Leaving the river with only memories to hang on the wall.

This morning I was in the 180 blind before shooting time and stayed till noon. I only saw a few small deer.

Only a true conservationist can appreciate the resource enough to only harvest mature game that are past their prime reproductive stage... That's what guys like me say when we get skunked.

I loaded everything up and went back to Lincoln this afternoon, then took our youngest to check his deer in. I was planning to go watch the cyclocross races in Lincoln this weekend, but now I'm considering going back to the river to try again before the season ends on Sunday. We'll see.

Even though I didn't get a big buck to hang on the wall, or even a fat old doe for the freezer, it's been a great deer season. I love that place, I started hunting deer there when I was 14 with my dad and grandpa, and look forward to deer season all year. It's nice to get out of the city and back to where my oldest deer hunting memories were made. This year I harvested record breaking memories. No taxidermist can make a trophy that would compare.

2010 rifle deer season day 2.

At sun up I was in a tree stand by the river. At 8am our youngest got a nice antlerless deer. By 10am I was back in the 180 blind and our youngest had his shotgun ready for the turkeys.

We saw just one deer and no turkeys from 10-3. He hitched a ride back to Lincoln to get ready for school tomorrow while I stayed to continue to try to fill my permit.

After he left, the turkeys came by, and even walked directly under the blind. 5 smaller whitetails put on a show around sunset that was fun to watch. But left me eager to see something meatier. I headed back to the camper for supper and a little TV before turning in. I'm hopeful about tomorrow morning and am excited to get back out there.

What a wildlife.

The wildlife is thick down at the river this weekend. Today we saw several bunches of turkeys, quite a few deer, raccoons, otters, eagles, squirrels and waterfowl. Our youngest tagged a nice whitetail doe a little after nine this morning. We'll try our luck again tomorrow starting first thing in the morning.

The trees go in at the river.

We rechecked our rifles this morning to be sure they were still sighted in. Then helped my dad with a nice buck he got today with his bow. This afternoon we took time to plant 3 apple, 1 peach, and 2 oak trees. The fruit trees should start producing in 3 years and whatever mom doesn't pick for lunches and pies will fall and be eaten by deer. These trees will be a nice addition to their habitat. Right now we're getting settled in for the night and rested for opening morning tomorrow.

2010 Loup Valley Ducks Unlimited Banquet.

Last night was the DU banquet and before we got there we stopped off at the river to check out my parent's new deer stand. We're looking forward to going back in a few weeks for rifle deer season.

My turn!

I had to take some lessons from our 13 yr old, but by gosh I did find a big one!

The big cats are biting again on the Loup.

It took our youngest just a couple of minutes to catch this lunker on his first cast this morning.

Got unwound on the Loup.

After 3 nights and more fun than we could have imagined it was time to pack up and head East again. Regular readers would remember that I bought a new Kelty tent (on the left) over the winter. I was really impressed how well it held up in Monday's 45 mph wind and the rain. Not so much as a drop made it's way in. Our boy's dome tent (on the right) couldn't buck the wind and after blowing down got rain inside. My old dome tent wouldn't have stood a chance. I'm really liking the new Kelty. It goes up fast and has a lot of ventilation.

We had so much fun and it sure helps your outlook to get away for a few days!

'Fishing addicts lose all common sense.'

On the way back to camp on my dad's airboat we ran across Jim in his handcrafted airboat as he fished for cats in the deep spots.

When asked from a distance if he was catching any, he held up both hands... Not clearly saying he wasn't, but implying only. While we all know lying is wrong, when it comes to fishing, misunderstandings are always appreciated. At almost the same time his line tugged and he was unable to hide yet another successful catch. He gingerly tossed it in the bucket and continued the conversation hopping no one had noticed.

Even though he has a new airboat, he still is found in the one he built himself years ago. We stopped to visit about the fishing and he expressed his disappointment in his Zebco reel. "After so long, they get grooves wore in them (the real casing) and don't work right any more, I filed them down, but they come back." he said. That tells you how much fishing Jim has done. How many millions of yards of line have to be cast out of a Zebco to cut grooves in it? Unbelievable!

