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Great mount! Majestic is the word that comes to mind.

Live from the driveway. Heading out to pick up fish fry for dinner I had to stop halfway down the driveway for five deer in the driveway. Waited till they cleared and headed on down. Wouldn’t you know it, the sixth one launches itself out of the brush and into the side of my truck. Luckily, we were both going pretty slowly so no damage to either one. Pick up the fish fry and come back home and all six are spread out across the driveway. Two nice big doe that I wouldn’t hesitate to take, just not with the truck!

A trip to Ellicotville this past weekend showed foliage near to past peak, depending on the elevation. Hiking up around Rock Creek State Forest on a breezy Saturday morning and the leaves were coming down like rain (it was raining also). Driving home, I noticed the color change from fall to green coming up out of Pike towards Castile. Livingston county is just starting to change.

A friend sent me this pic from a few days ago. Just needs it to show up in the daytime….. like a lot of big bucks.

The sun came out shortly after I got in my stand, facing straight into the sun. Temps have soared so I’m hot and the mosquitoes and flies are swarming me! All quiet in 8H. Except for the Black Walnuts raining down on and around me.

Four deer on the way to my stand today. Die and two fawns in my food plot and a spike that wandered by when I was halfway up my climbing sticks. Got my new setup ready to hunt and hope I hold out for a nice one. PSE Embark. I’m loving it on the practice targets. Here’s hoping to break it in the right way… with a nice buck!

I went to vacuum sealing 6 years ago and have never gone back. Very little chance of freezer burn and much cheaper in the long run. Spend what’s needed to get a high quality piece of equipment and expand your packaging to ball jars and fruits. It’s a great way to stock up on food supplies.

My story is remarkably similar to Steuben Jerry’s. I grew up in the Suburbs of Rochester (Henrietta) on the edge of the fields at that time. No one I knew hunted but camping and fishing and Scouting were all a part of our family so the outdoors was always a big part of my upbringing. I started (legally) hunting 47 years ago with a Sears and Roebuck Ted Williams 12 gauge. That thing was great for pheasants and ducks but wouldn’t throw slugs for crap. Missed a bunch of deer before I picked up a recurve bow and killed my first deer, a gnarly 12 point, with it a half mile from my parents house. That got me hooked on deer. Many deer later I still prefer to bow hunt but have taken deer with just about everything but a spear. Still trying for that bull elk. Three cow elk, but the bulls keep giving me the slip and I’m running out of time for that chase.

Today’s harvest. The pears are ripening quickly and the tomatoes are still coming strong. Raspberry plants have started their second crop and they are delicious!

Spent last week in the Adirondacks at a place on Hoel Pond, just off of Upper Saranac Lake. We watched the amount of color increasingly rapidly. From maybe five percent at the beginning of the week to about twenty five percent by the end of the week. Even more over in the High Peaks region. Here in Livingston county only a little bit of color and a lot of Black Walnut leaves dropping.

What a great day of making memories! Those smiles say it all. So happy for you both..

A beer on the boathouse deck on Hoel Pond in the Adirondacks. Vacation is good. Fiddlehead IPA out of Shelbourne, VT.

I was teaching a chemistry class when another teacher stuck his head in the door and told me a plane had hit the WTC. I had a tv in my room and as soon as class ended I turned it on just in time to see the second plane hit. The feeling of numbness and anger is not something I’ll forget. Spending the rest of the day watching the news with students and trying to make some sense of what had happened. I knew for sure that some of my students would be enlisting in a few months. I never figured it would be a twenty year slog to get out of that hell hole. One teacher had a son working for DEC and they had offices in the WTC. It took most of the day before we got the news that he had answered a call (ECO) on his way to work and wasn’t in the office when the first plane hit, just a few blocks away. He saw the plane fly so low and out of sight before hearing the crash and seeing the debris floating down. He spent weeks working at ground zero. Now he is working in Region 8, and is a good friend. The teacher who stuck his head in the room that morning was a second year teacher and newly married. He wanted to enlist but decided against it when he found out his wife was expecting. Instead, he joined the Secret Service and is still working there. The day everything changed.

Doing it yourself is the best way to go. It’s not hard to learn (you tube) and doesn’t take much space at all. Invest in a little equipment and you’ll save a ton of money over a few years. It’s really the ultimate extension of hunting. Plus, you know exactly what your getting.

Today’s harvest of tomatoes, eggplant and peppers. Things are still growing well in my garden. Tomorrow I start bringing in the apples and boy, there are a LOT of them to bring in!

The days work is done. Settling down with a Southern Tier Harvest, the IPA of Octoberfest. Chuckling about what my wife would do if she saw a pic of my newest knife stuck in the fireplace mantle. I just can’t run that fast anymore.

I have five of these on my deck and the harvest has been spectacular! I’ve harvested the equivalent of two five gallon buckets so far and things are just beginning to slow down. The wife is very happy as are lots of friends. Me, I don’t care for them. I just grow ‘me.

Just another to send prayers and good wishes to you and yours. My wife and two of her friends have/are battling this awful disease. Stay strong and positive for her. Not an easy thing to do but it’s your challenge to meet. Best of luck!

Elysian Space Dust IPA at Lake Quinault Lodge. Such a great beer in an absolutely beautiful setting on the Olympic Peninsula. We had just finished a day of hiking in the Quinault rain forest. This was the dry season and we had bluebird skies thru a great hike among the largest cedars and hemlocks in the world. Awesome day and great beer to top it off. Life is Good!

Enjoying a Lush IPA from Fremont Brewing in Seattle out in Olympic National Park at Lake Crescent Lodge. What a beautiful place and a great beer. Spent the day kayaking on the lake and then eating a bucket of Dungeness crab for dinner. Life is good!

Rising Storm and Triphammer. Also two others I can’t remember but I’ll post them later.

Grilling chicken halves while honoring our fallen heroes. This four pack is brewed by four different breweries in the Rochester area and each beer is specially brewed in honor of one of the three National Guardsmen who died in a helicopter crash in Mendon this year. A real great gesture and fundraiser for the families. This one is a nice IPA brewed by Rising Storm. The others are equally tasty but most importantly they raise funds to support the families of those who died in service to the country. Can’t think of any better reason to tip one back. Salute. You heroes.

Enjoying an All Day IPA after slinging a few dozen arrows from my new PSE compound bow. Very nice shooting bow. Can’t wait to get a deer in front of me this fall!

Great place there in Bloomfield! Looking forward to trying the wild fermented farmhouse ales and sours they’re producing there now. Having a Smuttynose Whole Lotta Citrus Double IPA while on hour 10 of smoking a brisket in the Bradley smoker.

Doing my best to stay hydrated while grilling up some Zwigles Red Hots. Goat Impressions NEIPA. This beer from Noble Shepherd is top shelf all the way. Tony never misses! He’s the owner and brewer over there in Bristol.