the big buck

so opening day of firearm season was very good for me, luck was definitely on my side that day. i had not even been out in the field to check on my ground blind or check out the deer activity on the farm this year. i really did just walk out into the dark with no real plan other than to sit in the same blind that i have for several years prior, good spot but like i said i had not even looked for tracks this year. around 6:20am i made it out to my spot and settled in to wait, i hoped to at least see a deer, i thought i might get lucky and have a doe come within range, but never expected what was about to happen. at around 6:35 - 6:40am i could hear a deer moving through the grass and into the creek that is behind my blind, it crossed the creek and into the open bean field that i am looking over. the deer had its head down and sniffing hard, on the trail of a doe, did i mention that it was pitch dark, i could only see the outline of a deer and assumed it was a buck by its behavior. it passed within 30 yards of my blind and continued on to a drainage ditch, i thought at that point it was gone and not even knowing for sure what it was i was not that upset. next thing i know i hear it coming back my way, very close to my way, i am sitting in a ground blind in heavy weed and some brush, this deer is now walking to my left through the weeds on the field edge where i am sitting. my heart is now pounding, the deer was right on top of me, i had my gun positioned to my left ready to shoot, but it stepped from the weeds into the field to get around my blind, it is still very dark and its head was down so i still could not see it. the front of my blind is open to the field, all i can see i a huge body walking no less than 6 feet in front of my face, i could have just shot from the hip and made this shot! but no, because my gun was to the left and the deer is in front i shifted and made noise, the deer was spooked and ran about 30 yards and stopped, i could just see it through my scope, but only enough to know it was somewhere in the circle. so i just squeezed of a shot and hoped for the best, success!! it dropped right where it stood, shot right across the bottom of the neck. i sat for about another hour to wait for a doe or another deer to come along and join him, several came out but were spooked being downwind of him. not long after it became light enough to see that it was a buck, then more light, a bigger rack appeared, i could no longer take the wait, i ad to see what i had laying on the ground. final result, 7 point with 22 inch spread at center, 19 at the tips, 190lbs dressed out. i entered it into the rayc's big buck pole and won some pretty good prizes, a full shoulder mount, free procesing, $100 cash, smaller gift card, hat t-shirt ect. i hope this is not a once in a lifetime deer, but if it is my big buck of forever i will be very happy with it.

maui

so we made it to maui after much time on the plane, 14 hours in terminals and planes kind of wears on you, but well worth it, last night we got our car (jeep) at the airport and cruised over to our motel, the westin at kaanapali beach resort, very nice. after checking in and cleaning up we drove around to check out the local spots, we found a nice little taco place in a strip mall that had very good food and lots of locals talking about the days surfing. here are my pics so far, waiting for the sun to come up so i can try to snap a few pics then we are off to hana today to stay at the wainapanapa state park until tuesay afternoon when we will return to the westin. so no updates until then but i am sure there will be lots of good pictures and stories from that side of the island. oh by the way i am a little disapointed that the sun goes down by 6:30 pm and it is 5:20 now and no real sign of it yet, dont you feel real bad for me. no. it is a great night sky, aloha. update, the sun is starting to rise and it is now close to 6:00am i am having some kona roast coffee in the room and listening to the tropical birds bring in the new day, the mountain is just coming into view, topped with clouds it is a great sight, unfortunatly we did not bring our point and shoot camera that will take video, we are thinking of buying something that will take video here to share this.

long past due post

So it has been some time since i last made a post, here are some pictures to catch you up on what i have been doing. first the "plum crazy" jet boat has been in the water, the big ugly brown boat was bought just for the powerhead from the outboard which is a 115hp johnson, the motor that is supposed to be in the jet was a 90hp mercury. so clearly some adapting had to be done, i needed to machine down part of the jet pump and part of the outboard lower unit to adapt the johnson to the pump, also the input shaft needed to be changed to now have a johnson spline on the end. now for the bad, after a few good weekends of use the motor chewed up a piston, bummer! oh well, most of the other parts from the boat were sold (lower unit, steering, ect.) so we actually had made money on the brown boat and still kept the motor, however i still haave the trailer to sell from brown boat so i think i will still make money even after buying new pistons. oh, after i was done with the brown boat it went to the richfield landfill so it has a nice view of the resivoir for its final resting place.

