Ghost At Work

I don't even know why I go to work on Halloween. Every year those damn ghost get to swooping around my office until I can't get any work done. They hide my pens, disrupt the internet and my computer, phones won't work, and they try to scare the hell out of anyone that comes in my office.
I'll try to stay in this creepy old office as long as I can, but I assure you that I will be gone from here way before dark. It really gets scary then.

The Bell Of The Tchula Lady

It was the hottest part of August when the weird idea to go frog gigging over on the River struck us. I asked Paul Jones what he knew about the frogging over in that area and he told me that it should be good. He had not seen any vehicles with boats over at the landing at night in almost a month. He figured we could catch about as many as we wanted. Paul, Burney and I started planning right then but Paul Jones interrupted us with one of his cryptic final statements. “The River has been channeled but down about two miles there is a double bow where you follow the old River for about half a mile. When you get to it, you can see it is marked on the side by a mile marker, #27. If I was you, I would get in the middle and drift down past the last bow and don’t try to catch any frogs ‘till then.” We stared at him. He didn’t say anything else. Paul Jones has a habit of knowing way to much about the history of this place but when pressed he said “maybe nothing, but do what I say and there won’t be no trouble” That’s all we could get out of him.
A week later we were ready. We had boats, we had coolers, we had lights, we had beer, we had everything we needed. We even picked up a couple of stragglers in Mark Stewart, Mark Rose, Stewart Allen and Terry Cutrere. Two boats to cover the River with me driving one and Burney the other. We planned about a 10 mile drift and then to come back up to catch what we missed on the way down.
Catching frogs is not done with a gig. One man sits in the front usually wearing heavy gloves, 2nd man in the middle holds the light, and the 3rd man drives the boat. You shine their eyes and blind them, pull the boat in tight and grab them. Simple as pie.
The night was black as pitch as we headed downriver floating and talking until we started seeing a few frogs and then split up to cover each side of the river. We caught some, put ‘em in the cooler, missed a few but everyone had a shot at it and we drank beer and enjoyed the night. Before we had gone 1/2 mile the fog rolled in on us and it started getting quiet. Mark Rose in the other boat shined his light high on the bank and we could just make out marker #27 and we floated into the first bend.
You could tell it was the old river as tall timber overhang this part and we let the current pull us forward. The water was low but the river narrowed here. It was spooky but it seemed like frogs were everywhere. We split up and started getting them. We had caught 10 before a frantic bobbing of the lights caught our attention and we eased the motor until we crossed over and found Burney holding a snag waiting for us in his boat.
Both boats shined their light at a mass of old timbers jutting from the bank. The huge timbers were covered by big frogs and I started to tell Burney they could get in to them but he said “Listen” and we all quieted down. It was still in the swirling fog with just the slapping of the water on the boats but You could hear it low and slow, the chiming of a bell coming from the old wreck in front of us. As we listened it quickly got louder. The frogs in front of us escaped into the water as we realized that the sound was coming from the old pile-up. Shining the light we spotted an old marker at the top of the bank. It read The Tchula Lady.
As the noise grew louder a shrill shriek seemed to echo in it that hurt our ears, the blood curdling sound seemed to reach into your soul and it seemed like the fog seemed to swirl in amongst the timbers until it looked like people were moving there. We quickly backed into the middle of the River. I almost had to fight Cutrere to get control of the motor after Paul grabbed his leg to tell him to turn the light downstream and almost caused the whole group to panic and sink the boat. We all took off downriver until the noise faded behind us. Not much frogging was done after that and later when we came back up the river it was done at full throttle hugging the opposite side of the River.
Paul Jones had built a fire on the bank and was waiting for us when we got back to the landing. We tried to tell him about what happened but he already knew. He told us the tale then. “The Tchula Lady was a paddle-wheeler that ran mostly from The Misissippi, up to Yazoo City and then to Tchula carrying supplies and people. During the Civil war it carried soldiers and was ambushed in that bow below Parkers Landing by Union cavalry with cannons and sank with all hands. It caught in a snag at the bend of the River and everyone that made a swim to the bank was shot. No one survived. The ship burned right there and the old timbers in the bank are all that’s left of it. The story is that it is still trying to make the run up river and the ghost don't want to be disturbed. I have heard that the sound of the bell will burst your eardrums or make you lose your mind if you stay and listen too long.” That was the end of our frog hunting expeditions on that River.

Katies' Big Day

My cousin, Katie, is getting married this weekend. Yes, I know that no one in their right mind gets married during the fall or winter, but love can make you blind and I don't think her new husband is a hunter.
Katie is the daughter of my cousin, Kent (a reformed duck hunter) and he and his wife Marijean are planning on a hoedown that Oxford has never seen before. I have been warned that no one will be allowed to wear camo, hip boots, waders, or any hunting gear at all.
The women are all up in the air about this so I guess the deer will have to wait another week.
(and yes, any wedding at Halloween is scary.)

The Secret Spot

Why are all the members at the famous Christmas Place creeping around scouting for big deer sign? The reason is that they are all looking for the Secret Spot. This is a secret place nestled in an obscure place that no one knows about except them. This place is where the very biggest bucks make their home and where a huge trophy can be taken if they can just find it. Just hunting there is where all the action is as a parade of bucks wander by as you wait for that giant (Thunderhoof?) to make his appearance.
Don't worry, I'm looking too.