When asked why he was fishing out of his old boat rather than his new vessel he said he wants to get the seat lowered and has it in the shop. And adds it probally won't get done anytime soon. You see, as his focus has shifted from farming to fishing he claims he's losing authority back at the shop on his family farm. He warned us, "They say, once you are addicted to fishing, you lose all common sense." Evidently, according to Jim, that means his projects take a back seat to machinery maintenance and repairs weather he likes it or not.

Seeing that we came from upstream, he asked how the fishing was up there, he said he hasn't been any farther, "...cause, I don't want to get too far from supper." That's Jim's way of saying he doesn't want to get too far from his wife. Who, also stopped by to see us earlier and take a picture of our youngest and his monster catfish for the local weekly paper. She is a community correspondent reporting in by noon every Tuesday so readers know who had who over for supper or who were Sunday afternoon callers at the neighbors, who hosted bridge or whos baby shower was well attended and enjoyed by all.

That's what this blog is all about, as much as it is about sharing our outdoor adventures and encouraging others to play outdoors. It's also about the characters and friends you make. It's about building relationships and making memories. Weather it's on a bike, boat, or in a blind, get out from behind the computer and become an outdoor addict.

It's old river rats like Jim and my dad that make coming down to the Loup a trip worth taking every chance we get.

Airboat ride to a trout spot.

After shooting my dad took us up stream on the Loup in the airboat to visit one of his 'river friends' who invited my boy to try his luck in his stocked trout pond. After struggling with the moss on the edge of the pond he elected to just wade out past it. While he was unable to land a trout, he did hook a large mouth and bluegill.

Shooting to have some fun this afternoon.

After cat fishing my dad came down to the river with the blue rock thrower and we did a little target shooting. As usual I let the little guy win. But hey, I can still beat him in a bike race... On a good day... If I get a headstart... Jeeze, that kid can shoot!

Can't complain about the fishing!

I got this cat on my first cast. We caught 3 more just like it in the next 20 minutes. And two more big ones a while after that.

Enjoying a fire by the river.

Sure beats working!

Turning 13 in a turkey blind.

Our youngest and I are ushering in his birthday with pop tarts and gatorade in a turkey blind on the Loup River in Central Nebraska. We've seen 4 deer already this morning and one gobbler that was out of range. But, it's still early. Sure beats working on a Monday morning!

Watched the city fade away in the rearview mirror.

Our youngest and I left Lincoln this afternoon for a few days on the Loup River to Turkey hunt, fish and camp. This get-a-way is overdue!

It's da second week of deer camp...

Our youngest and I made our way back up to the river friday afternoon. At 4:40 I had this big bodied 3X4 in my sites. We were out again Saturday morning and evening to try to fill his doe tag, but will have to try again later during black powder or the late rifle seasons. He wasn't dissapointed a bit about the idea of spending more time at the river.

Opening weekend of rifle deer season.

Our 12 yr old and I went down to the Loup River and stayed in my parents camper. Saturday morning found us sitting in the trailer blind. We saw some smaller bucks and fawns before this bruser came out of the trees just after 8:20 am.

He saw the buck and wispered "Dad! There's a buck, should I get it?" I leaned up to look out and saw him and said "YES!"

We spent the better part of the day checking it in and taking it to the taxidermist. Sunday morning we took time out to eat and visit with the guys from ec&m outdoors at the Dannebrog Fire Dept Hunters Breakfast before going out to hunt again.

He went home for school Monday and I stayed, trying a tree stand but still came away empty handed. We'll try again this weekend.

12 yr old shoots two turkeys in one shot! That's my boy!

Honest. He really did!

I dropped off our youngest to Turkey hunt on the Loup River with my mom and hadn't even made it back to Lincoln when he called and said that while setting up the blind down on the river he was able to hit two with his first shot. He never misses, but this is just showing off I think! I guess I can't complain about having to spend so much money on his ammo anymore, huh? Ha!

I asked if he wanted me to turn around and come get him since his permit only had two tags and he'd used them both up already. Not one to concede so easily, he said, "no, we'll just go on-line and get another permit, there are too many turkeys down here." He loves it there, I knew he wouldn't want to come home till he absolutely had to.

Are you kidding? Yeah, I'm proud of him!