Friday, saw nothing on a very short hunt before work. Saturday, I went to Fayette in the fog. I saw a muskrat working in a waterway, that was it. Hunted until noon.
Saturday evening, after things slowed down at the shop enough to allow it, Mason and I snuck off to our friend Andy's farm for an annual party. It's quite an affair, known as the "testicle festival". There is more food and beverage than one can imagine, including bull nuts, roasted whole deer legs... just a bunch of stuff you won't eat every day. It's held in Andy's barn, which is home to the greatest collection of truly GIANT whitetail mounts you'll ever see in a private home. Seriously, there are about 15 or so hanging, with only a couple under 160". Ric has met Andy, and he met him while collecting his 185"er from the Deer and Turk show last year. The year previous, he killed a net 195"... that looks a strikingly like Tines. Anyway, the deer talk and showing off of antlers that have been collected so far this season was mind-boggling. A great gathering of rednecks indeed! And it put us in the right frame of mind for Sunday's adventure.
So Sunday morning, Lathe and my buddy Clint arrived at my home at 8 to help us try to push out Tines. Obviously, I don't trust many with knowing where this deer is, or carrying guns while looking for him. I don't think either of these two would ever fire a shot if the deer were standing in front of them....they know what it means to Mason. They covered a lot of good looking ground for us to no avail. These deer have a hole somewhere on the farm, we saw NOTHING.
We had Clint's dad join us, along with Mason's best friend and his dad Dave, and headed over to Ross Co to do some pushes. We had an absolute blast, but did not kill much. Clint killed an 8 point, and his dad Jerry bagged a coyote. That was funny... I heard Mason fire off two quick shots and then yell, "Get him, Jerry".... Jerry doesn't miss much.
A great day with good friends, that's what gun season is!