Friday, October 31, 2008

Enjoying Some Time Off

I'm taking a few days off work so Mr. Johnson and I can spend some quality time out in the woods with bow & arrow trying to bag a deer or two before the shotgun hunters take over in a week. Unfortunately, the deer seem to have other plans and are conspicuously absent from these woods where we've had good luck in the past. However, the weather is quite lovely and today was sunny and calm with a gorgeous blue sky. (We even took what was probably our last motorcycle ride for 2008 this afternoon.)

To make up for the absence of deer, there is the usual overabundance of squirrels--gray, fox, and red. They spend all of their time chasing and scuffling in the leaves, sounding for all the world like a herd of deer. They certainly are fun to watch though.


Last weekend when we got out to one of our deerstands early in the morning, we found this blind had been set up about 12 feet right in front of the stand. We are hunting (with permission) on private land--comprised of approximately 160 acres. We are hunting in a 20-acre section of wooded area. The landowner also has some relatives who come down from The Cities for gun hunting season. Since those guys never have time to come down and scout for deer, apparently they thought it would be easiest this year to set up their blind close to Mr. Johnson's stand--probably because he would know where the deer are, right?
Needless to say, we were a little "upset" when we came upon this blind. I don't know about you, but we considered this rather unsportsmanlike. So I decided to return the unsportsmanlike favor and used this blind as an outhouse......but it was only for #1 (so you know I'm only 97% evil!)



17 comments:

Heidi said...

you didn't! lol!
have a wonderful few days off :)

RuthieJ said...

Yes, girlfriend, I really did!!
(and it was chilly morning, so I enjoyed the "indoor" comfort)

Lynne at Hasty Brook said...

LOL!! Art and I are laughing our heads off!! Way to go Ruthie!

Marsha said...

I am laughing my head off too! This is the funniest trick (not treat) ever! Can't wait for Jeff to get home to share this story with him...I don't think they are getting anything they didn't deserve ;)

I'm hoping for nice weather this weekend so we can get in one last ride of the season too.

Lisa at Greenbow said...

Be careful Ruthie. People have been shot for lesser offenses. Pretty funny though.

KGMom said...

Hmmmm--so does the smell of human urine attract or repel deer?

Jayne said...

LOL Ruthie!!! Guess their time in the blind will be "ripe" eh? :c)

Mama Pea said...

I think a better option would have been if the blind somehow just magically disappeared. Blind? Deer blind? Right here? No, we didn't see any deer blind here. Are you sure this was the spot? :)

Mama Pea

Anonymous said...

LOL!!!! Ruthie, Ruthie, what will you think of next, you bet I would make that deer blind disappear, but then you wouldn't have an out house. That is one of the funniest blogs I have read in a long time. You could move that blind somewhere else and I'll even help you.

MOM

Susan Gets Native said...

Oh, Ruthie, you have just shot WAY UP my Cool Meter!
Ha ha!!!! Take THAT, stooopid blind-builders!

Hee hee hee hee..........

Larry said...

Ha HA-You've got to mark your territory somewhow!

RuthieJ said...

Hi Lynne,
All's I can say is "a girl's gotta know when a girl's gotta go!"

You know Marsha, I just sat there all morning staring down at that blind and it was the meanest thing I could think of without actually destroying the blind.

Hi Lisa,
Not to worry, the agreement is that we will be off that property once shotgun season starts and since those guys don't live around here, chances are slim that they'll even be around again till next weekend.

You know Donna, I've often wondered that myself....no evidence of extra deer activity around that blind today, so it must not have had any effect.

Hi Jayne,
By next weekend it's supposed to be colder, so probably they won't even notice it (but I'll always know....)

Hi Mama Pea,
It's not a very good blind and I watched one little buck make a big circle around it this morning--might be a good blind for birding though!

Thanks Mom, I'm glad you enjoyed this story. I figured you'd either laugh or scold me ("is that the way we brought you up?")

Thanks Susan.....I thought you might appreciate this story (WWSD?)

Thanks Larry, you'd think at my age I would know better, but sometimes cheap thrills are still the best!

Anonymous said...

I wouldn't scold you for that outhouse thing, it was so cool that you thought of it, serves them right for pulling a stunt like that. We are still laughing about it. I will have to tell Patty about it, she'll really get a kick out of it. Next weekend deer camp will start at her house, she puts everyone up and cooks for them. Everyone chips in on the food so she doesn't have to foot the whole bill.

MOM

Mary said...

Ruthie! I'm cackling like an idiot! You go, girl!!!!!

Glad you enjoyed some good times out there. We all need a break.

You crack me up.

nina at Nature Remains. said...

I have a little blind like that for photography.
You should've snapped it into a little package and trotted off!

RuthieJ said...

Glad I could give you a chuckle Mary! I watched deer give this blind the "hairy eyeball" and take a wide detour around it, so hopefully by the time the hunters arrive this weekend, the deer will have already found new routes to travel--away from the blind.

Hi Nina,
It's a nice little blind, but since we're the only other people hunting there, they would have known right away what happened (I did think about it though!)

Shelley said...

maybe they'll think the deer got revenge in their blind - LOL!! very funny!