2000SeasonOpener

The Day Before

It's hard to believe that one more year has passed us by and another bow hunting season is upon us. The long months of anticipation ended on September 15th for the boys from Mudbrook as we set up camp for the annual opening weekend kick-off. Most of the treestands had been hung weeks earlier and were ready for hunters so we concentrated only on setting up camp and getting on with the days fun activities. It was decided that we would try something new this year, and so, instead of floating down the river to Pedro's father-in-laws cabin on the big lake, the boys hopped in the truck and went to the local golf course for some friendly competition. They did stop at "Underdogs" cabin on their way, though, to drop off the meat for the annual venison feed. (It will be revealed later why Pedro refers to his father-in-law as Underdog). After the short pit stop it was off to the Twin Oaks "country club" for the ultimate grudge match. There were six people present so teams were divided by who was riding in the front seat of the truck and who was riding in the back. This meant that Pedro, Paco, & Ricardo (Paco's brother) would be taking on Lefty, Chico, & Jimmy in a 3 man best ball contest over 9 holes. The action was intense at times and down right hilarious at others with the final outcome being decided by a putt-off tie breaker on the 9th green. Thanks to some late heroics by Ricardo, Pedro and Paco came out winners. Yahoo...bragging rights for the night!

After golfing we went back to Underdog's cabin for the venison feed. Because of Barnacle's absence, Lefty was flying solo as the camp cook and did an outstanding job of grilling the meat and potatoes. Underdog had some fresh corn on the cob that he cooked up as well and the feeding frenzy was on. It was awesome! After supper it was decided that we would all get on Underdog's pontoon boat and cruise across the lake to a watering hole named Big Swedes. Here is where the Underdog nickname get's explained. You see, Pedro's father-in-law is a huge fan of the old "Underdog" cartoon. So much so that he had the characters from the cartoon custom painted on his pontoon. He also had some hats made up with a picture of Underdog on them. That is why Pedro calls him Underdog. At any rate, the whole gang went to Big Swedes for some beverages and then cruised on back to the cabin. After singing some karaoke tunes along with Underdog's jukebox, the boys were off to Flaters Resort to close out a great day. It was quite late when they returned to the campsite for some badly needed sleep before the opening morning hunt.

The First Morning

The opening morning of the 2000 bow season was uneventful at best. After being out a little too late the night before only Lefty and Chico were able to wake up and hunt. Chico was late getting to his stand and scared the deer away. Lefty was out early and had many deer by his stand but it was too dark to see what they were and they moved off before it got light. The rest of the boys stayed wrapped in their sleeping bags until mid-morning. When they got up they made a circle with their lawn chairs and sat down to talk hunting for the day while waiting for the evening hunt to arrive.

The First Evening

When the evening hunt rolled around everyone was excited about what they might see. After getting two bucks on opening day the previous year we all knew that anything could happen. For the first time ever we had some kids in camp. Barnacle's son Kyle (age 8) was there as well as Loaded Guns two sons Brandon (age 11) and Jeremy (age 9). Here are the results from the opening evenings hunt.

Lefty

Had intentions of finding the "Gap" stand but had a little trouble navigating the swamp and ended up taking a scenic tour of the surrounding area. He even managed to scare a few deer towards Barnacle and Kyle.

Barnacle And Kyle

Sat in ground blind near the "Honey Hole" stand and saw two does. Barnacle shot at one of them (with his new bow) and missed. He claimed that the doe "ducked the arrow" but it seems like a simple case of early season doe fever. Good investment on the new bow Barnacle!

Loaded Gun, Brandon, And Jeremy

These guys were tucked in a ground blind on the edge of a clover field and saw two does, neither of which were close enough to shoot at. They did, however, have plenty of mosquitos at close range...way too close!

Jimmy

Had the choice of two stands and saw a nice doe walk right under the one he didn't choose. Isn't this how it usually goes?

Ricardo

Sat in the "Edge" stand and saw numerous deer including a fork buck that walked right under the stand and a six pointer which was feeding in the clover 40 yards away. Ricardo had is mind set on bigger boys than these and let everything walk.

Paco

Hung a stand among some tall oaks that are near a large corn field. Saw nothing!

Pedro

Sat in the corner near "Lucky's Pine" along the edge of a corn field. Saw 8 deer including one small basket rack buck at about 150 yards. Had two nice size does walk within 10 yards of the stand but took no shots.