Martin's Antler Handle Hammer

Martin has finally found a way to use all of those spikes he has been harvesting. It is a hammer with an antler handle. Very cool!

Martin, I tried to do that on the deer that I shot last year and it didn't quite turn out as good as yours. The one you made looks like it is a lot easier to use.

Great work Martin. Keep up the good work.

Trial Run with "The Lodge"

Two weekends ago we did a trial run with the new tent. We'll call it "The Lodge". I wanted to make sure I know how everything worked before using it in November. Plus, I can's stand having a new toy and not playing with it. In a nutshell, it was a huge success. Here is a photo of The Lodge in action

This is definitely not the right tent for weekend camping, but it will be a beautiful thing for us during our week of hunting. The purpose of the trip was to learn how to do everything and what I needed to change, if anything. Here is what I learned.

Becket
A becket is a small piece of rope with a knot tied at each end.

If you make a loop with the becket, and pass that loop through the grommet, then drive the stake through the loop, then if the stake gets stuck in the ground you can just cut the becket and leave the stake in the ground. This was almost a problem on the trial run camping trip. I didn't bring a hammer with a claw so it was hard to pull the stakes out of the ground.

Water Tank
The stove has a water tank that hangs from the side. This allows the stove to heat up the water and provide us with hot water for whatever we need it. The spigot on the water tank is connected with a nut on the inside. I learned that the nut is not made from stainless steel like the tank is, so it started to rust after two days of use. This made the water all rusty.

 

So, I went to the hardware store and got a plastic nut. We shouldn't have to worry about rusty nuts ever again. (I can't speak for Duke's nuts. His may be rusted out completely already.)

Tent Setup
The tent setup should take less than an hour when we are all working together. I have set it up twice so far and I am getting a good routine. The actual tent setup only takes about 30 minutes. The thing that takes the longest time is driving the 44 stakes in the ground. If I bring 2-3 hammers then we all should be able to get that part done in no time.

Anticipation....It's making me wait.

At the time I am writing this, we have 232 more days until the 2015 Buzzard Bluff Hunting Extravaganza. It has only been 133 days since the 2014 BBHE. What can we do to help pass the time until November? Here are a few thoughts:

• You can take the antlers off the wall and tie them to the dog’s head (Grinch style). Then get the climbing tree stand out of the attic, climb the tree in the back yard, and follow the dog around through the rifle scope, trying to keep the reticle on the kill zone.

• For all of the archers in the group, you could print up a photo of Obama, draw on some fancy antlers (add a mustache just for giggles), then paste it to the target and perfect your head shots.

•  For those of us who survived the 2014 BBHE that want to feel nostalgic, find somebody who has restaurant with a big walk-in freezer, then ask them if you could set up your tent there for the weekend. It won’t take long for memories of the 2014 Polar Vortex to come flooding back.

• For those of you who have ever hunted with Rob, The Master of the Game, you might pass the time training for 2015 by loading up a canvas bag with about 200 lbs. of rocks, then tie a rope to it and drag it up the tallest and steepest hill you can find.

Those are some of my ideas. Maybe you can come up with some better ones. If so, post a comment here and share.