A few months back...actually it was in the fall if not perhaps even longer ago than that, Skot asked if I had interest in helping him get another music video made for Leper. I told him that I could probably help him on something, however it was a bit of a busy time so I wasn't sure how quick I could do anything. At any rate, he sent a clip in the fall that involved a deer skull. That footage was shot and edited by John Betten. John creates under the project name Innocent Robot. I watched it but had no idea as to what Skot had in mind. I also wasn't sure what song he wanted this music video to be used for. I asked him about it and learned that the song was to be "If I Should Die" of the "Red Words" album. Skot also would tell me at the time he had some more footage he'd like to utilize for this video and perhaps we could also capture some other additional footage. Skot asked me if I could figure a way to blur out the covered figure which was holding and moving the skull but I wasn't really sure how to do that. That discussion was during the holiday season so everything was more or less on the back burner for a time.
A few weeks ago, he sent me a couple self shot performance clips to utilize with that previous clip. All of the clips had different variants of "black and white" and the performance clips were shot vertically while the skull video was shot horizontally. When I asked Skot about the horizontal versus the vertical clips, he stated that it didn't matter to him so I tried to figure out what I could do with it.
On the first day of messing around with the clips, I worked on syncing everything up with the music file as best as I could. The deer skull footage was of shorter length than the music file. The vocal performance clips were separated into the two verses with Skot raising up at the beginning of one and laying back down at the end of both. The other performance clip of Skot playing his guitar and Rachel laying in the background was longer than everything else so I had to make that the main file on the project timeline. I utilized a second layer of that file for the purpose of editing, leaving the main file alone. I felt that I got the vocal performance clip synced fairly close at first but had some trouble with the guitar performance clip originally. I placed the deer skull footage to start with the track at this point.
I came up with an idea to move the horizontal clips to the edges of the screen utilizing the middle for the deer skull footage. The vocal performance clips were along the left side of the screen and the guitar performance clips were on the right. At this point I still wasn't really sure where to go with it but I sent Skot a screenshot to see if he was happy with the look of having the performance clips on the left and right of the screen. He seemed to be...he also stated that he liked the variances of the "black and white" in the different clips.
The next chance I had to work on the video I ended up putting an idea together. I utilized my headphones in hopes to get everything synced up as close as I could, focusing more on the guitar performance clip. Once that was accomplished, I went through making some cuts to the performance clips. I put together something that I thought might work but with the deer skull footage being about 30 seconds short, I wanted to find a way to fill the full screen. One method that I tried was slowing down the last 10 seconds of the clip by a third but I wasn't happy with how that looked compared to the rest of the footage.
I decided to shift the skull clip to the end of the song and added the titles to the first 30 seconds. This meant making a few adjustments with the performances clips as well to fit with the skull better. While I had originally used the clip of Skot playing the song on guitar on the right side of the screen and the clips of Skot singing on the left, I decided to alternate the location of the performance clips (from left or right) at various points, utilizing fades and hard cuts. I also adjusted the opacity of some of the performance clips to about 30%. All this was intended to keep as much of the "story" involving the deer skull intact.
After creating the titles and making the necessary adjustments, I rendered the project then added in the aged film effects as well as the vignette effect to blur the edges a bit to the entire project. I increased some aspects of the aged film effect, the lines, dust, and hairs. I did some adjustment on the jitter then decided to remove the adjustment I made as the title was very hard to read through the jitter. I also removed the effect affecting the color appearance to preserve the black and white of the clips as how I received them.
I sent the project to Skot to see how he felt about what I had done so far. He was generally pleased but wanted a few adjustments. We also found that the vocal performance clip was slightly out of sync with the music file. I quickly made that adjustment. The other part Skot wanted more of was the raising up and laying down from his vocal performance clip. I told him that I was pretty certain that I had utilized all of those parts, I would look into it more. Skot also hoped to get some clips involving Colleen who had performed some additional and backing vocals (and perhaps other instrumentation). We made a plan to sit down together to better collaborate and hopefully finish up the project.
When we were able to sit down together to collaborate on some more changes, we took out a few of the guitar performance parts. We also made a screenshot of a close up of the skull to use with the titling at the beginning. By chance the bloom effect I utilized in the titling ended up affecting some of the footage and that "accident" was such that Skot liked it and we kept it and utilized it elsewhere as well. We ended up slowing down the rising clip of the skull at the beginning which then changed a bit of the flow of the project. We also re-arranged some of John's footage to fit Skot's idea better and did a few changes to the performance clips, adding Skot laying down at the end as well.
Once satisfied with the direction of the project, we then began adding effects such as the old film and vignette. We ended up adding one other effect called Cold CCD to give a slight bluish tint. A few adjustments were made to the effects and the project was finished!
Footage captured by John Betten and Skot Shaw. Editing by Joel A. Swanson using Final Cut Pro X on a Mac Mini. Project directed by Skot Shaw.
This project covers the winter portion of the year between January and March. The Holidays project closes with the Epiphany / Twelfth Night of Christmas party on Saturday January 4th, 2025. There were no shows to attend, at least none that caught our interest in January. We had some extremely cold periods again this winter which I captured some footage of the frozen Lake Michigan during commutes to work. February was pretty laid back as well with only one show to go to but we did have a few other events come up like the OllieMobWhirlyball to get us out of the house. Elphie had originally planned to fly to North Carolina for her nephew's going away party but had to scrap the plan due to a snowstorm hitting that area on the day she was to arrive. Nonetheless we survived February. March was a lot busier with shows, events, and friends visiting.
