Big Woods Thanksgiving

[Salmon_Run]

To all my fellow big woods hunters, a wish for a great Thanksgiving Holiday in the woods or at home.

My family will be warmed by the woodstove, playing card games after dark under the hiss of a propane light after a great cooked holiday meal prepared entirely at camp.

Warm holiday wishes and safe travels.... 

[Robhuntandfish]

that looks great!!!   reminds me of the camp my Dad had many years ago.  We did a weekend before xmas there one year.  My uncle and his wife and kids and my Dad and me.  My uncles wife had MS real bad and she was paralyzed from the neck down.  The road wasnt a town road and wasnt maintained in the winter.  They rigged up a sled and got her in and the snow was waist high up in lewis county.   It was an awesome time i sure wont forget.  Enjoy your time away !! 

Edited November 26, 2019 by Robhuntandfish

[wolc123]

I will be up near the Lewis/St Lawrence county line.  How is the snow ?  I heard they were supposed to get a little tonight.   Happy Thanksgiving and good hunting to you.   No more "roughing it" for me up there, since the in-laws finished their retirement home.  I sort of miss the days when they stayed in a little "off-the-grid" cabin with just a big fireplace for wood heat, and I was in a truck camper with a propane heater.  The indoor plumbing and all the other comforts of home that they have now is pretty nice though.   They even added a new bathroom in the basement for me this year.  Their place is built on a hill, so I can walk right out of that basement, through a sliding glass door, and hunt in the woods or fish in the lake.   My mother in law always feeds us very well, even when it is not Thanksgiving.  I will have to do a lot of hunting on this long-weekend to burn off all them calories.   Nothing burns them better than dragging a big buck out of the valley.               

[Buckmaster7600]

Looks awesome! Enjoy your family time and best of luck in the woods!


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[DirtTime]

Sorry to be late to the party. That's how to spend Turkey Day! I hope you and your family had an awesome time up there.

[wolc123]

Not much deer action up there, but my mother in law really knocked it out of the park with her Thanksgiving dinner this year.  She got a fresh turkey this year (usually she uses frozen ones).   Her dressing, with all the cut up giblets, was the best that I have ever had.   I made it up there for the last hour of daylight on Thursday and that was the only day that  I saw any deer (3 or 4 unidentified ones in the heavy cover about 40 yards away).   There was just a light dusting of snow (not enough for tracking).  Walking around on the frozen leaves and pine needles, in calm conditions, was so noisy that I could hear a red squirrel scampering around from over a hundred yards away.  That left me no chance of sneaking in close to a deer, and basically sent them all headed for the hills once they knew what was up with my hunting pressure.    

My father in law let me hunt with his scoped Remlin 336W 30/30 on Friday and Saturday.  That thing was a pleasure to carry up there compared to my big heavy Ruger bolt-action 30/06.  Too bad that I did not get to try it on a deer.  I was surprised how good the fit and finish was on that gun.  It must be an early one, when they still had real "Marlin" parts to assemble at the illion NY factory.  I used my Ruger on Thursday (only day that I saw any deer), and again this morning after I cleaned and oiled his rifle for him on Saturday night (he would never let me use it again if I did not take "extra-good" care of it).  We never got the rain, sleet, or snow I was waiting for, to try out my own Remlin 336BL 30/30, with it's new fiber optic sights.   Oh, well, there is always next year.   Once again, I got to see the lake freeze over.  It happened this morning this year, while last year it was the Friday morning after Thanksgiving.   Unfortunately, that meant no more bass fishing for me up there this year again on Thanksgiving weekend. 

Al in all, not a bad weekend.  The best part was to food.  The worst part was the cold and the drive home.  It was rough crossing Oneida lake at about noon today with zero visibility on Route 81.   My cold-weather gear, consisting of: Mickey-mouse boots, Gander mountain guide-series bibs, Eddie Bauer goose-down vest, Walmart scent-factor jacket, Polaris face mask, woolrich hat, and Bass-Pro muff with two handwarmers, worked out ok.  I was relatively comfortable for 3.5 hours at 9 degrees F this morning, seated in my tree-hammock chair.  We probably will not get up there again until Ice-fishing time on President's day weekend in February.   I will have to try and fill my gun buck tag at home, in the Southern zone, over the next two weekends this year.    

[Salmon_Run]

Back from a great holiday, only about a few inches of snow on the ground.

The temps are trending lower at night and I believe winter has hit the big woods.

Oxbow Lake was locked over and it looks like Lake Pleasant is not to far behind.

Stay well all.....