Mighty Hunter Experience

Deer season week 2: It got much colder, below the freezing point. The ground and trees were covered with snow. A lot more like normal deer hunting season.
Today, Sunday, Joe decided to sleep in and go out in the afternoon. He'd seen lots more deer signs later in a day. I also went along, as you might have guessed, to take my afternoon nap in the woods. In the daylight Joe could see quite a few deer tracks on the fresh snow. A very good sign.

The woods this afternoon looked very pretty. Magical and very, very quiet. There were hardly any birds. I soon laid on the ground and took a nap. Luckily I didn't miss anything. When I woke and sat up in my chair, nothing had changed, except it was getting close to dusk. Just past 5pm the sky started to turn pink from the sunset. We both were feeling pretty lucky about seeing the sunset, when I heard Joe whisper  "There he is."

The deer showed its antlers, so Joe decided to take a shot at him. I couldn't believe that I got to be there when the great mighty hunter was in action!! Well, this was only the beginning. At 5:15pm. Joe had to track him in the woods, and I got to witness and carry a flashlight in the dark. What I could see of the towering trees, lit by my flashlight, was amazingly beautiful. I admit it was a bit spooky to hear the trees cracking and... the total dark silence. Joe's buck took us through quite an adventure. He wasn't bleeding a lot externally, which made it hard to track him. I still have a clear mental picture of his final resting spot. A little open area in the woods, just at the foot of a large tree. Like a shrine in the woods.

After all the dragging, what I thought was endless dragging for Joe, we finally reached our truck at 8pm. Phew. I now have a lot more respect for a mighty hunter. All the work and effort that go into it. Yes, you can say he is CRAZY. A lot more crazier than I thought! Needless to say, we both had a good day hunting. Joe got a 6-pointer; and I had my afternoon nap and a great hunting experience. 

Holly Rutabaga!!

Usually I ponder what I want to cook or eat, something we haven't had recently. Whatever I feel like cooking. But when an uncle gives you two huge rutabagas from his garden, you really have to try to find as many ways to serve it as possible. I've mashed it Japanese style, threw in my bean soup, then mashed again. This Tuesday I cooked Hungarian pork and homemade dumplings with mashed rutabaga. We are eating the leftover tomorrow night. It's time to take a little break from rutabaga.

I've never seen a rutabaga this big. And this one is our rutabaga #2, still untouched, waiting for some cooking inspiration.



Deer Season Opening

Yesterday was the opening day of deer season. Joe, as expected, got up before dawn and spent all day out in the woods. Not so good sign was a big pile of bear poop, full of berries, at his deer blind. The temperature had gone back up again. But Joe did see a deer at the end of the day, though only its white tail and the moving mass of its body between trees in some distance.
For dinner I made chicken-katsu to celebrate my brother's birthday.

I didn't have time to make any dessert to put a b-day candle on, so Joe gave us part of his deer season treat, Zebra Cake. Happy Birthday to Yoshi!

Almost Deer Season

Since October Joe began to get ready for deer season as every year. The last couple of weeks before the opening day in November gets busy. To a non-hunter it definitely looks like work, though it's clear that the whole process gives you chance to be close to nature. I've been off on Sundays and gotten to enjoy the autumn woods, just going along.

While Joe's deer feasted on enough fall crops of sugar beets, squash, apples in the woods, we had a nice batch of home grown tomatoes from Phil and Judy. Last Sunday I made meatballs in tomato sauce and first-time homemade pasta (sort of).

It was very tasty. My noodles needed some improvement... I'd make it again. It gave us a good excuse to open a bottle of wine!

This Friday is the first day of deer season. I'll probably accompany Joe on Sunday... to take naps as I've done every time.