On Saturday January 11th, 2025, Elphie got a new tattoo on her neck at A Plus Tattoo in Avondale Chicago, Illinois. She shared a video of it on Sunday January 12th, 2025 after removing the wrap and cleaning it. After getting new sidewalks due to the city replacing our lead pipes with copper, Moses made some bat imprints in the cement. I captured a clip of that on Monday January 13th, 2025. We had a stretch of extremely cold weather hit again this winter in Chicago and on Monday January 20th, 2025 I captured some footage of the ice buildup on Lake Michigan during my morning commute using my CrossTour CR-900. On the commute home, I captured the lights reading "I Have A Dream" to commemorate Martin Luther King Jr. Day. I captured more footage of the ice and the steam coming off of Lake Michgan on Tuesday January 21st, 2025. I saved a few more clips over the course of the deep freeze but chose to cut them.
February
02.01.2025 On Saturday, February 1st, 2025, Flatfoot 56 put on a basement show with Nightcap in the Canaryville neighborhood of Chicago as a warmup for the upcoming Saint Patrick's Day shows and to test out a few new tunes that they've been working on. It was a lot of fun and we enjoyed hanging out with a few of our OllieMob friends who made it out. The room was pretty packed but we found a corner spot to hang in and watch the show. I utilized the 0.5x zoom on my iPhone for the video capture. I captured "Warriors" from Flatfoot 56 instead of the new songs for this setting (I'm not sure if the guys wanted the new songs to get out this way) as it seemed to be an appropriate tune.
02.02.2025 - 02.21.2025 On Wednesday February 5th, 2025 I got my first Shamrock Shake of the season during lunch break. I tried to get it a few days before. The sign had said it was back at McDonald's on Wilson Avenue but it wasn't yet on the menu. On Sunday February 9th, 2025, after picking Elphie up from her visit at Kathleen's we saw the Chinese New Year parade on the road over I-55. On Thursday February 13th, 2025, I captured ice on Lake Michigan again as the cold had returned after a brief period of relief. On Tuesday February 18th, 2025, Elphie captured some footage of Stein licking the cement where the new water pipe was installed. What a weirdo!
02.22.2025 On Saturday February 22nd, 2025, we gathered with the OllieMob again for Whirlyball in Vernon Hills, Illinois as well as feasting at Portillo's afterwards. We ended up being a bit late arriving due to Chicago traffic but it was fun while we were there. I ended up scoring a couple of goals this year! I lost my key fob for the car at some point and thankfully and luckily it was in one of the two cars I used while playing. Josh Robieson helped me find it after my initial search was fruitless, thanks Josh! I added "Ollie Ollie" by Flatfoot 56 as a soundtrack (on repeat). I also included a couple driving clips to and from the event including the Saint Patrick's themed decorations on the Novak Construction building near the highway.
02.23.2025 - 02.28.2025 On Sunday March 23rd, 2025, Stein decided he wanted more attention I guess so he set himself up in front of the television and would not move. I had to get up and finally he jumped down just as I reached for him. On Thursday March 27th, 2025, during my morning commute along Lake Shore Drive, I encountered the aftermath of an accident where it seems the driver went through a memorial set up for a fatal accident involving a bicycle as well as a utility pole. Crews were working to clean up the mess and restore both the memorial and the utility pole as I passed by. During my evening commute westward down Pershing Road, traffic was backed up for some reason and some other drivers did not have patience it would seem and likely exasperated the issue by passing on the right in the bike lane. One such driver also ran the red light nearly causing an accident with a vehicle coming from the side road. Later, a driver coming off Damen Avenue cut into traffic because they could not wait apparently for an appropriate gap. It turned into a parking lot less than a block away as well. On Friday March 28th, 2025, the bad driving continued with a driver utilizing the turning lane on the left at Damen Avenue and 33rd Street to pass the traffic waiting on the light to change green.
https://youtu.be/cPtq6xOF3Q8
March
03.01.2025 - 03.07.2025 On Monday March 3rd, 2025, there had apparently been a fire across the street from where I live as evident by the fire trucks and use of the hydrant next to our driveway. During my commute home as I headed east on Wilson Avenue and truck with a trailer turned onto Wilson Avenue when the light was red for the driver. They proceeded to do the same at Sheridan Road when the light was red on Wilson Avenue for the driver.
On Friday March 7th, 2025, I took a day off so we could take Debbie around the city and check a few things out. I didn't really have any other plan to utilize the day off. We stopped in Chinatown at Legend Tasty House for Thai Rolled Ice Cream and visited Margie's Candies.
03.08.2025 On Saturday March 8th, 2025 was the annual local Flatfoot 56 Saint Patrick's season show in Chicago. It was held at Reggie's once again. This year they had Catch 22 come out as well as local acts The Copyrights and the first show for Mania. I believe Mania had been known as Bad Sons before this. They are friends of the guys in Flatfoot 56 and it was nice that they got this opportunity. The Copyrights have been around for quite some time. Catch 22 has had a bit of a resurgence recently. It was a sold out show but for the most part I could see well through the night without a tall person getting in the way. I got stepped on by a couple of unruly people, one of which was being headlocked. I shoved them off my foot and they ended up tumbling forward to the ground at which point security got a hold of them and removed them from the show. I captured "Crutches" by The Copyrights, "Point The Blame" by Catch 22, and a new song called "The Perks" by Flatfoot 56 using footage that Elphie captured from the seated section above.
03.09.2025 - 03.13.2025 On Sunday March 9th, 2025, we took Debbie around the city some more. We stopped at Small Cheval first because Debbie wanted a cheeseburger from there. We also stopped at a few candy shops including Exotic Snack Guys and Candy-ality. We took Debbie north to see the Bahá'í Temple and the Home Alone house. Due to the way traffic was going, I took a quick detour so she could see the Montrose Dog Beach as well. We took a long way back to the south side utilizing Cicero Avenue. We had an arrival flight pass overhead at Midway as we made our way to the Asian Buffet. We made a quick stop afterwards at a Culver's as well then gave Debbie a taste of Malört.
On Thursday March 13th, 2025, there was a car on fire on Lake Shore Drive that I captured with the CrossTour CR-900. It had made it to the ramp to Soldier Field so it didn't cause too much delay on the drive other than folks slowing to get a look at it.
