Monday, July 9, 2018

Meanwhile, Back at the Ranch

Last weekend we were invited to the deer ranch where Justin works in central NY. We've heard all about the ranch owner, his assistant, Justin's coworker, and the interns, but it was really nice to meet them in person along with their families, and spend some time visiting. My pictures are less than ideal, but that's mainly because I was too busy having fun and forgot to take many photos.


 This looks like just a field, but when you get a little closer ...


... you can see it's a field of sunflowers, planted just for the deer. They've already devoured almost everything in the first forage field Justin planted, but since this one is a little closer to the house and a couple of dogs, they haven't nibbled much in this one yet.


I asked Justin to send me a photo when the whole field was in bloom, but he said it might not get to that stage. The deer love the foliage and stems, so flowers might get eaten before they even open.


We ate, we chatted, and we shot bows. They have a great, safe target set-up and it was wonderful to be able to shoot my bow at a nice big target from different distances, especially since I haven't shot since winter.


Almost everyone was using fancy compound bows, and I got a chance to try one, but still liked my plain old recurve bow best. That's it leaning against the tree on the left, next to Justin's new one (which may have cost more than my first car). :-)


It was a beautiful day with lots of good food, fun, and meeting some very nice people. It was a delightful way to spend the weekend; now it's time to get back to some house details. I hope your weekend was as oasis away from work and worry like mine was!

17 comments:

  1. What a fun time! It certainly was a beautiful weekend! Here's hoping those house details are not too stressful!

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  2. Bow shooting ........I haven't done that in years!!!! I used to love it.

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  3. What a fun weekend! And, I love that field planted just for the deer! Good luck with your housing stuff!

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  4. What fun! I've wondered what those compound bows were like to shoot, but I like my simple one too. Our Spring was so miserable (cold/wet) that Fletch and I only shot ours once or twice. Now our target is obscured by all the stuff growing in our bog area - lol. Glad you had such a nice get-away (and I'm also glad you did not mention seeing any snakes!).

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  5. Wow. Justin's bow looks like a MACHINE. That's crazy. Rusty has a very good friend who literally immerses himself in things that interest him and, at one time, that thing was LONGBOWS. From harvesting the tree to stringing the bow and shooting the arrow, he learned everything he could and even helped to write the 4-volume Traditional Bowyer's Bible. Anyway, that's what came to mind when I saw your "plain old" bow (which I would also prefer). Glad you had such a nice relaxing weekend away!

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  6. Dale shoots a recurve and also has a long bow, no fancy compound bows around here!

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  7. Your weekend sounds like the wonderful break you needed after months of dealing with so many different problems life seems throw our way. I hope the weekend was rejuvenating and relaxing so you can get right back into the fray!

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  8. It looks like you had a relaxing and interesting weekend, Bonny. I hope you did! And I hope you didn't see any political news all weekend. I have a couple of dumb questions. Do they raise the deer for hunting customers or do they harvest the meat for sale? I am totally unfamiliar with a deer ranch concept. Those compound bows look awesome! My next door neighbor when I lived in the mountains went deer hunting with a compound bow every year, and he was always quite successful. I hope your week is full of pleasure and progress!

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  9. Oh, Bonny! I just love everything about your post!!! What a fun adventure. Justin, shooting your bow, meeting all the people you've heard so much about . . . and INTENTIONALLY planting things for deer to EAT. How COOL is all that? I hope your weekend-feeling continues right on into this week. XO

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  10. That looks like such a fun weekend! I hope their deer stay healthy! We have terrible problems here with our deer and elk herds.

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    1. The deer do get tested, especially for chronic wasting disease. Pennsylvania has started a big effort to control it since it's been found in their wild populations, and everyone that deals with elk or deer in any way is taking strict precautions to try and control it as much as possible.

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  11. Sunflowers planted for the deer is just a wonderful sweet thing!

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    1. I agree! They seem to like the sunflowers even more than the rye and alfalfa that gets planted just for the deer!

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  12. That looks like a great weekend escape! beautiful scenery, great company and fun activities ... and hopefully you're relaxed and ready to tackle the week ahead!

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  13. This is the first time your whole post has come up! I can see the comments of others! Wow! Computers are a constant surprise. I love the photo of the sunflower and the way you led up to it as all by itself. With some others above, I hope your weekend was a good distraction from all you've had to deal with.

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    1. Thank you; it was a lovely weekend! I'm back into all the last-minute house details now. We close on Thursday, and then I can get back to asking my son on a daily basis if there are any more sunflowers blossoming in that field!

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  14. that is the perfect weekend, look at the sunshine!! Love the flower you spied :)

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