Laid By

All of our fields are officially laid by for the winter. (thank god)They are all planted and taken care of and those damn deer better appreciate them. Bucks are starting to move and are leaving their sign in the woods for us to get excited about. Lots of hooks were seen as we went over the property this weekend. The peanuts are gone but there are plenty left on the ground that should attract deer and hogs as it gets colder. Looks like a great year is just about to begin.

#OccupyFCH

It is time for the 99% of members to occupy the famous Christmas Place! We are tired of the rich members shooting all the big deer, getting the best stands, and drinking the best whiskey. It is time to unite against this sacrilege and take over the Christmas Place until we kill a giant deer too!
Bring your long johns, a sleeping bag, your hippie beads and bongs and head down to the Delta to make these evil plantation owners do the right thing and give us all their stuff. (I could use Paul's new truck and his gold credit card) Unite! Women show your breast! Free Booze! We will make hunting great again after we get rid of those selfish, uncaring, criminal rich hunters! Hang them All! Give peace a chance!

The Sneekin' Peekin' Weekend

This is it. This is the weekend when almost everything is done and it is time to find out where that big old buck is hiding. Everyone will be scouting for that rascal this weekend and of course not telling the others what they saw or found. Gun season will be here before you know it and you have to make sure you are in a really good spot to get your big buck.
cool weather moved i this weekend which should make those bad old deers think about scraping and rubbing their antlers, so sign should be plentiful.
Will see you around the hanging pole!
PS- will have an article up soon about disfunctional hunting camps :)

Tree Rat City

The 2011 Squirrel camp was a success. At least 100 squirrels were taken this weekend by our hunters and everyone had a great time.

The weather was perfect and a lot of time was spent by everyone around the campfire. Lots of stories were told and lots of drinking was done as we shared some old fashioned camaraderie of the hunting camp.

A whole box of squirrels! We had the best squirrel and dumplings ever thanks to Roy Stevens.

Android Deer

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I am finally moving into the year 2000 with technology. I just got a new Android phone from CSpire. This thing is amazing. You can take pictures, text, send email, surf the net, and you can even talk on it. Amazing!
The best thing is now I can do Apps. This damn thing has apps out the kazoo. Hating on Paul- got an app, puting up with Dad and the rest of those deaf idiots- got an app, putting Scrooge in his place- got an app. GPS maps, hunting tips, wind direction, where to go hunt- got an app. It has lots and lots of deer hunting apps which should insure that I will kill a big old buck every year! The very best thing is that now there is no excuse for me not getting a picture of that damn Thunderhoof. I think they even have an app for that

Pauls Free Lessons in Futility

This past weekend we had several guest at camp. They were pleasant, fun to be around and greatly enjoyed the property. Paul brought them up to hog hunt and shoot does with their bows. (HA-HA) They did not understand Pauls' strategies for making sure a guest doesn't kill a deer.
Phillip Anderson was sent to hunt the Sneaky Stand. He made himself a little blind at the base and got ready to pop a deer. It didn't take long before he heard one walking toward the open field. He saw her head and slowly raised his bow. She stepped to the edge and he drew his bow back. Now according to Phillip, at that exact time, a mosquito as large as a humming bird landed right on top of his nose and decided to drill for oil.
The pain was tremendous, the doe stepped into the wide open, the giant mosquito found a deep vein and hit a gusher, Phillip screamed from pain and the arrow shot from his bow doing no damage to anything except making the deer walk off shaking its head at the fool hunter. The mosquito escaped, Phillip held his throbbing probiscus and the hunt was over.
I don't know how Paul manages to arrange something like this everytime but trust me, your chance of getting a deer here are between slim and none.

Paul, Phillip, Trey, Joey

Hog Time Begins

Trent started the weekend out right by blasting this nice size porker up on the North end of the property.

This was followed up in the afternoon with a wild west shootout by Mark Stewart and Paul Jones that put three more hogs on the table.

(Phillip and Anders would be so proud)

Free Range Pork

In an effort to help the environment and stay healthy at the same time, I am taking the Mailrider with me down to the famous Christmas Place this weekend. We are going after some of those free ranging wild hogs that seem to be taking over the place. Hmmm.... wild hog with peanut oil. Yum, Yum!
See I can be as green minded as anyone.

Indian Artifacts

Every now and then we find Indian artifacts that remind us of the history of the area and that the Indians were here way before the white man.
Paul found this perfectly formed bird point while they were disking the Arrowhead Field.

Getting Ready

We cut and split enough wood for the winter last weekend. Almost all the fields are planted and we cut all the grass around the camp. time should speed up as we head into hunting season.

"Catfish" Is 85 Today

UNBELIEVABLE!

I could tell you about all the great buck sign we found this weekend, or how the deer are already coming in droves to our freshly planted food plots, or even how the acres and acres of turned up peanuts are attracting deer and hogs from all over the county, but the most unbelievable thing we witnessed at the famous Christmas Place this weekend was my evil brother (no the one from the coast) actually washing dishes.

I didn't know Satan even knew how to wash dishes