Saturday Evening
Bill then took custom orders for steaks and we had the usual light dinner. Remember: we wanted to eat lightly, because we were going hunting!
"How large do you want it?"
"Thick enough for you?"
The view of the feast: steaks in the center, bread to the left, coffee to the right.
Great company. It can't get any better.
Monster steaks, garlic bread, coffee: what more could you want?
After dinner we divvied up the Ranch: Ted went to Hummingbird very early (skipped dinner), and hung out mostly at the tree at the north end overlooking the Fishing Trail at its upper end, but also moved around a little. Saw a large fork in Holmes'. Paul also skipped dinner; went out with Erik to Prune Ridge Hook. David and Guy went to Hummingbird and watched Matteoni. David was at the tree in the center, saw a large spike for about 20 minutes, around the central area of Matteoni. Guy was way to the right, at the rock, looking out for Alan's biggie. Nada. Alan and Dr. W drove to the top, saw plenty: a very large 3 x 3; another 3 x 3, and a fork, but all way far away toward San Jose. Craig opted for Hill 41, saw 2 spikes plus four others. Bill stayed in camp, caught up on his sleep (he is doing a lot of travelling to take care of Dad).
After it was dark and the guys came in, a bunch had to pack and leave: Dr. W, Alan, Erik, Dr O, with Bill driving. Craig, Ted, Paul, Guy, and David stayed in. The guys played cards while David went to bed early, as usual. No branches fell, a quiet night except for a pair of foxes eating table scraps thrown downhill.
Sunday
In the morning, Ted got us up, but the coffee was not hot when I came in. Ted looked like he needed coffee this early after cards last night:
Ted took the Van Horn, hoping to see the fork from Sat am. Nada. Guy and David went to Prune Ridge Hook, got there at about 6 am, with twilight just fading. Perfect timing: we could see deer but not heads or ears or legs. A fog was in the northern end of the canyon.
Stunning morning: we could see deer, including a spike, from the moment we sat down until the moment we left. We were never without deer to watch! Saw about 9, but hard to count as they wove in and out of clearings. Finally, with bright sunlight on the last group of deer, we could see one of the "does" had an inch spike. It was great to watch the sun filter over the mountains and illuminate the fog:
Watching a buck all morning was great.
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