On the Lease

I went to the deer lease this morning, to make an early hunt and to do some work that needs to be done before the opening of the regular gun season next week.  My stand needed a little last minute work, and so did my brother-in-law's stands.  So, after a quick hunt/scouting/wandering the woods, we met to get the work done.

That's my brother-in-law, preparing to scatter a little corn on his shooting lane.  If you'll look behind him you'll see a standard north Louisiana oilfield.  It's mostly trees and briars, brush  and switch cane, interspersed with the occasional oil well.  Deer love it in there and they aren't really bothered by things like pickup trucks.  We hunt in an active oil field, and there's always something going on in the oil patch. As the next picture will show.  Of course, you can click on these pictures for a better view.

This little lane is actually a salt line.  Brine is a big part of any oil field and the company runs lines to move salt water.  This line is on my brother-in-law's portion of the lease and we found it two weeks ago.  The oil company was doing some work to the line, which had been overgrown and they came in an trimmed this part of the line, a straight cut through the woods extending several hundred yards.

BIL was quick to take advantage of it, because in these woods it's rare that you can see 200 yards.  If you look way down the cut, you'll see a black rectangle.  That's his deer stand that we put in recently.  Over his head is a corn feeder and at his feet is a pile of rice bran.  Rice bran is the latest and greatest deer attractant and he's trying it out near his new stand.  Feeding deer is perfectly legal in Louisiana, and is an accepted part of the deer management program.

I got home about noon and have all the toys put away.  Milady is gone to the auction and I'll take a quick shower and follow her.  Or, I might take a nap, then follow her.