…Resume Normal Behavior

One final post on deer hunting, then this will return to it’s normal fly fishing/fatherhood blog…

To entertain myself while deer hunting, I tweeted my whole trip. I thought that a few where rather entertaining…

Then again, I easily amuse myself…

A few of my favorites in case you missed them in real time:

Every year when I head to the tree stand, I briefly consider only taking one rifle cartridge with me… #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

Now in my treestand. Alone with my thoughts, the wind, nature… and a Twitter enabled iPhone… #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

Apparently this tree stand doesn’t have wifi… Can’t send pictures out… #whoknew #notetoself #fixfornextyear #hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

I think I heard a deer… Or Sasquatch… Will update… #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

If a fly fisherman falls out of a tree stand in the forest… #deepthoughts #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

It’s 5:38 am. 16 degrees outside and I am about to go sit in a tree. Why do I do this again? #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

To… Cold… To… Tweet… #Hunting #fliesoverdeerhunt

@(a friend without an iPhone who prefers to remain nameless) So a deer just walked by and said “Is that an iPhone?” And I was like “of course who doesn’t have one!” #fliesoverdeerhunt

Haha “staff meeting in 8 minutes” reminder… I’m on vacation! #fliesoverdeerhunt

I wonder if deer have Twitter… Maybe they are following my Tweets so they know where to avoid… #makessense #fliesoverdeerhunt

Haha! I do entertain myself!

Okay, okay… one last thought from from my trip home. Fitting considering the post…

This pretty much sums up my hometown… and for those that know me personally, this probably explains a lot.

Now back to Little E, fly fishing, and whatever else it is I do with my time!

Read Full Post »

Success In Failure

Those who followed my recent deer hunt are aware that I did not take a deer this season. Some might call this a failure.

I disagree…

I spent two vacation days from work relaxing in quite solitude. I was surrounded with scenes like the video above. This was one of several deer that walked within twenty yards of me in my tree stand.

So I didn’t shoot a deer. Oh well.

Watching nature wake up with the sunrise is a welcome break from modern life.

Read Full Post »

Wild Nebraska: Photos From The Hunt

Just a few photos of wild Nebraska taken so far on the trip…

There is a deer in this picture… look close!

Read Full Post »

Letting The Cows Out…

So the first spot we hit today is a pretty famous spot for our family. It has produced a lot of great deer… and today was no exception. It is a field with a spring fed creek running down the middle, a cornfield on one side, and a pasture on another. This particular day, my uncle who farms the land had a herd of cattle turned out on the corn portion of the field.

While creeping along corn field part of the creek bed in the truck, we “kicked up” a nice buck and a doe he was chasing. They ran into some trees in the creek bottom; and I hopped out of the truck, crossed the fence to the pasture side, and hiked after them.

Hoping to cut them off, I walked around the trees and up the edge of the line where I thought they would come out. Camped out on the top of a small ridge, I got the above picture.

In the meantime, my dad drove around to the other side of the creek and dropped my mother off to walk the draw. He then picked me up and drove us to the top of a hill where would could see the whole pasture.

Nothing.

When my mother emerged from the end of the draw, we circled back around to go pick her up…

Then, with the same enthusiasm that one would warn others of a fire, I heard my dad yell…

“COWS!!!”

Apparently my uncle’s cattle must have thought that we were there to “release” them to the pasture… and a large portion of the herd was running for the fence gate that my parents had forgotten to shut behind them in the excitement of the deer chase.

I don’t know how many of my readers grew up on farms… but this is not a good thing. Nobody wants to chase cattle that have gotten out.

My dad floored the truck, and across the field we went on a mad dash to attempt to beat the cattle to the gate. Pastures are not made for high-speed travel… so the ride was not exactly smooth…

And to top it off, we lost the race. We made it down the hill right as the cattle were emerging through the gate.

I, the deer hunter now turned cowboy, had to jump out of the still moving truck to head off a couple of cows and start herding them back toward the gate… which must have been quite a sight. A camo and blaze orange colored man yell at a bunch of cattle while waiving a rifle in the air.

Herding cattle is a lot like interpretive dance… big arm and body motions, repeatedly yelling the phrase “HEPP”, and dashing back and forth… to stay in front of the cattle.

Let that mental image soak in for a second…

Luckily, the cows had not made it very far into the pasture and it only took a “few” minutes to heard them back to where they were suppose to be.

It could have been a lot worse. We could have spent all day herding cattle had we been a few seconds later arriving at the gate…

I did eventually get to my tree stand by the end of the day. I saw a ton of deer the first day, but nothing I wanted to take a shot at. Few small bucks and a couple of does that decided to have an extended supper within a few yards of my stand.

Kinda made the whole trip just watching them… at times they were close enough I could have thrown something at them.

Nature is awesome. Especially when you remember not to let the cows out…

Read Full Post »

And The Deer Hunt Starts!

Just got to Franklin County, Nebraska; where Flies Over Nebraska was born and raised!

So far on my trip:

-It was delayed due to the Husker Football game; and bad weather following the game.

-I realized I forgot my hunting knife (it’s a good thing that my dad will have everything I need!)

-Got to stop and take a picture with the highway sign for my hometown (see above)

-Saw a coyote running across a field… but no deer yet.

Now I am changed into my winter weather outdoors clothes, and in a few minutes will be getting in the truck to begin hunting. My mother and younger brother have already bagged deer; so I am behind already!

I will be tweeting and blogging the whole trip live! Hunting is a great experience and a big part of culture and life in rural Nebraska. Keep an eye on th blog for updates and follow along on Twitter for up to the minute posts!

Outdoors trips, whether hunting, fly fishing, or just being outside, really give me a chance to think and reflect. I have already begun to do so… just listening to the music on my iPhone on the way down has given me a chance to relive all the memories they make me think of. Some good, some not so good, but all memories that remind me how good my life is now, how lucky I am to have my wife and Little E, and how happy I am today.

These are things that make the outdoors special to me. Everyone needs a hobby like this. Sharing mine in the hopes that you will identify your is a big part of what Flies Over Nebraska is about…

For those of you with Twitter, follow me @ericein; or with th #fliesoverdeer hunt.

For those of you without Twitter, there is a link to the right with my last ten tweets. You can click on those to follow along as well.

Let’s go hunting!

E

Read Full Post »