F-Troop Est. 1968

Sorry I can’t make it to the spring hike this year.

To be updated – week six results in success. Leaddog is out of the game, Mrs. Leaddog decides to sprain ankle to keep him from camp….which resulted in a broke femur. Week five was a bust- too much to detail!
Apparently, some itty bitty muleette was taken during Leaddogs unplanned absence. Stay tuned, and informed.
Meow…..for now!

Thursday:
Leaddog arrives solo, and gets into the woods to the Knolls. Sitting until almost dark, on the egress he stumbles into a stumbling mule due to noise from the creek and dry leaves. Wind was in LD’s favor, so both scare the living daylights out of each other. Said mule had the cadence of a buck, which departed the encounter in fine fashion – as always.
Friday:
Still solo, Leaddog hits the “Yellow Feather Trail” aka: the Knolls Trail again to recon if anything is about. Up to the Duck hole and out – new rubs are seen that were not there last week. A sit near “The Clearing” until rain develops was done, with nothing to report.
Saturday:
A almost full crew is on hand, sans Toucher and Steven. To the other side by Uber watchers are set, with Leaddog apparently having “the bell”. The south corner is set, and a rather large doe is pushed by Lindy with “something” flying over the hill by Polecat out of site. Leaddog, having the bell and sitting in a “timeout watch” for reasons unknown…all by himself covering the north corner of the mountain, “I am just one man”…..! Polecat meets LD, who returns to camp with watchers and a return to camp drive via the Duck Hole/Liz (ring around the mountain) is performed. As usual – nothing but nice memories by photos is collected.
Sunday:
Half of the Bunny Hill is attacked – and nothing is seen. What gives? Have the coyotes eaten all of the deer? Have the deer eaten all of the deer? Why are we here looking for deer?
Next week – snow is ordered for our tracking pleasure.

Week Three!
Friday:
Leaddog and Digger performs a recon of “Up Top”. Digger is sent on a new route around a feature meeting Leaddog at the Rubs. A few nice rubs are seen on the way by Leaddog, but no scrapes – the mules are sunbathing in the warmy-changy and the lust for love may be on hold for now. Both exit to a waiting Robba in the Oaks on the Razorback, with transportation back to camp via Ftroop Uber.

Saturday:
The crew hits a local hill, with watchers in place. We may remember recently that an encounter in the backcountry with low altitude peakbaggers occurred, but yet another one is in the books! Robba hears loud voices prior to his drive on No-Name which at first was thought to be intruders, but turns out to be rockclimbers attacking a portion of the Hill. I believe it was the blue sweater that was an indication that they were no threat, but yet a new one for the books! Temptation to “make toothpicks” was considered, but after thinking about it – the result may have been a plunge to the bottom if startled. The decision to continue the drive was made, with the climbers having no idea that the woods were full of Ftroop!
The drive was completed, with a return on the other side back to watchers on Camp Creek then on to Piney Knob. Junior was instructed to go to a certain spot to watch, where he found a rather impressive rub. No, not a rub – more like a gouge!
Not one tail is seen, the warmy-changy still has it grip and the mules are still sunbathing – somewhere.

Sunday:
Five are left to finish the weekend with a very local hunt performed. Polecat creates his watch, but chains and locks will need to be installed to keep him there as we all know he can’t sit still for more than 15 minutes, if that! All leave with a planned return on Friday – rain or not!

Friday:
The first FAMHC is in session with one member representing the Club. Steven shows up later to maintain membership in this secret society. Leaddog spends the day all alone prior to Steve’s arrival, bagging several well know watches which were found to be in very good shape – leaves are down but very crunchy. At the end of the day, Leaddog finds no less than 10 rubs in a specific area, where Steven is now on watch. Nothing offers itself at this point for the grill and freezer, and both leave the woods to inform the gang that mules are actually present.

Saturday:
A base crew is assembled, and a push from the other side to back to camp is planned in the area of the rubs. Watchers set, drivers are driven and all goes as planned. Some sign is seen up high, with mules giving their acoustical presence to the drivers. But as usual – nada.

Sunday:
The crew hunts somewhat local in the area of the rubs again. High guys and low guys scramble all about, scrapes are seen but have been not refreshed, (which will most likely be on Monday….) The day is warm, leaves dry and crunchy inhibiting any possibility of a worthy hunt. Lovestruck Romeo is FO (First Out) and apparently melted the asphalt during his egress down to the flatland. Road crews will be busy with asphalt replacement…. 😉
Digger and Leaddog will assault the backcountry this coming Friday to verify if the Ancient Beasts O’ Mighty are still alive…. Hopefully Robba and Steven will assist later in the day by closing the “backdoor”….stay tuned!