03.14.2025 On Friday March 14th, 2025, in the early morning hours I went outside and captured a few shots of the lunar eclipse. It also worked out for me to catch Gaelic Storm at the House of Blues. Tickets at face value were a bit pricey but I managed to score a much more affordable ticket shortly after the doors opened and about an hour before the show began using Gametime so I went. I took the train due to the location of House of Blues in downtown and lack of parking options. As I arrived, the Shannon Rovers Irish Pipe Band was performing. I captured the last tunes that they were playing. Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band was the opening band. I had seen them many year's ago opening a show I attended. I captured a clip of their song "Poor Until Payday." Gaelic Storm played a fairly long set and had some Irish dancers come out a few times during the set. I captured "The Night Pat Murphy Died" from their set. During the encore, Reverend Peyton's Big Damn Band played joined and I captured the performance of "Tell Me Ma." It wasn't too busy downtown. As I walked to the train, I captured some footage of the green lighting on the buildings along the Chicago River.
03.15.2025 On Saturday March 15th, 2025, I finally attended a The Tossers Chicago Saint Patrick's show! It was at Metro with The Effigies, Scott Lucas and the Married Men, and Dangerous Chairs supporting. When I arrived about half hour after the doors opened, it seemed like it might not be a well attended show but the place filled out by the second band. I captured a cover of the Guided By Voices song "Smothered In Hugs" by Dangerous Chairs with Scott Lucas doing guest vocals. I captured "Ain't No Grave" by Scott Lucas and the Married Men. One of the Married Men was a woman on the fiddle. From The Tossers set, I captured "Irish Blood" which they said was a new song. I enjoyed the show and I am glad I finally had things work out that I could attend one of their shows. Driving to the show, I captured the Chicago River dyed green from Lake Shore Drive.
03.16.2025 On Sunday March 16th, 2025 I ended the weekend full of shows with the New York Blood tour at Cobra Lounge featuring Agnostic Front with Murphy's Law and Violent Way. A lot of the skinheads old and young were out for this show and it was a good time. There were pretty much no fights, one small scuffle but it was diffused. I captured "Crucify" by Agnostic Front which had Violent Way doing guest vocals.
03.17.2025 - 03.21.2025 On Monday March 17th, 2025, I had my last Shamrock Shake of the season on Saint Patrick's Day and we watched the live stream of the Dropkick Murphys' show from Boston. On Wednesday March 19th, 2025, as I made my morning commute to work on Lake Shore Drive the fog was creeping in over the buildings from the north. It was an interesting sight to see.
We had hoped to stop by the Mars Cheese Castle but got to Kenosha too late, unfortunately. I captured some clips of the state line crossing and the Novak building with its Easter themed decorations during the drive.
03.29.2025 On Saturday March 29th, 2025 we went to the Auditorium Theatre to see Kraftwerk! I have wanted to see them for a long time and the previous opportunity that could have happened was wiped out by pandemic shutdowns. The rescheduled tour occurred while I was away from Chicago and no other nearby dates worked out either. That tour was billed as being 3-D while this one was called the Multimedia tour. The seats I purchased were great! They were toward the top of the first level of seating. I really enjoyed it and I am glad to have had the opportunity! It was a full two hour show with only Kraftwerk on the bill. I decided to capture footage of "The Man-Machine."
Additional soundtrack includes "In The Winter" by Fine China, "An Irish Goodbye On Saint Valentine's Day" by The Rumjacks, "Eclipse" by Wumscut, and "Fairy Session" by Bealtaine.
We had to do the holidays a bit different than in the past for 2024. I had usually been able to leave work for both Thanksgiving and Christmas but the loss of a co-worker this year left us somewhat short handed so I remained for Thanksgiving. We were able to travel to Pennsylvania a bit later, leaving on Black Friday and celebrated Thanksgiving and Christmas over the few days after during which I also was able to partake in the Pennsylvania White Tail Deer Rifle Season. We had a more typical Christmas visit to the southern family before returning to Chicago so I could get back to work during New Year's.
Thanksgiving (11.28.2024) We had Thanksgiving with some of our J.P.U.S.A. friends this year. With a co-workers passing and the other utilizing his vacation time, I didn't get to leave early as I often have done for the holiday to go to Pennsylvania. I also went to work on Thanksgiving at Cornerstone Community Outreach, though it felt like I probably could have not been there and everything would have been ok. As I drove to work, I noticed a couple of groups of people running along Lake Shore Drive and Lake Michigan.
The dinner at J.P,U.S.A. was good and hanging with friends was nice too. Afterwards. we brought Alana back with us. Alana was keeping Stein company and getting a break while we went to Pennsylvania. I dropped Elphie and Alana off then went to charge so we would be in good shape to start the driving the next day.
Northern Family Thanksgiving And Christmas (11.29.2024 - 12.04.2024) We left Chicago on Friday November 29th, 2024 for Pennsylvania. There was a significant blizzard hitting the Erie area which was likely to impact our drive. As we drove we looked ahead to see what we might need to do...either stopping or detouring. We stopped in South Bend, Indiana for dinner and charging and figured we'd most likely need to stop in the Cleveland area. That is what we ended up doing. We picked a hotel that was meant to have a charger on location but that information proved to be incorrect.
We resumed our drive on Saturday November 30th, 2024. This was the first day of the Pennsylvania White Tail Deer rifle season and my hope was to be out hunting rather than driving through northeast Ohio. We had to stop in Mentor to get the car charged up to 80%. I wanted to do this just in case there was any trouble reaching the chargers in Erie, Pennsylvania. As it would turn out, that is exactly what happened. While the chargers were functioning, according to the app, apparently they were inaccessible due to the snowfall amount and it having not been cleared. We also had notices as we entered Pennsylvania that I-90 remained closed in the Erie area before we normally exit so we detoured. We saw a few vehicles that had gotten stranded in the snow as we drove from Cleveland to Pennsylvania, including one right on the state line. there wasn't much to see of these vehicles! We used State Route 98 and headed south to US-6N and then US-6 to get around the closure and hopefully the worst of the snow. We kept it slower than usual but steady and eventually got to my parents house at about 2:00pm. We had 10-15% of the battery remaining. I spent the rest of the day hunting as well as the next day which resulted in harveting an 8-point buck. You can find the post documenting my 2024 Pennsylvania White Tail Deer Hunting here.
