MUDRUNNER

Nice! Did you get him in a trap?

Wow $199 is a steal for the Wicked Ridge. My kids are still relatively small, so the Recruit fits them perfectly. Once they get a little older and can handle a longer LOP I might upgrade to a nicer crossbow. I think I paid $240 for the compound Recruit. Having the strings replaced will cost 1/3 of what the whole deal cost me lol.

Another month of Friday check-ins is wrapping up. What's on every bodies agenda for the weekend? Not too much going on for us tonight. We are having a nice January thaw, so will most likely grill and relax tonight. Tomorrow we are going to all of my relatives grave sites to collect the Christmas stuff that we put out back in December. Tomorrow evening & Sunday my daughter has another indoor softball tournament. She's filling in for another team so she's a little excited/nervous to meet some new girls. At least this one is local so no hotel stay. Her team got second place last weekend, so hopefully she can bring home some hardware 2 weekends in a row.

Did you ever end up getting them changed William? We have a little life left on the strings for the kids Recruit, but after next season I will probably look into having them changed out.

We really want to get up there for a game and check it out. Had several friends that have been to games this year and have said the place and atmosphere are unreal in person.

Well, I missed the game because we were driving home from my daughters softball tournament. Looks like I didn't miss much. All of last weeks heroics against the Saints are now meaningless. Can't believe after all of that they came out and laid a turd. Ehhhh the misery of being a Vikings fan. Next year though....lol. I guess it's onto hockey now for me. I am also a hockey fan of a team that hasn't won squat lol. Oh well...Lets go Blues!

Not too shabby. The videography and editing are pretty darn good.

What's going on for the weekend? Emma has an indoor softball tournament this weekend up in Pekin. We're leaving after work tonight and won't be home until Sunday night. The whole family is going, so the boys are excited to get to swim at the hotel....they could care less about softball lol. Also it's my brides birthday today, so might do a nice dinner while we're up there.

After having another pretty good run of 0-20 degree weather and some snow it looks like we're about to have a pretty good thaw. The next seven days they are predicting 40+ degree weather for highs.

Turned out nice! I have one mounted on a similar looking piece of old barn wood.

I haven't followed it too closely in years. I like to keep it simple these days, so the latest & greatest doesn't appeal to me as much as it used to. $1500 bows and $1000 sights just isn't my thing. I did google the sight and it looks cool. Here's a link for anyone that wants to see it. https://www.garmin.com/en-US/blog/fishandhunt/garmin-xero-auto-ranging-digital-bow-sight/

Yea that was nuts lol. I used to live in Minnesota, so been a Vikes fan for years....those kind of breaks just don't happen for us. The entire second half was a roller coaster. I think the DB just had his head down looking for a big hit to end the game, but just wiffed badly. Vikes have been underdogs all season really, and it was great to see them win at home. There were some priceless reactions on that last play lol.

Well my season is officially over. Wish I could have gotten out a little more, but can't complain. I got a nice buck ,my daughter got her first deer, and the freezer is full. I tore my bicep in December so that ended my bow season a little earlier than normal, but that's healing and feeling better by the day now. Another season in the books!

I'm slacking a bit on the Friday check-ins lol. Was a pretty quiet weekend for us. Went to the in laws for dinner Friday night to celebrate brother in law & father in laws birthdays. Wife worked Saturday so I stayed home with the kids and got a few things done around the house. Yesterday took my daughter to the batting cage and watched the Vikes game....and what a game. SKOL

Man Frank that looks sweet! Great bucks & your taxi did a nice job. Love the base & foliage. I got a wall pedestal of my buck from a few years ago. I wanted something different...I love it, the wife not so much lol. I still have the head from my buck this year in the freezer. Need to figure out if I want a shoulder mount or euro on him and get him to my taxi.

First Friday check-in of the new year. What's up for the weekend? Tonight we have a Christmas dinner for my wife's work. Don't really know too many people there, but free steak and cold beer sounds good to me. Other than that no real plans for the weekend. I'll probably go ahead and pack up my hunting gear for the year and do a few things around the house that I've been putting off. Softball starts back up for Emma next week, so will probably just enjoy one of our last restful weekends by doing a whole lot of nothing.

Man, that's a bummer. Hope nobody got hurt. When I lived in MN we wrapped everything in heat tape and insulation. Not sure if that was the safest thing to do or not but probably safer than a space heater and hay.

I have a mossy oak scent blocker suit that I won in a drawing several years ago, but it really seems dark to me. It's still a nice suit that I wear occasionally early season. Still love my Realtree AP, which is my go to pattern generally if i'm buying new stuff. My rut outfit for when it cools off is Predator Fleece. Kind of an unorthodox pattern but I really like it as well. Back when I started hunting most of my gear was green camo or the original Treebark.

I hope everybody has a good new years weekend! Another year draws to a close. What does everyone have planned for the weekend? Not too much planned for me tonight. The wife works tomorrow, so I think I might take the kids to see the new Star Wars movie. Tomorrow evening my sister and her family are all coming over to grill. It should be about 0 degrees. The neighbors have to think i'm crazy for grilling year round lol. Sunday we might take down the Christmas tree and decorations. The stuff outside is frozen to the ground so that's going to have to wait. No big plans for new years eve. Probably drink a few beers and be in bed by 10. Monday my family has an annual new years day get together at my aunts house. We make a huge batch of an Italian dish called bagna cauda that we pretty much only do once a year. It's a bit of an acquired taste lol.

Man when I was younger I loved it. Hunted practically every time it snowed whether it was deer, rabbits, pheasants, or quail. If the ponds were frozen we were playing pond hockey no matter what the temp was. When I lived in Minnesota we had the sleds fired up every chance we had. I think William is right...age might have something to do with it lol. I can handle it in small doses but do not enjoy it like I used to. If it pops above freezing for a few days here and there I'm good. We are having one of the biggest cold snaps in years here in central Illinois. Looks like a -5 temp for Saturday night.

I wear Muck boots most of the time. I think mine are Fieldblazers. They are probably the lightest pair of hunting boots I've worn as far as weight goes. They are great if temps are between about 30-60 degrees. Anything colder & my feet get cold.

Congrats! Way to get it done in the late season. That's some nice scenery. I love hunting with a little snow on the ground.

Woke up to 4 degrees F this morning. We have a chance to get a below zero temp for the first time in a long time this Saturday night. Wish I still had some skates that fit me so I could play a little pond hockey. I used to live about 60 miles northwest of where Albert Lea is on that map. This is a heat wave compared to what the temps are up that way lol. They have several days in the forecast where it won't get above 0 for the high. The ice should be getting nice & thick for the snowmobilers & ice shanties.

I've been getting e-mails from Scent Blocker that has 30% off of all gift cards. Usually after the season is over they have some good sales too. Buy a gift card now and use it when they have a sale for more savings.

Man, that is pretty dang awesome! Making some lasting memories for sure. It doesn't get any better than that.