Pick Your Day (click on it)
	Friday November 24^th, 2006 – Travel Day
	Saturday, Nov 25^th- Welcome Wagon
	Sunday Nov 26th- Briar Patch Betty
	Monday Nov 27^th – Too Many things to Do!
	Tuesday Nov 28^th- Take it Slow Joe Day
	Wednesday Nov 30^th – Cliff Hanger Harry
	Thursday, Nov 31^st– Now or Never
	Friday December 1^st- Heading Out

(We eat good! Click here to see)

Friday November 24th, 2006 – Travel Day

Weather: Sunny Hi temp in the 50’s/ Lows in the 30

The troops left the southern post around 6:30am for a overnight drive to the PA Camp. The trip was relatively uneventful wit a few stops for food fuel and some cat-naps between drives.

The Long Island leg got the things in order packed up and hit the road around 1:30p and arrived at 4:30.

Good to be back at the Chateau for another round. A quick inspect showed that Wayne had replaced the woodstove elbow. The rest of the camp was in good order except for the onslaught of mice. It appears that they are more active this year than they have been. So much so that one actually ate the bar of soap in the shower. I guess he is going a little more regular than the rest of em…

A quick peek in the field spots a nice 8 pointer behind the barn. I made a quick call to the Floridian brigade to pass the news and give em a wake up call. The cell signal was lousy but they got the message

Unpacking and camp prep was the order of business with leftover Turkey for dinner and an early to bed.

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Saturday, Nov 25th- Welcome Wagon
Weather: Sunny Hi 50/ Lo 30 (Foggy in the AM the cleared)	Deer Count: 0 Mouse Count: 3
Early start to the day, more camp prep and time for some manual wood splitting. No luck on getting a log splitter this year so we have to resort to the manual way. Good thing – need the exercise! The Floridians arrive around 11am . Not bad for 1200 mils of driving and the look no worse for wear. As Russ stated, with the cost of fuel its getting cheaper to fly… A welcome cigar and a shot was first order of business as we opened this years Château gift bags compliments of Pam. After a quick unpack job, we headed to the woods to setup the stands. Spotted about 10 deer in various areas on the mountain, no horns though… It is amazing that each year we come up, Hooper’s posted signs continue to get moved closer. This year it was real evident by Russ’s double ladder stand near the swamp. Another couple of years and we will be hunting on Hooper’s land! On the way back Russ and Ryan ran across what appears to be someone’s pet deer. Either that or the world’s dumbest Doe! With some minor coaxing, a Doe bedded down near the Holbert’s work yard decided to walk up to the boys and take a lick off of Russ’s cigar. No kidding. They have proof after taking a snapshot with the camera phone. Just need to figure how to download it! A few cocktails to compare notes on the activities and its off to the Cookcoo’s Nest for some dinner. A few changes at the restaurant, a new seating area and they sectioned off the bar. Same old wait for the food though – two hours later we headed back to camp. That’s okay… Who’s in a rush… Some Nana and Pama cakes and off to bed. Camp rules – Doug’s not here so don’t forget to stoke the fire if you get up. (Back to Top)	(Back to Top) Chateau Rudy Gift bags are always a big hit… The best part of the trip is racking the guns. Who needs a wood splitter! (Okay – we do!)

Sunday Nov 26th- Briar Patch Betty
Weather: Sunny Hi 50/ Lo 40 (Fog in the AM then cleared)	Deer Count: 0 Mouse Count: 4
A good start to the day. Rick was Up at 7am to start breakfast while the Florida group slept in a little for some much needed rest after the drive. A quick tally of the mouse count. They are still running rapid so we needed to step up the traps a bit. After breakfast headed out to Yulan to fill a short needs list including (of course) more mouse traps and some posted signs. The general store that has everything was out of both. Seems we aren’t the only ones with the mouse problem. We picked up what signs we could, a quick trip to Pecks and back to the cabin to post the hard road cleaning up some of the preexisting signed along the way. Well I guess we don’t have to wait to download the pictures from Russ’s phone for proof of the pet deer that we named “Briar Patch Betty”. Who would believe this one…. After we got done tinkering around with Betty it was off to the gun range to sight in our guns. Ryan started the procession with a few shots just off center and one dead on. He’s got not excuses… Rick followed with a few of dead center. No need to change this one and he has got no excuses… Russ’s on the other hand ran into some problems with his 30-06. Apparent a good smack of it on the tree last year really has it out of alignment (by almost 18 inches). It took a box an a half and a threat to go back to the 35 before things got in align. Just about out of light we head back to camp for some cocktails before the hunters dinner. Just before the dinner Russ heads up the mountain to make a call on his cell and runs into Hooper coming out of the woods. They will have six in their party this year and will be hunting opening day. This could be an advantage... We are off to Tina’s at 6pm with a bottle of wine (called Fat Bastard compliments o Russ). Tina’s traditional Sauerbraten dish with all the sides – as always a great experience. In attendance this year was of course Tina and Wayne, Don, Joe and Curtis. This is Curtis’s first season to hunt after attending his hunter safety course over the summer. Joe will be with him below Turkey ledge to try their hand. After the meal and some good conversation - back to camp early to bed for tomorrow’s opening day (Back to Top)	(Back to Top) Some Mouse Appetizer Anyone? Lookout! Pennsylvania Deer like it from behind! Meet me Monday morning –OR- My meat Monday morning! The Annual Gun Sighting The Bullseye that you see on the target is Ryan’s!