We celebrating our Northern Family Thanksgiving and Christmas on Monday December 2nd, 2024. We had some tenderloin from the 8-point buck I shot for dinner and we opened our gifts and gave the family their gifts. The next morning, Tuesday December 3rd, 2024, I had to drive to Erie for an "Auto Butler" and tire rotation appointment at the Hallman dealership. There had been another significant snowfall and the roads weren't in the best conditions. I ended up arriving a bit late but I was able to navigate the trip safely. The car was pretty covered in slush and other road residue. The appointment didn't take too long really and I headed back to Warren after a stop to get a charge as I left the Erie area.
On Wednesday December 4th, 2024, we headed back to Chicago. I didn't notice that the CrossTour CR-900 had been knocked a bit off from pointing directly in front of us which makes the clips from it going forward through the rest of this project and beyond a bit off. I did adjust it during this drive somewhat but in the editing process I realize it was also turned a bit toward the driver's side of the car. We made the full trip back to Chicago, arriving late into the night. We hit another snowstorm as we arrived in South Bend, Indiana for our last charge. We also met up with a guy named Charles we had met during Bloodline Fest. He apparently spoke about dealing with animal bones, hides, and other parts in proximity to Elphie and she suggested that we connect. I offered the hide and ribcage from the 8-point buck and he accepted. He mentioned something about trying to make a lamp from it. He met us by the chargers and we made the exchange. We got there a bit later than we had hoped. We also ended up having the charger malfunction after we began charging but it continued to charge despite the malfunction. The machine stated it was offline but we kept on charging. We decided to let it go to 100% to maximize the potential "free charge" we were now getting. As it stands, we did not get charged for the energy delivered after the malfunction! This all made our arrival to Chicago that much later. We we did safely arrive. We unloaded and filled the freezer with meat! December In Chicago (12.05.2024 - 12.12.2024)
On Saturday December 7th, 2024, despite having that Auto Butler appointment, we collected a lot more road debris on our drive back to Chicago so we decided to utilize a car wash during our usual grocery shopping trip. Before we left, We went to charge the car and got another free charge! On our way back, there was a "tumble tree" on Pershing Road. Apparently someone didn't tie their Christmas tree down so well and it fell off their vehicle and remained in the middle of the eastbound lanes.
On Sunday December 8th, 2024, we made a trip to Romeoville to Wasted Youth Tattoo and Piercing for Elphie to get a resizing of her cheek piercings. Along the way I noticed a Christmas tree dangling from a crane. I captured that along with some Christmas trees after we exited off the highway. I captured the tree as we headed north back to Chicago as well along with some decorations along one of the other exits.
12.13.2024
On Friday December 13th, 2024 I went to Metro to catch one of the two nights of MxPx shows! It was a good show on fairly cold night. I got there and the decent balcony space was all taken but I found a spot stage left on the raised section of the floor that worked out pretty well to see decently. They had The Ataris open the night. I captured San Dimas High School Football Rules from their set. Tobin Bawinkel of Flatfoot 56 came out to do a guest spot with MxPx fo "Stay Up All Night" but I didn't end up capturing that. It isn't a song I care all that much about and also didn't realize it was going to happen, ha! Apparently that is the song for guest spots as Josh Caterer of The Smoking Popes also got to step in and sing it the next night. I ended up capturing "December" which had a guest vocal also from Saffron of Won't Stay Dead. I felt it was an appropriate song to capture.
December In Chicago (12.05.2024 - 12.12.2024) On Saturday December 14th, 2024, Elphie got invited to a birthday party for a friend named Jade. It was at an Asian restaurant called Tasty Bistro and then Xtreme Wheels skating rink in Crystal Lake, Illinois. We got some good food and hung for a while at the skating rink. Elphie tried a Japanese soda that required popping out a ball to carbonate the drink.
On Wednesday December 18th, 2024, we held our Christmas party for the Cornerstone Community Outreach men's program. I also captured some footage of the CTA Holiday Train passing through to the Wilson station from the Truman College parking garage. On the drive home I captured some footage of the drive-through Christmas light display in the parking lots for Guaranteed Rate Field.
On Thursday December 19th, 2024 I captured the Wilson Abbey Windows, the zoo lights, and the downtown lights while driving on Lake Shore Drive.
Southern Family Christmas (12.20.2024 - 12.29.2024) We began our trek southward on Friday December 20th, 2024. I took the day off and we got going in the morning. The trip from Chicago through Indiana to Cincinnati was mostly efficient and uneventful. We arrived in Cincinnati and met with the Humans for dinner at Panda Express while the car charged. We ended up getting to 100% and I tried to get to the car before the 10 minute grace period ended which would result in "idle charges." I did get the car unplugged and moved but the machine continued to count the idle time resulting in I think 2 minutes that I had to pay for. I suppose since we got those free charges, I can handle paying a few cents but it still sort of bothered me. The chargers were at a Meijer so we went in to pick up a couple things then drove to the Sheehy's to stay for the night.
On Saturday December 21st, 2024 we left the Sheehy's to continue our drive south through Kentucky into Tennessee and stop near Knoxville for the night. We stopped at the state line rest area going into Tennessee even though we had just stopped to charge. We arrived at our hotel and found that there was a Buc-ee's right across the street on the same exit. We went to the Buccee's for a few minutes and got some BBQ dinner to eat. Once we got to the hotel, we tried to utilize the charger but it wouldn't connect. The message I got said I needed to insert the plug deeper somehow but it wouldn't move any further. We used another nearby charger so that we could get going first thing in the morning rather than needing to charge before leaving. I also hoped the charge would be more efficient with the car already being warm from the driving. At the hotel I watched the Pittsburgh Steelers and Penguins both lose their games.
