2011 deer camp duties

[Lee Borgersen]

Hook and Bullet Club - 2011 deer camp duties

  by Nick Wognum...... Ely Echo

Ready or not the 2011 firearms deer season is upon us. At Camp Cholesterol we've put up stands, made some repairs and cleared trails of downed trees.

But we're not ready.

For example, there's still the annual Cleaning of the Sauna Benches. This is one of those jobs that has no pay and no volunteers. So it gets put off to the last minute.

The Cleaning of the Shack is another task that gets pushed back. Some don't believe it even happens but being the one who moves the furniture, pounds the dust out of the rugs, changes the linens and wipes down the shelves, I know it gets done.

Evan and I will also need to complete the Installation of Heating Units in the stands. That may sound like a major undertaking and that our stands are all toasty warm. That would be incorrect.

Even in the couple of stands that get propane heaters, the wind still seems to blow the warm air out and insert ice-cooled air to freeze even the most cold blooded hunter. Maybe we should try insulating instead of just putting up plywood walls. Hmmm.

Somehow, some way, we'll get most everything done by opener. If not, we'll go with what we've got.

Evan and I already made our annual trip to Babbitt to sight the guns in. This went fairly well once we figured out we had both 80 grain and 100 grain .243 shells. That explained the holes at the bottom of the target at times.

We put in a call to grandpa out in Fargo to hook us up with just one type of .243 shells so we should be in business real soon.

Now we just need grandpa in Babbitt to come through with his World Famous Eat More, a tradition on Friday night out at Camp Cholesterol.

With the way the economy is this year, our banquet will have to be cut back as well. Plus there was that unexpected expense of having to buy tickets for the Shack Exchange at Wilmunen Acres. Hopefully we'll get good seats in the sauna.

This weekend will also mark the end of the fall for our 12 year-old golden retriever. She'll look at us with those foggy eyes and wonder why she can't come with.

But dogs at the shack (especially gold colored ones) are just not allowed during deer season.

The clock is ticking toward the start of the season. We'll get the stands, the sauna and the shack ready for our hunters.

The rest, including a bit of luck, is out of our hands.