night, and we were excited for a walk around the lease & some coyote calling. That was when I missed having camo...