I woke up to a sultry, humid day. I didn't want to wake anyone, but around 3:30, I couldn't take it anymore and got up to a quick shower. I putzed around the lodge a bit while everyone else was getting ready.
We all got ready and Rick came out to get us around 5:15. We all headed out. The two NY guys were dropped off first. I could feel a headache coming on - quickly and with strength.
I was last to be dropped off on a quadpod stand looking down a lane. My flashlight was only kind of working and I wasn't familiar with the stand, so I felt like I was banging gongs while trying to get situated. Once I had everything set up, the stand was actually rather comfortable.
It was still quite dark, so I dozed a bit while the morning woke up. I was hopeful as it got light, but the morning moved slowly with nothing showing up on the corn pile - at least nothing more interesting than a squirrel.
My head was pounding with a migraine, so I took advantage of the slowness to semi-doze a bit.
Soon enough, the morning was over and Rick came to get me. He came from beyond the pile which surprised me a bit.
The only deer any of us saw was a small 3-point that Kevin saw. Reports from friends of Rick were similarly slow. The deer had to be somewhere, but on this morning they were just not active.
Lisa had family issues to attend to so we went to a small restaurant for breakfast. The menu was minimal, but the sandwich was good (enough).
Back at the lodge, a more proper nap and another walk down to the river seemed to help my head quite a bit. I wasn't 100%, but going in the right direction.
Early afternoon came around and we piled into the truck to head out. I was dropped off at a small field about 100 yards walk from the road. It was hot. It was hot HOT. And humid. It was uncomfortable. The only saving grace was a decent breeze. It took a few minutes to get situated, but once I had everything set up I was able to get comfortable. I looked angrily at the sun since I knew it was going to be beating me up as it set.
The afternoon passed somewhat slowly. At one point the Air Force jets started flying around. Thankfully it wasn't for very long since I still had a headache and I knew from previous hunts that they could be painfully noisy.
As the sun started setting, the wind stopped making the day stop about the way it stopped. As it got to dark to see, a very tiny doe popped out right in front of the stand. It milled around a little bit before turning around and going back the way it came.
I got out of the stand and went to the gate to wait to get picked up. The mosquitoes hadn't bothered me all night, but they were brutal while waiting. Thankfully Rick picked me up before they carried me off.
Back at the lodge, Joe had missed a deer, Matt had seen some but no shooters. Kevin had an evening similar to mine, seeing only one turkey.
The evening ended with spaghetti and garlic bread.
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