Saturday
Once again a crew of 12 assembles at the happy hunting grounds to “pick up where we left off” from last year. The day turns out dry, with a threat of rain, according to “triple lying doppler radar” which is to begin promptly at 5:00. The woods were perfectly damp from the previous days rains, which led to perfect hunting conditions, which led the crew to perfectly hunt where there were no mules. The first hunt of the year resulted in a nice 8 to 10 mile walk in the backcountry for the crew, which is usually done in the following weeks. A baseline has been set, so every hunt hereafter will be similar or shorter – but probably not!
No mules were encountered, it appears that no one had informed the mules it was time to play. Rubs and scrapes were observed, so they did leave a calling card to bait the crew for next time. Steven finds remnants of a camp up in Beaver Valley, where and why it was located at this spot is still to be determined. The rain did indeed fall, a little later than predicted but still close to the set time. A feast of mule steaks was consumed in fine fashion, with beer of course to wash it all down.
Sunday
Waking up to the rain from the previous day, the now aching crew is slow to disperse to the wilds. A “shorter” hunt is planned due to the rain, and all head out to perform several shorter drives which led to some actually seeing mules! Robba sees the smallest deer ever without spots, which upon seeing Robba started to shake, cry and wail for it’s mommy like a liberal that just got lost off the trial.
Lake effect rains were encountered throughout the day, which kept the crew somewhat in proximity to camp. The last drive sends one lone mule right between Robba and Leaddog, which of course was never heard of or seen. A good crew will be on staff this coming Friday for the first FAMHC sanctioned adventure!
10 miles opening weekend! That usually doesn’t happen until week 3. You guys will be in better shape than me by the time I get up there. I’ll hunt the bunny slopes.