New Pet?

I noticed a bunch of leaves and moss on one of my shelves in the garage the other day. I was puzzled by it, but didn't think too much about it and cleaned it all up. After all, we rarely keep the garage doors open-However, a few weeks later, I discovered a full fledged nest on one of our garage shelves...this time with a guest. Check out Jennifer's new pet!

Our new "pet"

I don't have the heart to throw out the nest, and the bird comes and goes through a small opening in the garage, apparently! We'll see how long this lasts-kind of neat for now, don't you think?

*EDIT:

We discovered yesterday that the momma bird has at least 4 eggs she is nesting on...this will be interesting!

That's why they call it Hunting!

This morning was opening day of Turkey Season 2009 for me. I arrived at my spot at 7am. Walked 20yds from the truck when wham, Gobble! I couldn't tell where or how far so I hooted the owl call once, and wham, gobble again-I located him, and he was close, about 75 yds away, roosted in a pine tree. I slinked over into the woods off of the road and set up. I had good visability about 60 yds down the road, but not a shooting lane as there was a good bit of brush and sapling trees in my way. Anyhow, I yelped a couple of times, and he gobbled back. I yelped a few more times and laid the call down. He gobbled 5 or 6 more times and I heard him fly down. 2 minutes later, here he comes. A big boy, 10+ in beard, made his way down the road, coming right to me on a string. I had the gun on my knee, and the safety was off. Due to a lack of a shooting lane, I could see the bird making its way down the road looking for the hen, and I just got ready. He gobbled two or three more times within 30 yds of me...talk about heart pumping action! Once the bird got into my shooting lane (about 10 yds away) I raised my gun to my shoulder to take the shot and the bird flew off like a bat out of hell-I shot but it was too late. He was already in air about 30 yds from me. I was shocked at how fast he took off and cannot believe I do not have a dead turkey to show for such an awesome hunt. Took the shot at 7:30am-An incredible hunt nonetheless!

Weekend Wrap-Up

Well after the trip to NC on Friday, I was pretty much beat, both mentally and physically. However, I didn't let that stop me from a weekend full of activities.

First off, I received a call Friday afternoon from Jack McGill wanting to know if my father in law and I wanted to go offshore fishing to a wreck off of Fripp Island to go after some Sheepshead and Black Drum. He went a few weeks ago and really slayed them. Phil couldn't go because he had already agreed to go fishing with Paige and Charlie, so I told Jack I would still go if he wanted to. However, based on the wind and wave forcast, we decided it was going to be to rough and we would go another day. So I instead took up the other offer of joining Charlie, Paige, and Phil for some inshore action.

The following day, Jack called me early in the morning but unfortunately I didn't get the call. I called him back and left a message, and proceeded on over to Beaufort to meet up with everyone at 11am. We had a great day on Charlie's boat, but the fishing was horrible. Once we got to our fishing hole, another boat soon joined us, and wouldn't you know, It was Jennifer's uncle Rob and Aunt Sheila, and their friend Debbie Walters! Rob was the only one that caught a keeper, a nice 17" Red. The wind was really rough, and we decided to move to a different spot near Monkey Island to get out of the wind. We were able to get away from the wind, but the fishing was no better. At least we had a good deal of food and beverage to enjoy, and it was a hoot watching the monkeys. (For those of you that don't know, I am not on Drugs. There is a real Monkey Island near Beaufort, an island where the Federal Government keeps monkeys for research and other proejcts. The actual name of the island is Morgan Island!)

A couple of Monkeys on "Monkey Island"

On my way home from Beaufort, I got a call from Jack. He had gone fishing after all! And wouldn't you know it, they slayed the Sheepshead! Jack tried to call me and get me to go, but I missed the call and that was that. He and a friend of his, Eddie Hipp went and had a great time. Guess I'll have to pay better attention to my cell phone. By the way, they caught at least 4 that were over 9 lbs each!

Eddie Hipp with a couple of 9 lb+ Sheepshead...that could have been Me!

After Church on Sunday I headed up to Yemassee to attend a meeting for this year's hunting season at Richfield Plantation. Most of the members attended to meet the new folks and develop the rules for this upcoming season. I think we have a good group of hunters and this year looks to be a good one. More to come on that in the future. After the meeting I rode around and scouted a little for turkeys...Can't wait for the season to start!

