Hook and Bullet Club by Nick Wognum

And before you know it, the third weekend of deer season is upon us. Not to say our luck couldn’t change, but it looks like the meat pole will go unused for another year.

Other than the four does spotted on opening day, it’s been slim pickings at Camp Cholesterol. We’ve still managed to have a good time at the shack.

Our meal times are planned around games of smear. If the food is ready and the game is nearing the end, we keep dealing cards. This may lead to burned buns, but as we like to say, it is what it is.

Last weekend my 17 year-old nephew Hunter had us in stitches all night. He plays with reckless abandon at times, throwing jacks of trump and 10s like they are going out of style. This is really his first full year of playing so we try to teach instead of criticize. But unless it’s the high card, leading with a jack in trump is a no-no. These are the important things you can learn at deer camp.

Hunter and I were driving from one side of the swamp to the other on Sunday and we had a discussion about the lack of deer in the woods.

“Couldn’t we just hunt somewhere else?” he asked.

“Yes, but then we lose the shack experience,” I said.

Hunter agreed getting together for lunch and leaving and returning to the shack on foot or by wheeler is a pretty cool thing to do. But shooting a nice buck is high on the priority scale as well.

For those hunting camps who have toughed it out through some of the worst hunting conditions due to wolves and weather, we salute you. And if you decided not to buy a license in part to protest the way the DNR fails to manage predators, we may be joining you yet.