11/16/10

And I'm back. I had a pretty good time on my vacation, although it was more of a stay-cation since I didn't really go anywhere. Well, I did go to the hunting ranch with my brother-in-law, but I'm not really counting that. I'll tell y'all why as I get to it. OK, so Friday the 5^th I slept in and then... um, I don't remember what I did. I think I hung out with mom and did stuff. Saturday the 6^th we didn't go to the shop but I don't remember why. Sunday the 7^th I got the call from Larry Shuttlebus asking if I wanted to go to the gun show. I did. I decided that the likelihood of me actually pulling the trigger on a deer if I had one in my scope was less than 50% and that if I did it would bum me out really bad putting one down. I packed up the .308 Saiga and all the magazines, made a sign, and headed to the credit onion to meet Larry. He was incredulous that I wanted to sell the gun I'd just bought before I'd even gone on the hunting trip I'd bought said gun for. Spelling it out now and I see why. Eh, so I'm dumb. We go to the show and don't even make it one quarter of the way down the first row when someone buys the thing! So now I'm dangerous. I'm “Nigga Rich” at the gun show. I begin shopping Judges again. We walk the entire event and then I go back to the table with the best price. I buy a new Judge. I swing by an ammo vendor and buy a box of Federal Personal Defense 000 shotgun shells and then go to a holster dealer and buy an IWB (Inside the Waist Band) holster for Kurt Corto. I think Larry actually got away without buying anything, but I've slept since then. We go to Benito’s and eat then he drops me off at my car. I decide against going to shoost the new Judge, but I'm not sure why. I call my sister to see if the hunting trip is still on. Lester, my brother-in-law, does still want to but puts us off until Tuesday afternoon. Monday I spend with mom again doing... I don't remember, mom stuff. All Monday evening I'm dreading getting ready to go on the hunting expedition. Tuesday morning I get packed and head to Granbury. We go to a reception for a congressman my sister helped get elected and then head to the ranch. We take Fifi, by the way. Once we arrive, we take all our stuff into the cabin and head to his blind. We watch for deer until the sun sets. We see none. Oh, I brought the Lever Gun, the new Judge, and the Auto 5 with me on the trip. In the blind I had the Judge on my hip in a holster, which was quite cool (I can't wait for open carry!), and the Lever Gun. Once it was too dark to see, we headed back to the cabin. We both crashed out around 2000 h since there was nothing else to do and we were planning to hit the blinds again at 0600 h the next morning. I woke up at 2200 h and went outside to pee. I woke up again at 0030 h, peed again, and shut off the outside lights which were shining in the window. I woke again at 0500 h, peed of course, and debated going ahead and getting dressed for the day. I figured Lester knew what he was doing and would wake me in time so I went back to bed. He walked in at 0630 h and woke me. He had slept right through his alarm. Oops. We went to a different blind and watched for deer until the sun was fully up. We saw nothing. At 0900 h we drove into Graham for breakfast and to make pooping. See, the hunting camp has this chair-bucket-plastic bag contraption for crapping. Wal-Mart has real poopers. You do the math. When we got back to the ranch, we checked and fixed some feeders, talked to the landlord, and then went back to the camp to take naps. We headed back to the blinds at 1530 h. He stuck me in my own blind this time and took off to his. I watched for deer thinking, “If one comes to this side of the feeder,” about 60-75 yards, “I’ll consider taking the shot.” I waited. At 1655 h or so the feeder activated and spread corn. At 1705 h, I saw the only deer of the day. She walked out of the cover and passed right behind the feeder, about 100 yards away. I didn't feel comfortable with the shot, not to mention the whole “I’d have been really bummed out had I hit her” deal. When she disappeared back into the brush, I relaxed a little. Around 1800 h I began hearing something in the brush right below me. I got really still and breathed very shallowly. I heard some sort of “huffing” or “grunting” sound directly below the blind! I tried, as silently as I could, to look out the window but couldn't see anything. Eventually the sun was fully set and Lester reappeared with Fifi. I closed up the blind and hopped in the truck. He gave me the choice: we could go into town for dinner and try again in the morning or we could pack it in and go home. I chose my own bed. We loaded up and drove back to Granbury where we met my sister in town. Lester took his gear and they went home while I did the same. So, since we were only gone one night and just a day and a half, I don't really consider that “Going somewhere.” Well, it is approaching lunch time so I'm going to call this report done and will continue tomorrow.