Visit with my Grandmother

I don't usually blog about things other than guy stuff-you know, football, hunting, golf, etc. However, I've recently been faced with a difficult challenge in the declining health of my grandmother, Leona York of Statesville, NC. My mother's mom, she has been a significant part of my life for as long as I can remember. She was a great cook in her day, and a sweet Christian lady. I took this past Friday off and traveled to North Carolina to visit with her. She has been moved to a nursing center which is traumatic enough, due to her lack of eating. It was a very tiring day to drive over 9.5 hours in a day along with the visit, but it went well and I'm so glad I went. These times are precious. Please continue to pray for her health and for our family as we cope with her illness.

My Grandmother, "Tam"

Tam looking happy

Fire Pit Photos

Here are some photos of the Fire Pit that I won at the Rotary Auction a few weeks ago. David Hamilton came over and helped me unload it the other day-thanks David! This thing is rock solid and weighs well over 150lbs! Now, we can't wait to use it-hopefully we'll be able to before next year!

Nice Fire Pit designed by Iron Art by Kevin, located on HHI

Thanks for the help David!

Update!

Hope everyone is gearing up for Turkey season! I have been laying low lately, helping Jennifer take care of a sick baby(Anderson got his first cold!), and doing a few things around the house. Work has been really tiring lately, so I've been taking it easy on the weekends. It doesn't help that my detector was defective and I had to send it in for warranty service a few weeks ago. I just got it back yesterday so I should be good to go for the next few weekends, if I get a chance to search for relics before Turkey Season kicks in.
Despite staying around the house, I did get the chance to help out yesterday at our Rotary Club Annual Auction to raise money for the Hilton Head Children's Center Capital Campaign. It was a huge success, and we raised aroung $100k! I couldn't resist bidding on a few things, and was fortunate enough to have the winning bid on a great custom made fire pit. Here's a link to the auction and the fire pit!
And to those that are aware, thank you for the constant prayers for my grandmother, Tam. The doctors finally determined that she has cancer, and at her age the options for treatment aren't great. Her decline has been dificult for the family-She is a wonderful person and a Christian-I pray that God will take care of her and heal her if it be his will-Keep the prayers coming!

Take Care,

Brad

Turkey Season Clarification

For those of you wondering why I haven't posted in a while, unfortunately I just haven't had that much going on! Between taking care of Jennifer, Anderson, and completing much needed honey do's around the house, there hasn't been much else going on in our lives worth blogging about. I guess I could whine about Obama and his ridiculous spending plan, or brag about Clemson showing out on the hardwood, but I'll leave that to the pundits! I'd rather talk about our lives and hobbies, but I may slide a blog entry in every now and then about college sports or the Conservative cause!

We did have a wonderful dedication service for Anderson this past Sunday at church, however. It was a really great service and Anderson was well behaved! For more about the service, click here.

I hope to hit a few more Civil War sites with the detector before Turkey season kicks in, but in the meantime I recieved clarification for those of you in the Lowcountry wondering if the Zone 6 Season will begin Mar 15 as stated, or Mar 14, since the 15th falls on a Sunday. Well, I recieved the answer straight from the horse's mouth, Charles Ruth, DNR Biologist and Turkey Project Supervisor. Here is his written response:

Bradley,

The old Sunday to Saturday law was finally repealed last year. In the future, seasons for all species will open on the date that the law says they will open.
This is a good thing because there was always a lot of confusion among hunters (and DNR) about this issue. Plus, it reeked havoc on our printed materials when, every 7 years, the dates fell onSunday.
That being the case, turkey season in GZ 6 will open as posted on March 15.
Keep in mind that the basis for the old law was from a time when people did not hunt on Sunday (it was actually illegal to hunt deer and turkeys on Sundays in the piedmont until a few years ago). As things changed, the attitude concerning Sunday hunting changed and now most people hunt on Sundays. You may recall that there was even a lawsuit about the right to hunt on Sunday a few years ago.
Let me know if you have questions and good hunting.

Charles Ruth
Wildlife Biologist Deer/Turkey Project Supervisor
SCDNR
P. O. Box 167
Columbia, SC 29202-0167

So, for those of you that were hoping to get an extra day chasing those longbeards, sorry to report you'll either have to hold church in the woods on the 15th, or play hookey from work on the 16th!

Happy Hunting,

Brad