Had a bit of a medical scare this summer that started with an ear infection and also spread to an eye causing corneal ulcers and a bit of a loss of vision. The eye infection was cleared up in a few weeks, but the vision will take a long tome to recover (if ever). I've slowly been getting back to all my old activities, and the vision is becoming much less of a hindrance to me. The corrected vision is finally back to 20/20, but it's a bit cloudy in that eye (like looking through a fog).
The ear has been a real nuisance, though. Had severe drainage for the first few days of the infection, then it quit draining and fluid built up behind the ear drum. I was having a hard time hearing anything with that ear (it was like having an earplug in it). The VA medical team with their usual urgency finally sent me to an outside ENT specialist and they recommended a tube in that ear. The VA got the procedure approved for me and after a month and a half wait I finally got the tube in yesterday!
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I've had a PM or two asking about deer calls, and I will probably be limiting production this year to only a few special order calls from the materials I have on hand. I did give making reed holders for the two laminate calls I had already turned the bodies for (before the ear/eye problems) this morning and all went well. A little more work on the finish for the bodies, and fitting & tuning the reeds and they will be done.
Haven't even checked out the hunting area yet this fall. Squirrel season is in (when I usually do some scouting), but it's been so hot I haven't set foot in the woods yet. Season opens the 29th here in Ohio, but I'm getting too old to whack one when I know it's going to be a mad rush to get it tagged, field dressed, and transported to the processor's cooler. I'd much rather wait until I can take my good old time getting it done, and with a season that lasts until February I'm sure I'll have better weather to enjoy my time hunting!
The landowner has a feeder up & running, and trail cams out, so I can hopefully plan some fun hunts in the near future.
I am planning on trying some new tactics this year. Instead of the ladder stand over a feeder, I'm going to use a seat that straps to a tree, a short ground blind (the one that is roll-up camo fabric with rods attached), and my tree umbrella in wet/snowy weather and hunt from the ground! (With the old Phoenix/Leupold combo.)
Good luck to all this season!