Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Deer Hunting Birth of a deer camp

Wait, What? Are you replying to me about the elk thing? I thought maybe there might be a 5% outside chance. That's very cool of you Dave. And don't you love the creative editing feature on this board?

My boy and I are headed to the UP in the morning for a week of tent camping and fishing. Got the boat for big water...well, actually near shore Lake Superior and inland lakes. We'll try the skinny water around Hemingway's old haunts for some trout too. Bringing a .22 and some soup cans for some old school by gosh plinking. Going to hit the trails for some hiking too...maybe the Pictured Rocks area. We made up a bunch of frozen omelettes from recipes we found here on the 'Fire. We have venison brats, venison backstrap kabobs, smoked venison round, duck, and hopefully we get into some fish too. I've been looking forward to this all summer.

After seeing that lift, I need to go buy a power tool.

Daaaaaamn

made it out to my friends place to check up on our stands before season.
we no sooner had gotten near the soybean field,than out of the woods bolts a large buck in velvet,and runs down the length of the field (250 yards)and past one of our stand sites.
as soon as he hit the woods,here's, his twin brother running down the same row,disappears into the same spot.
haven't really seen many deer on this property,have only taken one doe in 4-5 seasons.Its surrounded on all sides by homes and farms,pretty broken up ,and overgrown with buckthorn.
maybe this year will be different.I don't know if they were big enough for the antler restrictions for me( 4 on one side) ,but my 17 YO can take any deer here.
phone cameras are way too slow to get a shot on running deer when they are close enough to actually see,but tracks don't leave.
by some of the " evidence " left behind,they have been feasting on the wild plums plentiful on the property.

Hope you get 'em Fluffy!

If you can dress down like me, (notice I didn't say "up") and talk/act like me well enough to fool my old man.... I'll hire you to go in my place, what was I thinking??? This hunt has me all stressed out. I want to go, but getting this business off the ground is crucial to our future and financial well being...

I'm stressed.

One down one to go . The next will be made from Mossy Oak cover OSB . I can already see a change for the next one too.
I made the window too tall and it exposes too much .

Next is what color to paint the inside ?

Cathy and I are just settling in after a weekend run to Alexandria to volunteer at a youth outdoors event headed up by Berettaman. It was a rousing success. I got to help out at a muzzleloading shotgun exhibit where the kids got to observe the loading of flintlock shotguns and got to shoot them. They had well over 40 different activities for the kids to witness and even a free lunch. All of this was free of charge, and the kids had a ball. Good job Dean. You reall hit it out of the park with this. I'll definitely be back next year.

You're going to be just fine. You don't have it in you to be anything but successful with this venture. Jumping into the deep end of the pool can be scary, but your work ethic will carry you through. Don't fret.

Spend some time planning the hunt with your son - it's half the fun anyway! It'll take your mind off of things you can't control. Think of it, 3 generations of Shaws in elk camp for a week, those will be memories that last a lifetime.

Think of all those beer can's they'll have to pick up.

Greetings from the Hot land in India. dave i think you may need a break after all the stress and time you've been putting in with the new venture..you deserve it man! It 102 degrees here right now and its hot. cant wait to get back to the mother land and start thinking deers....big white guys dont do so well over here. i'd like to be the one throwing down those beer cans Tzone! maybe they need chaperones.

Good idea Bushy. Dave will need a camp cook !

Have Dutch ovens will travel!

well if they need a place to layover my door is always open. I can promise a hot meal and place to rest on their journey.

Glad to hear the youth outdoors day was a big hit! we need to get more youngsters into the outside and away from the boobtube

Oh I can assure you they need chaperones. Theyre won't be any though.

Dave, looks just like one of mine. 'Ceptin, mine is blue & seems to look older.

Are you getting a drive on ramp hoist too ?

Oil changes, axles, hubs, suspension, diffs, exhaust. Dude, it all just got easier.

Probably even prepping & painting too.

Oh yeah, big time with the prepping, body work, rusty panel removal and replacement.

It's going to be awesome.

The 4 post type is on the wish list, maybe someday if we add on to the shop.

Good. Will you change oil on my equipment too. Will it handle 45K#? I hope you have 14'+ walls.

I will gladly dump some ice water on your head for payment.

Drumroll please........final tally: 542 kids! First ever event! With parents and helpers we were over 1000 people. Many thanks to Gophergunner for his (and his wife's) help!

Great job, Berettaman. You guys missed out on a really good time. I was really impressed with how well this went for a first time event. The variety of stuff they had for the kids to experience was truly impressive. Equally impressive was the fact that this was all free-including a lunch! There will be a Correction of Errors for next year, but I can't believe that list will be very long. These guys really did this right.

Man that's a great turn out! Congrats B-man. I know you worked pretty hard on putting some of that stuff together. Excellent work to all who were involved.