This is my old, trusty meat- rifle; I just came back from some serious hunting. This Winchester was manufactured about a year after I was. It’s not a family heirloom (yet), but I’m pretty sentimental about it. That .32 SPL cartridge is an interesting and unusual caliber. It was a derivative of the 30- 30 cartridge that allowed black powder loadings instead of the (new at that time) smokeless powder for which the 30- 30 was designed. The .32 SPL is obsolete nowadays, but the deer don’t know that. The rifle shows its age, but it still functions flawlessly, puts slugs where I want them, handles fast, carries easily, and fits me perfectly. I took my first deer with this old gun, and it's put plenty meat in the freezer since then. 
I found a few small rubs this week; the rut seems to be starting very late, or is not very intense this year. The scrape nearby was also small; the cleared spot on the ground and the licking- branch above are shown here. Gotta be one tough buck, who has a holly tree for his licking branch (click the pic to enlarge and you can recognize the prickly leaves). I didn’t see any deer on this hunt but others got deer, so I came home with a good supply of venison. I cut my hand and feared drawing the bow on this trip, so I hunted only with my rifle. Now, with meat in the freezer, I will revert to bowhunting, and maybe a day or two afield with a muzzle- loader.This is a great time to play in the woods. The leaves are down, so views are long. Scattered evergreen plants give a splash of freshness here and there. The skeeters and snakes are gone (but you must watch for ticks on those warm afternoons). Louisiana Januarys are apt to be cold sometimes; and some years can be wet. After a couple of cold nights last week, it turned off balmy again. A few birds are scratching about, but many more of our late- winter visitors should soon be fluttering around. And then the trillium will peek up through the leaf- litter… the cycle is coming around again.
I found a few small rubs this week; the rut seems to be starting very late, or is not very intense this year. The scrape nearby was also small; the cleared spot on the ground and the licking- branch above are shown here. Gotta be one tough buck, who has a holly tree for his licking branch (click the pic to enlarge and you can recognize the prickly leaves). I didn’t see any deer on this hunt but others got deer, so I came home with a good supply of venison. I cut my hand and feared drawing the bow on this trip, so I hunted only with my rifle. Now, with meat in the freezer, I will revert to bowhunting, and maybe a day or two afield with a muzzle- loader.This is a great time to play in the woods. The leaves are down, so views are long. Scattered evergreen plants give a splash of freshness here and there. The skeeters and snakes are gone (but you must watch for ticks on those warm afternoons). Louisiana Januarys are apt to be cold sometimes; and some years can be wet. After a couple of cold nights last week, it turned off balmy again. A few birds are scratching about, but many more of our late- winter visitors should soon be fluttering around. And then the trillium will peek up through the leaf- litter… the cycle is coming around again.
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