Saturday, August 29, 2009

Saturday at the Lease

We loaded up this morning and I took four grandkids to the deer lease. I put out a salt block on the shooting lane (a huge pipeline) and installed a corn feeder. We met my brother-in-law and went with him to his stands and put out salt. Then we went to the camp, where he had a barbeque pit going. He had been out early and put on a couple of racks of ribs. I brought hot dogs and sandwich fixings.

I meant to bring a camera and take some pictures. Oh, well, maybe next time.

The boys chose hot dogs and sandwiches. We menfolk ate pork ribs, tater salad and beans. One thing about that lease. If you bring something, it'll get thrown on a pit and everyone shares the grub. I left the hot dogs on the cool end of the pit. The guys promised me they wouldn't be wasted.

I'm home now with one more errand to run, then I see a nap in my future.

Some states forbid the feeding of game animals. I probably spend a hundred dollars or so each year on corn alone. I feed all the wildlife that wants to use my feeder. I know for a fact that squirrels, rabbits, raccoons, deer and hogs use the feeder. There are probably a number of birds who slip in and get a couple of kernels of corn every day. I start the feeders in late August or early September and let them run until sometime in late February. By March in these latitudes, spring is coming on and the woods are starting to green.

I don't see any harm in using feeders and Louisiana allows it. I didn't shoot a deer last year for one of several reasons. I don't get out to the lease except on weekends and shortly after the opening of the season, the deer are pretty much nocturnal. Feeding them certainly doesn't hurt.

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