Bolt Hole Report, November 16, 2009

Yeah, I'm back at the scene once more. Don't intend this to be a long stay. I just have to pick up some things I left behind and then it will be back to the Aerie. I've a dinner to attend on Wednesday evening and one more PT session on Thursday morning. Whether I return to the Hole for the weekend is yet to be determined.

I had a restless night sleeping. No, nothing to do with the knee just several things on my mind and lots of sinus pressure. The result was I woke at 4 AM and, since I couldn't get back to sleep, rolled out of the sack at 5 AM. I would have packed the Tundra and headed north then but Terry and I had some business to tend to at the bank so I had to hang around until they opened.

While drinking my morning coffee I checked my email to see that Mark had left a note saying that there was a fresh rub line in the apple orchard right behind the barn and that there were reports (and personal sightings) of bucks running all over as they seem to have finally gone into rut. He recommended I be sure to bring my rifle and said I should just sit on my deck from dark to dark. This report alone made me change what I was packing in the truck.

I finally got on the road at 11 AM and had an uneventful drive along the western shore of Seneca Lake and east on the NYS Thruway. Mostly sunshine and 45 degrees all the way. Little or no traffic to speak of. Even construction was at a minimum. They finally opened up the long stretch east of the Geneva where they had been resurfacing about 5 miles of the road. There are still a few spots where there's minor construction going on, but no more do you have to worry about shifting lanes and narrow roads with concrete barriers (Jersey barriers, they are called) hemming you in. Made one stop for lunch on the thruway and another at a Stewart's as I got closer to the cabin for some groceries before pulling into the yard at 3:00 PM.

The knee let me know what it thought of being folded in one position for all that time. Thankfully the kinks were nothing new. That's one of the other reasons for the stop on the thruway. Two hours or so in the truck and I have to get out for a bit of a walk about to stretch the legs. Besides, the cup of coffee I borrowed from the bank wanted to be released.

Unloaded the truck; turned on the water; built some fires in the stoves (only 51 degrees--inside--when I arrived); and then loaded the rifle to take a walk behind the barn for a look-see. Sure enough, a small apple tree not much more than an inch in diameter had a fresh rub on it. And, off to the west about forty yards there was a small hawthorne that had suffered the same fate. If the size of the rub is indicative of the size of the deer, well, he might feed a family of four--once.

I'll take a good long look off the deck in the morning and then maybe take a short walk along one of the trails around lunch. I actually don't have much hope of seeing anything, but, hey!, you never know!