The closure.

 Picked one of the most beautiful November days imaginable to drive down to Lordville and shut down the estate. Bright sun, early morning fog, with flocks of geese on their way out to cut cornfields to feed. Temps varied from 45 to 35 depending on the fog density. The trees are bare, save for a few oaks  and larch with color but the hills are basically gray. 

I've been busy in Lafayette. Spend an hour or two each morning and evening up in a tree hoping for a buck to come by. So far the only buck I've seen in real life has been what is now a unicorn. A week ago when he walked around not 20 yards in front of me he sported two slightly curved six inch spikes. Last night when he walked right under my other stand he was missing one of his horns. 

In addition to the hunting we had loggers come and fell almost 100 dead and dying ash trees that had fallen victim to the Emerald ash borer. While they were at it they also took down a dying maple that leaned over the house and a huge basswood with two trunks both of which were over our power line. If anyone wants free firewood (hard maple, ash or yellow birch) let me know. There are several large trees not 20 feet from our driveway. If you are willing to buck them up and take them, the price is right.

The fishing - Didn't even bring my stuff. There were a few anglers out enjoying the day but there  was just too much for me to get done and I didn't want to be tempted. With the weather forecast for continued warm days, it's almost like late September or early October. If I'm fortunate enough to "get my deer" before the weather reverts to normal, you can be sure I'll be back on the river. If the deer play hard to get, I'll have to be content knowing what a great season it was and savor the memory of my last fish of the season. 

Thanks again for all who contributed, hopefully we'll all be here when it's time to go round once again.