Monday Nov 27th – Too Many things to Do!
Weather: First light around 6:30a. Partly Foggy, Heavy Fog in AM breaks around 10a Hi in upper 50’s, low in mid 30’s	Deer Count: Ryan 3, (plus a gimme from TH) Mouse Count: 4
Up at 4:45 to start the Pancake Breakfast (although several stops during the night for woodstove duty and pee breaks). Ryan’s dragging a bit but we get him in gear and get ready for the day. Rick’s out around 5:45, Russ and Ryan follow shortly after in the truck. The fog is very dense – almost difficult to see the roads that’s how thick it was! Everyone is settled into their stands between 6:15 – 6:30. The setup this year is Russ and Ryan had moved their blind up the hill slightly form where it was last year. This was due to the fact of the new road being put in and the change it the deer paths coming up the hill. Rick posted on the single ladder stand on the top of the hill just above dads stand on the woodpile. One shot off of Hooper’s land around 7a started the morning. A few shots in the distance but the morning is quiet. The fog continues to lift as it roles in – in waves making it difficult to see anything for a few minutes until the wave passes. This continues on for most of the morning. At shot down the mountain at 8am sounds like a .243 going off. Sure enough its Ryan as he downed his first deer! Some chatter on the radio confirms the kill and the fact that it was running with a large spike heading Rick’s way. No site of him though. Russ and Ryan get down to business in Ryan’s first field dressing experience. Rick heads in around 12p to find most of the deer busted down already. A few drinks to celebrate, some tasty cheesesteaks for lunch and we are off to the woods. Rick spots three Does by the Dynamite shack on the way up. Watches them for a few minutes and decides to push on to the double stand on the top of the mountain by the old antenna. On the way up spooks two deer by Russ’s double near the swamp. Then on the top spooks another one. Okay time to get off the freaking ATV and go by foot. Just as he doe’s, Matt comes cruising by in his truck.. So much for a quiet hunt. The early part of the afternoon turns out to be a quiet one. That is until the scuttlebutt started in the swamp area. A shot at 4:10p out of the area, another at 4:20p and then a final at 4:30p. A call for assistance on the radio from Russ reports that Ryan has two deer down in the thickets and needs help. Arrived to find two nice size Doe’s and the boys busy field dressing the one farthest away. The stories can wait – gotta get busy we are losing light. An easy drag out of the deer to the truck with the ATV makes short work of what used to be a huge manual effort. Some cigars and story telling about the events as the rest of the daylight leaves the sky and its down to camp to start the processing. Arrived back a camp to find a 3 pointer hanging on the arch. First thought it was Curtis’s but a later story from Tina turns out Joe and Curtis found the deer lying in the field behind Don’s house. No one claimed the deer so I guess we have a Poacher on our hands. Two shots on the deer with a very large caliber gun (probably an Ultra Mag) One of the hams are screwed up an it looks like a second shot taken in the neck. (Con’t Next Section) (Back to Top)	(Back to Top) Bustin’ down Ryan’s first deer! The spoils. One goes to Camp dinner with the liver of course! Power Nap between hunts Hanging the next two! Put some muscle in it Ryan - its a big deer!

Monday Nov 27^th(Con’t)

Well with three deer hangin and one in the cooler we have a lot to do! Ryan makes a fire and tends to the woodstove, Russ and Rick get busy skinning the deer so that they can hang for the night. As we are working on the deer a crunch and thud comes from the street and a gasp from Tina who was out walking the dog. A pickup truck ran up the embankment by the train crossing and just about flipped over. We headed up to see what the commotion was. “Jeff” claims a deer ran in front of his vehicle that caused him to swerve off the road. Hmm.., Jeff looks a little under the weather and he probably gonna feel pretty bad in the morning when he realizes his relatively new Chevy pickup is just about totaled… Tina and Wayne head back to call for a tow truck, we get to business with the deer processing. We finish up the skinning the deer and take care of the entrails thanks to a smoking hot fire that Ryan built. No need for a gut pile here! Now its late and we are hungry. Head out for an attempted dinner service at the Lackawaxen house around 9:15p but they are closed. Just as well we head back to camp and we make up some burgers for on the skillet. That worked! We head to bed, we decide to sleep in tomorrow… huh??? (Back to Top)

(Back to Top) Proud Papa! Who needs a gut pile! Just get Ryan to build a hot fire…

Tuesday Nov 28th- Take it Slow Joe Day
Weather: Day Break at (what time? Who knows!) Partly Cloudy, Heavy Fog in AM lifts at 10:30a. Hi temp in upper 50’s, lows in mid 30’s. Weather inside: Balmy 85 degrees and very dry (thanks to the woodstove)	Deer Count: Still 4 (Hard to shoot a deer in the cabin!) Mouse Count: 5