Crazy how my life is a rollercoaster ride, not just of changing moods and emotions, but of the events that occur on a daily basis.

Yesterday I got in trouble at worked and helped a young lady deal with a friend's suicide attempt. Talked to her later last night and she is doing well. He is being sent to a psychiatric facility where he will hopefully get the help he needs.

So I got to sleep around 2:30am. Got up at 6:30am to go hunting. After a cold morning sit (25 degrees with a 20 mph windchill) I did some walking, drove to another part of the farm and walked, then did a slow drive around the edge of another field. I stopped at my stand, where I had put minerals out for the deer to eat, to brush the snow off and stir everything. I took my flinklock muzzleloading rifle along with me, just in case I spotted any deer while I was there.

After I had freshened the mineral, I walked a few steps into the woods so I could see down into the bottom and swore I saw a deer in the thicket below. So I crept a little closer, and upon further inspection, there was a deer in the bottom just staring at me. So I walked a little further down the hill to get a better look. When I came out from behind a tree, the deer was still there. I cocked the hammer, took aim, pulled the set trigger (makes the main trigger more sensitive), zeroed my aim and fired.

As the flint struck the frizzen showering the awaiting powder with sparks, a flame erupted from the pan. In the same instant, the powder in the barrel ignited, sending the recoil back into my shoulder in a cloud of white smoke. The wind cleared the smoke faster than normal and I saw the deer react to the shot. It appeared to me to be a hit, but I was unsure.

I walked to the place I thought the deer had been when I shot, and sure enough, I found hair and blood. I gave the animal some time to expire, then easily tracked it in the snow to where it had laid down and died.

I got the deer home, deboned it, and boxed the meat to bring to a co-worker who had been unable to go deer hunting this year, has an empty freezer and another baby on the way.

This made my 5th deer this year, one in every season, each with a different firearm. The Greene County Grand Slam I was so eager to fulfill.

I then showered and packed for my trip to the Pennsylvania Farm Show this weekend, and still made it to work early.

Its been a fine day...