The suzuki has been sold, I got it runing good, rode it around a little bit but decided i wanted something else with the money i made from it. welcome the aquarius aka "mother" yes my new boats name is mother, although that will change, it is a 23 foot swing keel boat, has a 9 1/2 johnson outboard, lots of goodies inside but is very very dirty, i wont even show you a picture of it without the tarp right now, the boat in the water is the same kind of a boat, just much better. it will be there eventually, just lots of work to get there, needs all new interior.

We have been camping a few times this summer, once with our friends Shane and Beth to the "cherry street retreat" in caseville, we had a really good time despite the rain. We also went to otsego lake county park with a good majority of Jenny's family, we took the boat and got some good use out of it, also despite the rain, but just some good family time.

Maybe the strangest thing that has happened to me lately is i was hit by another driver and then they just took off, hit and run. We both wanted to be in the left turn lane i guess, it was a really odd way to start the day, the rodeo took it like a champ though. still kind of a bummer.

toes eaten by a bird

well tonight we were eating on our deck and this crazy bird dive bombed me, after it landed the bird just walked right up to me and started eating my toes, im pretty sure that it must have been someones pet that got out for a flight. maybe not though, i was able to pick it up and it came right up to my plate asking for a bite of chicken, maybe there was something wrong with it after all. also here is some pictures of some more creatures that came for a visit, i named the turtle freighter.







other news

we tried out the smoker on saturday, i think i would like to try different wood and a little different rub on the meat, we made some ribs, turned out pretty good though . also there is a copy of the news that i received at work , not cool.

Date:June 10, 2009TO:All Numatics EmployeesFROM:John Meek, PresidentASCO Numatics AmericasSUBJECT:ASCO Numatics Lapeer Facility ClosureLapeer based ASCO Numatics employees were notified today (June 10, 2009) of adecision to close the Lapeer (Air Prep Group) facility. This decision is in response tochanging economic conditions and declining demand from the fluid power industry. Thisis a very difficult decision that is not a reflection on the hard work of our employees.This decision will be implemented in stages with completion by January, 2010. We planto exit Ultra Air dryer manufacturing and consolidate the remaining Lapeer product linesinto the existing Sandusky, Michigan and Mexicali, Mexico facilities.Affected employees will be given at least 60 days notice before their positions areeliminated. If practical, there may be transfer opportunities to either the Sandusky orNovi, Michigan facilities. We intend to do what we reasonably can to help all affectedemployees successfully transition. For those employees that are displaced, we will takeevery step necessary to getting them certified so that they can qualify for variouscompensation and training benefits under the Trade Act. As we move forward, periodiccommunication meetings will take place to keep employees informed.We know we can count on the continued support of all ASCO Numatics employees tomaintain existing customer service levels during this challenging transition period.

smoker is done!!

yes the smoker for jenny's birthday is done! we did a trial fire last night and today i finished the handles and jenny and i gave it a paint job, looks pretty good but i need to seal the upper door a little more to really trap the smoke. when it is all ready we will have a cookout and have some really good food!

update

here is an updated pic of the smoker as of today, still needs handles on the doors and a few holes patched, i think that tomorrow will be the first fire, no food just to burn off all the crap and oil, after that a good cleaning and some paint. the grates were made from this frame that i pulled out of the woods, looks like a small bed, but it is galvanized and way too heavy for a bed, not sure what it is but it will work. also there is a picture of the new boat motor as i received it, in a box, a literal basket case, the suzuki by the way is waiting on a part that was ordered weeks ago, i was shipped a partial order and still need one more part.