A few miles north of Strange

I visited my nephew who wants to go hunting. I walked his property while he was driving home from work, and then I walked it again after he got home.

A persimmon tree. In the north. Very strange. This tree was a girl and she had some fruit on her. There was another tree a hundred yards to the west.

A deer trail running parallel to the edge of the field just inside the brush-line.

A scrape

A freakishly large hoof-print. I wear a size 11 shoe.

Rubus strigosus? Small fruit that had small seeds and they tasted fine. Notable for fruiting on primo-canes and for its extreme vigor. It was the dominant edge vegetation and seemed to be everywhere.

I showed him deer trails coming onto his property and crossing the soybean field. I showed him a scrape. I showed him a very, very large footprint. I pointed out a few unusual type of vegetation.

The current plan is for him to erect his elevated stand about 40 yards east of the eastern-most deer-trail into his property on his south property line. That puts 3 deer-trails within 110 yards up-wind of him and one deer-trail within slightly-optimistic cross-bow range.

A few Scot's Pine with branches brushing the ground. This is a GREAT place to bust a deer or six on a blustery, snowy day.

This nephew has a hard time sitting still. I suggested that he plan on two nights of hunting a week and to get on his stand at 4:30 PM and leave at 6:00 PM. With an ear-bud and his favorite music, maybe he won't fidget TOO much.