On Sunday December 22nd, 2024 we completed our drive. We stopped in Asheville, NC at a Mod Pizza to meet up with Steve and one of his friends. The pizza and the hangs were good. To get to Asheville, we had to detour into the mountains. This brought us through Hot Springs, NC and the destruction of its small downtown area. There were tents set up in a park we passed that we assume were for folks to live in after the the storm ruined or destroyed their homes. There were signs with QR codes for scanning to donate to the recovery effort. I had captured some of the damage on the CrossTour CR-900 as we passed through. Leaving Asheville, our next charge was to the east and in another area that experienced significant damage. I had checked ahead of time and the chargers did work, however, they were slower than preferable. I got out and walked down to the nearby river looking at the damage done there. This route had us arrive from the north rather than the west. In town, we saw a Santa outside some business. Once we arrived, we went with Elphie's family to catch the Best Christmas Pageant Ever at the theater.
On Monday December 23rd, 2024 we visited with Elphie's friend D and had stuff shells for dinner. It was a nice visit.
We spent Christmas Eve Tuesday December 24th, 2024, with Elphie's mom. She told us of the damage in their part of town and we exchanged some gifts. We brought her along to a church service and gift opening with Elphie's sister and brother and their kids.
We spent Christmas Day Wednesday December 25th, 2024 by Elphie waking up early for Christmas gift opening at her sisters then going over to her brother's house to visit with them for a bit. There was an evening get together at the in-laws of Elphie's sister with a White Elephant Gift Exchange that we scrambled to join last minute.
On Thursday December 26th, 2024, we visited with Elphie's cousin, eating left over Christmas food. It was another nice visit with him and his family. We brought Elphie's mom along as well.
On Friday December 27th, 2024 as we departed for home, we stopped at R.O.'s to get BBQ and pick up some slaw to bring back home. Elphie's mom, brother, and friend Dwayne all joined us before we hit the road home. As we drove, we utilized the same route and some of the same chargers. We met up with Arthur at Mod Pizza this time in Asheville where it was determined we'd have to take a detour due to high winds. This detour forced us to need to utilize another charger that we had used the year before. We didn't charge for very long, just enough to get us to the hotel where we would be staying. We stopped for dinner at Shoney's. Elphie had talked this place up as being primarily a breakfast food buffet but apparently things had changed. Breakfast was served until 11:00am. There was a buffet but it would change themes each day. This day had "Steak And Such" so that is what we got. We ate as much as we could and proceeded to the hotel just north of Knoxville. This one had a charger that worked. I just had to download the app to access it and it had a fee but it wasn't terribly expensive.
On Saturday December 28th, 2024, we headed north out of Tennessee into Kentucky. We made a Bojangles pit stop and continued on our way toward Cincinnati. We decided to use the loop around the city due to the football game happening in downtown as well as one of the bridges being out due to an arson event in the fall. We met up with Lisa and had dinner at Cazador Mexican Grill while the car charged then we all went to Jungle Jim's to hang out and acquire a few international items. I wanted to get some Scandinavian Julmust (Christmas) soda which I got one 4 pack case. I also was looking for German Schokokusse but after searching far and wide throughout the international sections, I was left empty handed. We got Merry Mallows from the UK instead. We said our goodbyes to Lisa and made our way south to the Sheehy's for the night. When we got there, an unfortunate accident happened and I lost two bottles of Julmust as they fell out of the car and shattered on the driveway.
We finished our drive back to Chicago on Sunday December 29th, 2024. I found that the efficiently of the northward drive out of Cincinnati to Indianapolis and beyond was considerably less than the trip southbound. I assume most of the northbound trip must be uphill. This effected out charging times, making for longer stops in order to get to the next one. We made it home in the later evening, much to Stein's happiness.
Breaking the drives into three days had the advantages of less exhaustion but does shorten the visit a bit. I suppose we will play future driven trips by ear in this regard.
New Year's Eve, New Year's, and Epiphany/12th Night Party (12.30.2024 - 01.04.2025) After arriving back in Chicago on Monday December 30th, 2024, as I made my commute to work, Chicago was obscured by clouds.
On Tuesday December 31st, 2024, after a long work day I decided to drive the Wrigleyville strip, capturing the Christmas lighting of the bars. I also drove Michigan Avenue through the Magnificent Mile to capture those lights, the tree and lighting at Millennium Park, as well as some of State Street. At home, Elphie was enjoying her noise maker and I grilled some venison chops for dinner. We rung in the New Year watching it on television. There were some neighborhood fireworks but not too much this year.
I worked late on New Year's Day as well. Elphie captured video of the gifts we gave each other and I captured some clips of the zoo and city lights from Lake Shore Drive again using the CrossTour CR-900.
On Saturday January 4th, 2025, we attended the Epiphany/Twelfth Night of Christmas gathering at the Community Of The Holy Trinity with our friends who live there and others. We provided some venison stew which everyone who could eat it seemed to enjoy. It was a fun, enjoyable way to end the holiday season.
The footage contained in this project cover the period between my return from Furnace Fest (see project for that here) and Thanksgiving when we left for Pennsylvania for the whitetail deer rifle season and to celebrate the holidays with family. I decided to make a separate post that includes any of the hunting I did for 2024 so folks who prefer to NOT see that will not be blindsided by the footage in the midst of this project or that for The Holidays 2024.
This is by far the shortest "Fall" project in length in some time if not ever. That was due in part to an episode of COVID-19 happening at Halloween which knocked us out of commission for our usual Halloweeniversary celebrating and for the week afterwards.
