Howell 4th of July

This photo was taken before the GAMES BEGAN (of Course)
My Aunt Marilyn, age 95, once again won the Hatchet throw even though she now has to use two hands. In a surprise, Columbia Bullion won the Archery contest because basically she is the only one that didn't shoot their eye out. As you know the Golf had already been won by Me, Kent, Betty and Ellis, while Bebo won the ... hahahah he didn't win crap. John Bullion won the most improved on his golf game and southern lingo. Jim won the Person Most Likely to Leave Yankee Land and come home. Until next year!

The Howell Open 2017

The Howell Open Golf Tournament 2017 was
played this past weekend and against all odds and with much breaking of clubs, whining, crying, lying, cheating, gnashing of teeth, scurrilous rumors and outright Fake News from our so-called ingrate competitors. The team of Betty, Kent, Ellis and Rex (your humble correspondent) beat all those sore losers and won the HOWELL OPEN TROPHY!
PS- rumors of Russian collusion are False.

Another Red Letter Day....

Yes, another Red Letter Day for the old Howell Savings and Loan. My rental house out at the WV Boatlanding burned to the ground. I'm getting tired of winning.

The Confefe Meeting

This past weekend there was a big Confefe Meeting at the famous Christmas Place. Members were required to bring their Russian Handbooks and decoder rings. All of the bourgeois  members (Paul) were fined for not being there and new rules limiting hunting were imposed on the elites. (Paul) After a great meeting  and lots and lots of vodka, we managed to cut all the grass and clean the place up enough that it did not look abandoned anymore

Golfing For Hogs

The annual golf trip to the famous Christmas Place has changed over the last few years. Yes, people still golf but the desire to get after those hogs is larger than ever. Some golf, some hunt hogs, some do both at the same time (can't be too careful out there).
This past weekend, Robbie Parsons got this gigantic 240 lb. sow at the Pond Stand, I think with a 4-iron or a 30-06 I'm not sure which. In fact he managed to get two (some kind of birdie?)
Congratulations on a really nice hog!

Fishing With Thunderhoof

If you ever come to the famous Christmas Place to go fishing and we go out to get in the boat and that damn Thunderhoof shows up and wants to go, do yourself a favor and go on back to the camp.
He is the worst fishing companion ever. Almost every time I want to go, he shows up. Camo and I can't catch a fish to save our souls.
First of all a 500 lb deer should not be in a 12 foot aluminum boat. Just saying.
He always has his head in the tackle box, eats all the sandwiches, and for no reason at all, he will reach out and stick his head under the water just to look around.
Every now and then he will just jump out of the boat, splashing enough to drown you, then swim around the boat for awhile and then try to get back in.
 You are going to get wet, very wet.
He almost always gets the fishing line wrapped in his antlers and God help you if you actually catch a fish! He goes crazy!! Jumping around, dancing, trying to look at the fish, running back and forth in the boat, pawing at the fish, picking them up in his mouth and shaking them until you are covered in slobber, then he will jump out of the boat.
 You are going to get wet, very wet.

A Party For Cullen

This past weekend the Lammeys threw a party for my cousin, Cullen, who recently passed and in the tradition of the Lammeys and Howells, they threw a great party to send him off. The party was at the VFW in Hernando with food, drinks, war stories and  great renewing of our ties with family.
Here is a pic of my favorite people in the world
Jack Rhea, Davin Lammey, Your friendly neighborhood blogger Rex Howell, and Jim Lammey.

Gobble! Gooble! Double! Double!

My brother James and his daughter, Mahala, got a double! Congratulations!

Everybody Got A Turkey (but Paul)

Turkey season is in full swing and everybody I know has already blasted a turkey but my poor brother Paul. (Boo Hoo, It's terrible.) People are walking up and down the streets with 25 lb. turkeys hanging across their backs. Little old ladies in the grocery store have a shotgun under one arm and a big turkey under the other. Turkeys are everywhere. I can't go to the mailbox without one trying to grab my mail. Can't play golf without a big gobbler trying to steal my ball. Water Valley has them wandering in and out of traffic and they have become a major nuisance. Even so, Everybody has killed a turkey. What's wrong with Paul?

A Streecar Named Thunderhoof

Denise and I spent last weekend in New Orleans. We went to attend the wedding of her cousin, Ellen and had a wonderful time. Our hotel was in the Garden District which is an area that I have been wanting to explore for years and we did! We enjoyed the wonderful old homes and architecture, made our way to the French Quarter, ate and drank everything in sight, visited the WWII Museum and the Civil War Museum. It was all great, but mostly I wanted to ride an old streetcar that winds up through the Garden District. The famous Thunderhoof streetcar.. It has been rolling along almost forever and is famous in New Orleans and famous to us also. I think the name and why it is named Thunderhoof is almost lost in history but probably has to do with the fascinating story of the giant buck deer that charged the British lines and held them at bay until the American forces could counter-attack and win the Battle of New Orleans. General Jackson at the time said "That's one big deer, we ought to name a streetcar after him or something" So there, history was made. If you don't believe it, here is a picture.

