Beagle Puppies

It has been a few years, but our first batch of puppies appeared last night.
My good friend Nick went by the kennel to feed and checked in on Wilma and there they were.
We had thought she had another week to 10 days left before she would have dropped, but it seems everyone was healthy
5 in all, 3 females and 2 males
Wilma is from great deer stock, and one of the better dogs in the pack. We have 2 young Red Tick female beagles now, as well as the tri color female, so it seems we will only be keeping a male puppy.
That's OK, because as soon as the news got out that my hound had puppies, a few guys were asking about when they could see them so they could make a claim to them.
Good stock deer/ rabbit dogs are like gold around here

Deer Season In Virginia

Here in Virginia, Deer season is in full swing.
Bow season has been in for a few weeks, and Black Powder season comes in in just a few days.
Due to an auto accident back in 2008, I have not been able to pull a bow back, or been able to fire a rifle or shotgun for a few years, but fortunately I have my older sons that know how to use my stuff, and keep the freezer full.
I still am active down at the hunt club, and keep track of the patterns of the rut, and feeding and bedding of the Deer.
It seems that this year the deer are not as concerned with the corn and soybeans in the fields.
There is a large surplus of acorns in the woods this year, to be specific, White Oak acorns, which any sportsman knows taste different

They are much sweeter than the Red oak and Pin oak, and the woods are loaded with them.
How do I know they are sweeter ? I have tasted them.
I believe the harsh Winter last year killed of many squirrels that would have removed many of these acorns by now, and my younger sons have not seen many squirrels out this year, so to me it is adding up to a great season.
This does not mean that the deer will not wander out into the cut bean fields, but as long as food is plentiful in the woods, they are more likely to stay in the woods, which will mean a better hunt for those that scouted a tree stand a month or so ago.
Word from the guys down at the club is that the Does are still running in packs of 8 and 10, and there are few scrapes, so that means the rut will begin mid October

Oyster Roast

Down here, we have a few fund raisers at our hunt club.
This one we helped promote breast cancer.
The main attraction was the roasted oysters. That's my boy and his friends shuckin out some.
We take the raw oysters and lay them on a grill, between two wet burlap bags and steam them until they pop open.
You then insert your knife, twist, and cut the oyster out and enjoy


We also had fried oysters, hush puppies, oyster stew, and bar-b-que.
Inside we had all the good stuff too, potato salad, cole slaw, mac-n-cheese, bean salad, and all kinds of cakes, brownies, and pies



All the members had a job to do, and we stayed busy keeping the food coming

You cant have an oyster roast without some bluegrass, so we had a tent up for the band

After we served a couple hundred folks, it was time for a break

We did have some leftovers, which made for some good sandwiches on Sunday

Poor ole' Thelma came, and helped with the clean up.

She ate so much, we had to pick her up and put her in the truck when it was time to go home