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.

HUNTING PREP. WORK

   Man am I wore out! These weekend excursions are killing me. I finally came home Sunday night around 9pm just to get a rest!

   We worked the whole weekend in camp and deep in the deer woods trying to do what's necessary to ensure an enjoyable hunting season coming up in a few months. It was late Friday night before I arrived in camp. Except for unloading the truck and trailer, not much else got done that night except some friendly conversations around camp.

   Early Saturday morning, after a good breakfast of oiled sausages, grits, and coffee, we first got to work leveling my new deck in front of my camper. My cousin "Hawkeye" and I dug the footings under each 4 x 4 post under the deck and placed a concrete paver under it. Even though we got an early start, the temps quickly climbed up into the mid 90's. We were soaked in sweat in no time, and thanks to having to crawl under the 8 x 16 foot deck I soon was covered in wet dirt.

   After the posts of the deck were securely on the pavers and the entire deck was leveled we ducked into the camper to cool down and take a quick Coke break to try and cool off for a little while. Next we loaded up the ATV's with tools and building materials and headed back in the woods to start to build a shooting house for "Hawkeye".

   "Hawkeye" was going to build a 18 foot tall shooting house. He fabricated a 6 x 6 foot house to go on top of the platform we would build in the woods. The platform would be made of 4 x 4 posts, tied together by 2 x 8's and 2 x 6's. The floor of the house would be 3/4 inch plywood that would later be covered by carpet. We came prepared. We brought a vendor tent so we could stop and rest in the shade, a shop fan, and a Honda generator to power all the tools. We had our camp chairs and a full ice chest to help and keep us hydrated. BOY did we drink some water and gatoraide!!!

   We worked a little while, and then we would take a rest. It was too hot to try and bulldoze our way through the job. Slowly but surely it started taking shape. We got around half of the stand built by evening time so we called it a day. We knocked off around 8pm, we were whipped!

   That night we cooled down, showered off, and cooked a good supper on the grill. We had B-B-Qued pork tender loins and baked beans for supper. It was good, but it was around 11:30pm by the time it was done. We ate and literally went to bed.  

   The next morning we had a little more pork for breakfast. We were aching from all the work we did the day before but still had another full days work before us. Other members of the club were also down for the weekend to work on their areas. A new member came over and asked how the construction was going and offered to help us finish it up. He had his 2 teenage sons down with him and a teenage friend of his son. Together we headed back out and made short work of the rest of the job. This new member saved us probably 4 or 5 more hours of work in the hot Alabama sun. By staying and helping us he delayed himself and his family from going home. This man lives 3 hours from hunting camp. He really just wanted to help and be a part of our club. Our hats are off to him and his boys. We look forward to when we can return the favor and help them out. This is what true sportsanship is all about. It takes good people to make a good hunting club.

   All that's left for "Hawkeye" to do is a little painting , build a proper set of steps to get in the stand with, and lay down carpet on the floor. This job is basically done. It took two trips to break down the worksite and get all the tools and equipment back to camp.

   After another cool down break in the camper, we loaded up on the ATV's and headed back into the big woods in search of a new area for me to hunt this winter. I located a beautiful hardwood bottom covered with plenty of white oak trees and plenty of deer and hog sign. The rolling hills were lit up by the hot sun shining through the dark green leaves of the oak trees. I can only imagine for now how beautiful this will look come fall of the year when the dark green leaves will have changed to amber, ocre, and crimson.

   A quick scouting mission tells me where the animals are crossing, and a quick scan of the tree line lets me see which oak tree I need to hang my portable on come September! Very little pruning will be necessary to open up a few good shooting lanes. This spot seems tailor made.

   Now that all of our chores are caught up for this weekend, we headed back to get ready to head home ourselves. It was after 9pm by the time I got home. It was a full , tiresome weekend, but we got alot accomplished. During the weekend we saw a few turkeys and a bunch of deer, and that's a big part of why we do what we do. As hunters we just don't kill animals in the winter, we live with them all year long. We love these animals, alive in the field and on the wall and in the freezer. And whether or not we kill something we really live just to be in the woods with them. Nothing beats the view from a deerstand.