Wedding pics of Ellen and Chris

 Josh, Sarah, Ellen and Denise

A Successful Turkey Weekend

This past weekend was the first weekend of turkey season and Paul, James, Michael, Terry Cutrair and his son-in-law Brantley plus myself were all at camp to get after the turkeys.       ( I go once a year whether I want to or not)
A lot of fun was spent around the camp fire and a great meal supplied be Terry's wife Pam on Saturday night really made the weekend but Friday was hard as we were up and about hunting with no results. Brantley was hunting with Paul so the odds on him getting a turkey were pretty slim as Paul is a shoot first, ask questions later kind of guy.
Saturday morning Brantley went with Paul again up behind the Indian Mound area and at daylight a big turkey gobbled right in front of them. They set their decoy, jumped in some brush and almost immediately the big gobbler came running. Now Brantley is a nice guy, even though he is an insurance salesman. He also has never shot a turkey and was stunned as the turkey started strutting only 15 yards away. For some reason we will never know, Paul could not get a shot and whispered "Shoot, Shoot, Shoot!" Brantley obliged and the big gobbler went up in a puff of feathers.
The turkey weighed 17 1/2 lbs, with a 10-inch beard.
A very well deserved congratulations to Brantley!

They're Backkkk!!!

Robbie Parsons, looking all mean shows off his even more mean looking hog from the famous Christmas Place this past weekend. Congrats!!

Where Have You Gone, Joe DiHoggio?

The annual Hog Hunt at the famous Christmas Place was a real dud this year. We have seen very few hogs this year and no one saw a hog during the weekend hunt this year. Where have they gone?
Deer season was a success and we hate hogs, but darn it, it would have been nice to have a few on the pole for our big hog hunt.
On the bright side, the weather was great and Burney's friends managed to kill about a 1000 beers around our campfire, so everyone had a great time.

Adventures In Appraisal

One of the things I really like in residential appraising is doing the older homes. The woodwork, the thought that went into design, the quality of the time and how they built these homes with the very basic of tools compared to what we have today. Another thing is that you never know what you will find or learn while doing them.
This week while appraising a home in Coffeeville, MS the young lady asked me if I had ever seen this and opened her bedroom door to show me a small niche carved in the frame of her door.
She pulled a small cylinder out of the niche and in it was a scroll she then opened to show me.
She said it was Jewish from the Torah. A very interesting piece of history to find in a little Mississippi town. I have found out from her, Denise and others some history on this. It is called a mezuzah, a blessing secured on the frames of all the major doors inside the home

Making Bacon Great Again In 2017

Burney has come up with this logo for our Christmas Place Hog Hunt 2017. Underneath it will say "Making Bacon Great Again" Call him if you need a T-shirt.

The Curse of Count Buckula

This is it, the last weekend of the deer season. We are all headed (once again) to the famous Christmas Place to give it one more try to get a giant buck. Everyone has had a great year and are not to worried about getting a deer, everyone but Vlad Paul the Impaler.
Paul aka Count Buckula has a thirst for more deer blood and is in a frenzy to get one more buck before the season is over. He is already claiming every stand on the property and swears he will be in a stand by Friday afternoon before any of us get there. Warning: Stay out of his way while the blood thirst is upon him, and to the deer- RUN FOR YOUR LIVES!

Weekend With Marian

This past weekend, Marian Love came to hunt with us. She is well known from her great blog at Marian's Hunting Stories. She is a great friend, prolific blogger and very good photographer. She was also a real delight to hunt with. She is recovering from knee surgery which made it hard to get around but she was game to get after the deer. The only deer (doe) was taken by Mark the Mailrider but we all had a very fun weekend.

 Stewart Allen, Mark, Rex, Burney, Marian, Paul

 Quacking for Deer with your friendly neighborhood Deer Blogger

heading for the buggy after a beautiful morning hunt

Surviving The Pit of Despair

First of all, Burney got his buck. Second, OMG!, it was in the deepest darkest, most desolate crater on the whole property. Burney had taken a buck there about 10 years ago and after we got it out, everyone pledged never to get near that Pit of Despair again.
While loading my deer, Burney showed up and said he had a deer, then told me where it was. OMG! I almost had another heart attack. But gamely, Mark, Burney, Crosby

and I went after it. We had two flashlights, a smoking 4-wheeler and 50 feet of rope.
We followed a narrow trail downward until it became so narrow you had to stand sideways to stay on it with 100 foot drops on either side, ( a mountain goat would not be stupid enough to go down it, but we did) then at the end rappelled down into a beautiful little valley with a flowing stream. Perfect to get a deer. Then I looked up at the mountain above us to drag the deer out. OMG!  Move the deer 5 feet, it slid back 3. We had to get 3/4 the way up before the rope would reach the maximum limit that the 4-wheeler was able to back down the trail. Finally, finally we hooked on and got the deer out. I will never go back into that hateful Pit of Despair again!

A Big Fish

This really nice 9 point showed up on the bank of the lake on Saturday afternoon  and I made a perfect cast to catch him with my .270.  He weighed 180 lbs and I almost had a heart attack getting him in the boat!

Another Buck Bites The Dust

Paul Howell likes to do his killing before breakfast, and soon after we got on our stands Friday morning, the air was filled with the sound of flying lead. The happy killer blasted the unsuspecting deer on the Box field and he was back at camp by 8:30 with the big buck.
This time the 10 point ? weighed in at a reasonable 200 lbs with a nice heavy rack. A very nice deer.
Don't worry he is back in the woods trying to get his limit of 3 and I am sure we will be hearing from him again