After returning from Furnace Fest, I headed to work on Monday morning October 7th, 2024. I was pretty dang tired but I went to work. As I made the morning commute, I noticed and captured that there was a rainbow at Buckingham Fountain. It seems during a certain part of the late summer or early fall, the sun must be at just the right spot during my morning commute to make this happen. I suppose it is possible in the spring as well if the fountain is on during that particular period of time where the sun would hit just right.
On Thursday October 10th, 2024 another solar storm occurred bringing visibility for the Northern Lights to the Chicago area. We didn't make the effort to go out into the dark spaces this time but I was able to capture the color pretty well from where we live in the city that night.
10.12.2024
On Saturday October 12th, 2024, we attended the 15th Prison City Halloween Massacre at The Forge in Joliet, IL. We got there a bit late and missed the first couple of bands. The first band we saw was Sarmy Of Doom. It was an interesting performance. Whut? played next. They essentially host the show each year. The vocalist was having a birthday as well. The Disgraceland Wasteland Suspensions did their performance after Whut? finished up and it was cool as usual. The night ended up closing out with Elbow Deep who put in a performance that was part hardcore punk show and part wrestling with a couple 'fights' among band members toward the end. One of them ended up cut pretty badly and will apparently require surgery. The mess that they made ended up taking so long to clean up that Disgraceland Wasteland didn't do any more suspensions as they had indicated they hoped to do.
On Monday October 14th, 2024, it was Canada's Thanksgiving and Indigenous People's Day here in the United States. I made my usual dinner choice on Canada's Thanksgiving and went to The Bad Apple to pick up some poutine!
On Tuesday October 15th, 2024, there was hail coming down as I went to get my lunch. As I made my commute home, the skies had some vibrant colors reflecting off of the storm clouds over Lake Michigan.
10.18.2024
On Friday October 18th, 2024, friends were putting on a show in the Garden Room at J.P.U.S.A. in Uptown Chicago. I decided to stick around after work and catch the show. Since I had to take the C.T.A. to work due to getting a dent worked out of the car, I walked over from work at Cornerstone Community Outreach, stopping off at Sonic to grab some dinner.
Kevin Schlereth opened the night with some new tunes he's been working on and showcasing on this tour. Tobin Bawinkel played a 6'10 set next and played a newer song called "The Eastland" about a Chicago River shipwreck that happened around 100 years ago and took many lives. This may be a Flatfoot 56 song whenever it gets released rather than a 6'10 song...I'm not sure, ha! Sun Baron ended the night and I enjoyed the tunes that he played as well. I hung around quite a while after the show, enduring an odd fellow seemingly saying some imappropriate things, ha! When Tobin prepared to leave, I asked if I could hitch a ride home rather than ride the train and he thankfully obliged. We got in a cool conversation on the way as well.
NOTE: For some reason I posted this as being October 19th, 2024 originally. I went through to correct the video titles and information on YouTube but the embedded text is wrong.
On Saturday October 19th, 2024 I picked my car up at Parkview Auto where a dent and scratch as well as my amateur attempts to cover it was fixed. I also made a quick trip to Jewel to get some chopped vegetables to add to our venison stew. As I left there, I noticed someone set up weird little statutes or something along the old KFC at Western and Archer, I assume trying to sell them. That evening, we enjoyed some venison stew!
10.23.2024
On Wednesday October 23rd, 2024 we scored some extremely cheap tickets to see The Sisters of Mercy at Aragon Ballroom in Uptown Chicago. It was a bit of a surprise we were able to score such cheap tickets as it is a Ticketmaster/Live Nation venue and the face value was around $50.00 I believe. We took advantage of the low price on Stubhub and hoped for the best upon arrival. We hung out over at J.P.U.S.A. for a bit before the show, having dinner. A few of our friends Skot and Rachel Shaw and Mellie came out to the show as well. While waiting for the show to start, at one point a fairly significant group of our friends were all gathered around where we tend to hang out to watch shows at that venue. There is a step up so Elphie can see over the heads of the crowd and for the most part it doesn't get overly crowded.
The opening act was Blaqk Audio featuring members of A.F.I. They were ok and I thought sound wise it reminded me a bit of NYVES.
The Sisters of Mercy had a fairly long setlist and I expected the show to go quite a bit later than it did but they got through the songs quite quickly. I decided to capture "Lucretia, My Reflection." Of the songs I know by The Sisters Of Mercy, that would probably be among my favorite and I was introduced to it through a cover by Project 86.
After the show, we hung some more at J.P.U.S.A. with Skot and Rachel Shaw and Mellie as well as Shawn and Holly Browning who came out from Fort Wayne. We ended up driving Shawn and Holly to where they had parked their car after the hangs.
On Saturday October 26th, 2024, we attended the annual Nocturna All Hallow's Eve Ball at Metro. I decided to make this video clip of the night which is mostly showing the costume contest. That is in itself worth it to attend to see the creativity of costumes. We got to hang with some friends for a bit and that was fun. We didn't stay terribly late but had a good time while there.
On Thursday October 31st, 2024, I had to take Stein back to the vet for a follow-up appointment for a vaccination. Elphie hadn't been feeling well the last day or so and stayed home. After finishing at the vet, I captured some footage of the Halloween decorations in the neighborhood as I went to work. Not long after I arrived at work and clocked in, Elphie messaged that she had tested positive for COVID-19. I tested myself but came up negative. On my drive home I saved some footage from the CrossTour CR-900 of the neighborhood and Trick-or-Treat activity. We had to put our usual plan to celebrate our Halloweeniversary on hold. We ended up being out of commission for the next week.
