Last shoot and hunt at the family property

[Mulebrain]

I just got back from a few days off to visit the family property in middle Tennessee for one last hunt. We've owned it for 20 years, but I live too far to take care of it, and my folks are getting on in years. So, as sad as it makes me, it is time to let it go. The sale goes through in early December.

I killed my first deer there, which happened to be a nice 8-pointer i got with my TN mountain rifle. It was too early in the season to hunt deer with a flinter, so that was done for a couple mornings with my recurve. I saw some but no shot. I was able to do some squirrel hunting with my flinter, and that was more successful. It has been too long since I hunted squirrels very much, and I've forgotten how much fun it is. Much less pressure than deer hunting for me. We did a lot of just plain shooting, and I haven't seen the woods look that beautiful in years. A pair of tornadoes wiped put most of the woods back in 2010, but it looked amazing this week. I spent everyday walking over the 100 acres of wood and fields.

One of the unexpected benefits was that I had to clean out some things from the barn. The previous owner was a big muzzleloader shooter, too, and I found a box with about 50 lbs. of round balls in the loft. They were still in the original boxes and bags, and they must have been 20-30 years old. Even though most won't fit my rifles, I'm sure I can trade or recast them. Or use this as an excuse for a new rifle! Here are a few pictures just for posterity.

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What a nice place, and me being a log junky it fits the bill. I know we can't take it with us, too bad the family keep it. However things happen in life, and it's a short one

 

[Bob McBride]

Looks a lot like my place. And the colors suggest those shots were taken in the last few days. Sorry for you that it’s going away.

 

[tnlonghunter]

Looks a lot like my place. And the colors suggest those shots were taken in the last few days. Sorry for you that it’s going away.

I was there last week.

Thanks for all the compliments on it. Tennessee in the fall is a special place - even if it was 80 degrees!

It has been a tough one to swallow. But I console myself that we had 20 years of great memories, that we were blessed in a way we didn't deserve, and that my last few visits accomplished all I had hoped (lots of hunting and shooting, horseback riding, last Christmas with the kids, and so forth). My folks need the money to pay for Dad's healthcare, so it is the better decision, as hard as it is.

 

[appalichian hunter]

Sorry for your families loss of such a great looking place, it screams long rifle and frosty mornings. I could live the rest of my life in just such a place.

 

[olskool]

I would have moved there!

 

[stevew]

Great pics, thanks for sharing.