   I hope you get to enjoy it too!

Jim Cobb Coleman.

WHAT A WEEK

   It is amazing how fast a week can fly by! Last weekend was full of work down at my hunting club property. I planned on an enjoyable week. It was hectic!

   The days flew by. Filled with work, running errands, trying to help out with my Mom and Dad, gardening, and general duties around the farm. It's been tiring.

   Dad is doing well, he is still weak, but strong enough to keep everyone else on there toes trying to keep an eye on him! Most days this week I dropped by after work and spent 4 to 5 hours a day visiting with him. The more we talk, the better he seems to be, and the better he seems to do at night. The better he rests at night, the more rest Mom can get. When I;m over Mom can get a break and sneak off and rest.

   The garden is doing well, I picked a good mess of produce the other day. We have a good supply of Roma tomatoes, okra, banana peppers, and Mortgage Lifter tomatoes. Hopefully we can make some tomatoe paste and have some fried okra and green tomatoes.

   We had a death in the family this week as well. Our Momma goat " Daisy Mae" died the other day. Apparently the victim of a snake bite. We noticed a swelling on the underside of her jaw, but could see no signs of injury other than the swelling. It went down a few days later and she was eating well the whole time. Then one day I didn't see here. The next day I went looking foe her and found her behind the barn. She will be missed. We raised her since she was a few months old. She was around 5 years old.

   Jim Cobb Coleman.

 

WEEKEND WORK

   Trying to prepare for next hunting season is a lot of work. It is a never ending battle fighting the jungle of briars and brush that's overtaking the trails and crossings through the woods near my hunting stands. Not having a fortune of money to go and rent some heavy equipment to do my dirty work for me, I must resort to a chainsaw, weed eater, and limb lopers and a lot of sweat and muscles.

   It looks like a wall of brush, but after a few hours of whacking away at it you can start to see a little headway. The side effects are a tired achy body covered in sweat and brush clippings, and a good old blister. The upside is the area is looking better and maybe it will be manageable between now and the start of the season.

   There are other stand locations that need attention as well. A couple of new stands need to be put up. Since I am on DAY 9 of my year long experiment, why not apply it to deer hunting ? A home made deer stand will still cost some money, but not as much as a commercially made one, and it will definitely be made out of better material.

   A lot of people are talking about bartering these days as I way of getting things you need. I have been able to acuire some things I need by salvage. It is amazing what people throw away these days. Even things that could easily be sold to someone is trashed. We have become a disposable society. It is too much trouble to bother with, so people just throw good things away.

   Recently I found building materials, paint, tools, and appliances that only need a little cleaning up. A recent find was a complete wooden deck that had been abandoned. All it took was a little muscle to relocate. Salvaging beats paying for it all day long. Just another way to save money and fend for yourself.

Jim Cobb Coleman.

GATOR DRAWING

   Did I feel lucky? NO I DIDN'T!!!

   Well the drawing for the lucky folks who will get to gator hunt in the state of Alabama this year is done. Needless to say, I didn't get my name drawn! AGAIN! This is twice I have applied to get the chance to go gator hunting with no luck. My cousin didn't get drawn either.

   Oh well! We tried. It is probably a good thing we didn't get drawn anyway. My wife would probably kill me if I brought home one of the 15 foot gators I fish around. I don't know where I would put a full body mount either.

   Better luck next year!

Jim Cobb Coleman.

DO I FEEL LUCKY?

   Well do I? I sure hope so. Anyway I'll find out for sure tomorrow when the lottery drawing for this season's Alabama gator hunt is over. By lunch time the drawing will be over and everyone will be notified by E-mail whether or not they will get to hunt this year.

   I know it would be a grand adventure! Imagine slipping onto the waters after dark on a hot summer night in search of a large pair of glowing red eyes, and 800 to 900 lbs of angry, hungry attitude. Yea that's right if we go, we're going after a big one. As big a one we can find.

   Since my cousin entered too, we stand a better chance with two of us in the running. No matter if only one of us gets drawn, the other one can go and help. It will be fun either way. Maybe we can get drawn and come away with some good meat and some great memories.

   We'll see tomorrow! Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Jim Cobb Coleman.