NOVEMBER
11.09.2024
On Saturday November 9th, 2024, Elphie and I attended an "old-school" set by Five Iron Frenzy at the Bottom Lounge. They brought Lo(u)ser out as well. I think he has been on most of these "old school" set shows. His set was pretty funny, making some jokes about youth group culture and utilizing video game graphics with his songs. The video clip I captured used PacMan themed graphics. The Boy Detective was also on this show (and the one in Columbus from this weekend run). They are out of Michigan and did a pretty cool set as well. The lead vocalist spent most of the show in the middle of the crowd. I captured the last song of the set. I also captured the last song from the Five Iron Frenzy set. It was "Every New Day." I am pretty sure I have some footage of them performing "Every New Day" from another show but I wanted to capture it again anyway...there were a number of other fun options I could have decided to capture from the set. We saw a few friends at the show and Elphie got in a little bit of time hanging with Raye so that was cool.
On Sunday November 10th, 2024 we went to our friend Daniel's house for his birthday party and a bonfire later in the evening. He had meat pies for us as a meal! I only captured the bonfire.
On Thursday November 14th, 2024 I experienced a couple bad Chicago drivers and decided to pull the footage for the ongoing documentation. The first one was on Lake Shore Drive as I tried to enter using the ramp from Wilson Avenue. I was accelerating up to speed as one is meant to do. A car was in the right curb lane and initially it seemed I'd have plenty of room to merge in front of the car. The driver sped up but not enough to get passed me...only enough to end up mostly in my blindspot. They also chose to not shift left to the next lane. As I ran out or ramp space, I proceeded with my merge and accelerated, creating and maintaining a gap with this other driver. They apparently intended to use one of the next off ramps. While utilizing it, they flashed their lights at me it would seem. Why?
Further down Lake Shore Drive near the downtown parks I encountered another bad Chicago driver who created a close call but turning right on a red light directly in front of me. I was forced to slam my brakes and honked my horn. Thankfully, I was able to stop and not hit them (nor get rear-ended in the process).
11.15.2024 On Friday November 15th, 2024, Elphie and I went to see one of the last Front 242 shows at Metro. Elphie had a ticket with Kori and I bought my own. Unfortunately there was some issue with the tickets Kori had gotten which seemed to negate the ticket for Elphie. Eventually, they were all permitted in but sure seemed like a lot of unnecessary problems. I had secured a space in the balcony to watch from and held on to it the best I could. It turned out I was trying to hold space for three other people not just two! It was a good show though. I captured clips from both Front 242 and the opener Kontravoid.
On Tuesday November 19th, 2024 I noticed an odd drone show apparently happening as I drove down Lake Shore Drive. I have no idea what it was about or why it was happening.
On Thursday November 21st, 2024 we had our first measurable snow storm in Chicago as far as I can recall. I captured some clips of that.
Early Sunday morning after returning from Bloodline Fest in South Bend, Indiana, I stopped to get a charge. As I waited for the light to change so that I could go to the charger, several vehicles apparently felt that they did not need to stop at the red light and proceeded through. It was quite a few vehicles. As I plugged in to charge, I could hear squealing tires and assumed it was probably at least some of those same cars doing a "street takeover" and spinning donuts. This is a thing in Chicago.
On Tuesday November 26th, 2024 during my evening commute, while sitting with the rest of the traffic on Pershing Road, a driver determined that they did not need to wait and proceeded to continue down the middle of the road passed everyone who was waiting and I'd assume probably through the next light.
The rest of the footage for the year of 2024 will be included in the Holidays project and also the hunting project.
Additional soundtrack includes "An Autumnal Nightmare" by Rodent Emporium, "Halloween" by Insomniac Folklore, and "Autumn" by The Curbsquirrels.
I decided to make a separate post and public video project highlighting the hunting trips during the fall of 2024. It was a successful hunt during both times I was able to get out into the woods. I harvested a doe with my Excalibur Bulldog 440 Crossbow and an 8-point buck with my .30 Remington rifle.
I spent parts of four days in the Pennsylvania woods during the Archery Season to hunt White Tail Deer. It was considerably warmer than I am used to during a couple of the days but the hunt was successful!
When I drove to Pennsylvania for this hunt, I loaded up the target so I could get in some practice before going out on the hunt. The day before I went out to hunt, I set up my target and took a few practice shots with my Excalibur Bulldog 440 Crossbow. I hadn't shot it since last fall. It took a few shots to get it aligned again but felt pretty good about my chances if I had an opportunity to pull the trigger. I also spent some time sharpening my knives ahead of time.
Last year, I took the target into a section of abandoned Route 66 to get some practice shots in before leaving Chicago. I don't know of taking the practice shots in Pennsylvania was more helpful than taking the shots in Chicago but circumstances worked out in such a way that this is what I did.
I parked my car on the property of some relatives who remain on the old family land that we'd hunted for probably 100 years or more. I walked into the woods from their property and continued toward where I had been setting up the last couple of years. Since really investing time into hunting again the last few years, I have seen a lot of deer and last year, 2023 brought me some success so I hoped it might continue.
As I walked slowly through the woods, I eyed a few other locations to consider setting up just in case it would be necessary. As I crossed an open area that used to be used to dump compost, I saw a new set of Posted signs around the area where I usually enter the wooded land. I decided to continue walking up the dirt road and try to determine what might be off limits to me now. The signs seemed to stop shortly after beginning to walk uphill into the wooded area so I entered in at that point and walked to where I had set up last year. I found that the area had been logged to some extent and the spot I had set up had been destroyed with that activity. I had another spot not too far from there that was still good though...but it might not be much longer. There were markings on the trees all around it and even within the spot with orange spray paint so many of those trees may be taken in the near future, I suppose.
I got into my spot, a makeshift ground stand using downed limbs and logs I had gathered a few years ago and set up on a base of a previous similar structure. The purpose was to give me something sturdy to lean on and rest for a steady shot when using both my crossbow and rifle. It also could hide some of my movement. I cleared out the leaves as much as I could so as to try to not be too noisy when moving a bit. I also got a bearing for my shooting range by using my range finder to determine a few distances in each direction by measuring using specific trees. By this time, it had been probably an hour since I left the car. I decided to have a some of my coffee.
