BACK AGAIN I HOPE

   Just when I thought it was safe to write again, a thunderstorm came and a flash of lightning fried our router and modem. We've been down ever since.

   But all's well that ends well! NOW, IT'S TIME !!!!! Fall is just around the corner and I can't wait. This Saturday The University of Alabama kicks off it's football season, and archery deer season starts in three weeks ! Slowly the leaves are beginning to turn yellow and a few are starting to fall. The days are getting shorter little by little, and Cracker Barrel restaurants already have their Christmas tree up. Fall is surely just around the corner.

   Down at the hunting club a logging crew has arrived and they are removing trees on around 300 acres. It should open up a good bit of land for hunting that hasn't been hunted in years. The work crew has widened the logging roads but their equipment has made the roads a lot more muddier especially since we've been getting rain about 3 times a week. It should make for an interesting season.

   I know I speak for my whole family when I say we can't wait for cooler weather. The temps here are still in the 90's. It's definitely the "DOG DAYS" of summer. We're ready for mums, & pumpkins, & falling leaves, and a fat doe easing through the woods at 20 yards. ROLL TIDE !!!

   Welcome to Autumn!

Jim Cobb Coleman.

BUSY , BUSY , BUSY !!!!

   I know , I know , I haven't posted anything new in a long time.  I'm sorry. I've been very busy , and we've had some computer issues lately. It has been running so slow that when I got a chance , late at night to write , the computer was soooo slow I couldn't access the site and finally gave up and went to bed. Hopefully that's all straight now.

   I've been involved in re-training to go back to work ( part time ) with the Bullfrog Bottom School Board to drive a school bus once again. I still have all the necessary endorsements on my CDL, I just needed a recert. class. For the last few weeks I've been driving a bus all over the Bullfrog Bottom community practicing procedures and just getting the feel of the bus back again. I finished my testing yesterday and passed with flying colors! Now I just wait for school to start in a few weeks.

   I've been going down to the hunting property and doing some scouting and brush clearing for the upcoming hunting season. I recently acquired a new piece of property to hunt this year and found some great sign on it. With a little bit of pruning I believe it will be a great place to hunt this fall. It has a lot of deer and hog sign on it.

   Going along with my year-long project of how to live and save money and survive as cheaply as possible on your own, I recently purchased a very needed piece of equipment. To access all of the areas on our hunting land I needed a ATV.  4 wheelers and UTV's have gotten very expensive!!! I know guys who have paid double for a ATV than I did for my first car. Prices range from 4 to over 10 thousand dollars. A poor man can't afford something like that just to creep through the woods on to help get a deer out with.

   The way I went about finding my ATV was to look for a used one. There are a lot of good deals out there on used ATV's right now. In todays economy, people need money. If someone can't afford to go hunting they don't need a 4 wheeler sitting in the garage taking up space and slowly dry rotting away. Sometimes , someone will get a new one and no longer want their old one. If you look around good deals can be found.

   I had been looking for a couple of years for a good , cheaply priced 4 wheeler. Finally I came across what I was looking for. A used, well kept, good running, cheaply priced 4 wheeler. My cousin "Hawkeye" heard about someone who had one for sale. I called the man and we made a deal. After meeting and an inspection of the ATV and a test drive. I became the new owner of a 24 year old $500.00 ATV. 

   Yes it's old , and needs a little work done on it. BUT !!! It's in great shape and runs very well. I drove it all over our 2,500 acre hunting property and it performed perfectly! Once I do the few repairs I know I need to do on it I'll have an almost new vehicle.The man I bought it from is in my hunting club and had just purchased a new UTV. He no longer needed this one. Within an hour of purchasing my ATV , he called me on the cell phone and I had to help pull his new UTV out of a sink hole. The 24 year old ATV never got stuck all weekend long!

   Bargains are out there. You just have to be patient and hunt for them. Like I've said there's more than one way to skin a cat. The money I saved by buying a used 4 wheeler will help me on other items my family will need and hopefully help me put more meat in my freezer and on my table for years to come.

   Keep on hunting! ( food & bargains )

Jim Cobb Coleman.