It was shortly after finishing that cup of coffee I saw movement of deer downhill to the north east...this would have been near where I had been set up last year. The time was around 9:30am. I grabbed my crossbow and leaned in to set up for a shot in the first clearing where the deer would hopefully reach that I estimated to be about 40 yards out. I saw that there were at least three deer. The first two deer were doe and I could see there was a buck following so I prepared to take a shot at the buck. When the buck appeared to reach the clear spot, I pulled the trigger and I heard the bolt hit something solid as the deer continued on their path but ran a bit quicker. They continued to move around the gully directly east of me but obscured by the brush and terrain. They kept on moving which didn't give me much of a chance to take another shot. I used this time to reload with as little movement and noise as I could. To my south I noticed movement as well as to my east. I saw the sunlight shining of something that may have been antlers so I was hoping that perhaps I had hit the buck and it was lying down over there and expiring. Meanwhile, to the east I still was seeing movement then saw two white tails up as the deer ran off further to the east turning north and back up into the hillside which has been posted land for many years.
To the south though, the movement continued and I saw a doe begin to move toward me. It seemed that it saw me. It would stop and stare then occasionally take a few more steps toward me. I kept watching it and it kept watching me. I tried to get a feel for if I could take a shot a few different times but it seemed to be a bit too far out and the area wasn't entirely clear either. At one point when I looked through the scope of my crossbow, all I could see clearly was the rump. Obviously, that was not a shot I intended to take. The doe continued to hang around though...it managed to move from about 80 yards away to less than 60 yards. I adjusted myself during a brief moment when the deer had taken its eyes off of me and was able to set myself up for a shot. It was quartering toward me. By this point I was estimating the shot to be just over 40 yards (which was incorrect) and I took aim just behind the shoulder, adjusting for the distance I was estimating. I saw the deer stomp a few times and figured I was running out of time for this opportunity that was being presented to me. With my aim and adjustment set and a steady rest on the stand, I pulled the trigger. It seemed just as I was pulling the trigger, the deer stepped back. It seemed to react as through it had been hit but at that distance I couldn't see any evidence yet. I estimated that shot occurred at around 10:00am.
I waited around probably a good 15-30 minutes before taking a walk to see if there was any evidence from either shot that I hit either the buck or the doe. I went to the area where the deer had crossed into the clearing and I took the shot at the buck. I found the spot where he was when I shot and where he lurked forward likely startled by the sound of the bolt's release or perhaps impact on whatever it hit that was solid. I did not find any blood at all. I looked around that area for a while, going further away. I also could not find the bolt but I began to assume I may have struck a limb. In hindsight, the deer were still moving when I took the shot and that likely accounted for a miss. I should have exercised patience and waited for them to stop or perhaps even made a noise to see if that made them stop. I continued searching around for a while then decided to try to follow the tracks for a bit to see if there was any blood. I still found nothing. I figured I could go back to that area if needed in a bit but decided I'd go look at the spot where I shot at the doe and see if there might be any evidence. At first when I got to the spot where I thought the doe was standing, I found nothing at all which was frustrating. I stood there for a few moments, trying to replay the shot and see if I might have been off a bit on my estimate when I looked a bit further out and saw what appeared to be significant blood as well as hair. I was very confident that I had a kill shot at this point.
I decided to head back to my stand area and give the deer a bit more time before pursuing it. I hoped to not have to chase it too far if possible. I poured myself another cup of coffee and also ate a sandwich while texting out to my parents and Elphie that it seemed I had a successful day. While doing all that, a nice sized 8-point buck had wandered into the area, standing probably no more than 25 yards from me. I was not prepared for shooting at this point but since it was standing there, I tried to quickly grab my crossbow and set up to take a shot. Of course my movement was noticed by the buck and it snorted then ran to my north into brush and terrain that would make for a difficult shot. I wasn't sure it was in my best interest to take that shot as I definitely already had one deer down and there was the chance I had hit that other buck too but just wasn't finding the evidence of it yet. As I was sitting there, a vehicle had made it way up the road where I entered into the woods. I hoped that the deer I shot hadn't ended up on the road as I didn't want to have to deal with other people at that time...especially being unsure of the new posted restrictions and where the signs actually covered and not wanting a confrontation with regards to that.
I think it was probably around 11:00 or maybe as late as 11:30am when I decided to start tracking the doe. I walked to the spot where the bolt hit her and first blood. Using my range finder measuring back to my stand (or the tree that sits in the middle of my stand). I found the distance to be right around 55 yards. I followed the blood and tracks as it ran mostly south through occasionally veering a bit to the west and uphill. There were just a couple places where I worried I had lost the blood trail but was able to fairly quickly find the trail again. The amount of blood was pretty significant most of the way so I figured it had to be a kill shot but last year I thought I had one but eventually lost the trail. As I kept going, this trail seemed remain with a consistently significant amount of blood. While the trail veered a bit west and uphill again, I looked ahead toward the south and saw a deer laying next to a rock. I was pretty certain it was this doe I had shot and it was likely dead. I walked along the blood trail anyway and it seems the doe may have fallen down and rolled then settled next to this rock. I poked at it a couple of times to ensure it had expired. I then went back to gather my stool and backpack and returned to field dress the doe. While walking back, I took a couple of measurements to get an estimate of how far she had run before expiring. It took a couple measurements because it wasn't a straight line that she ran. I estimate she ran about 70 yards.
I took a few pictures to document my harvest and filled out my tag as well then attached it to the ear. This was the first deer I had to field dress entirely on my own. As a teenager, I always had my grandpa with me. The first deer I got as an adult, I had forgotten the process and my father helped out. The same with the last couple, not because I had forgotten how but because he was impatient waiting on me to get it done. Also, the last time, my knife was too dull. Thankfully, that was not the case this time.
It probably took me a bit longer than maybe some others to get the field dressing done but I did it, leaving the gut pile for the scavengers to enjoy. I was pretty covered in blood by the time I got done and with the heat of the day, I was definitely feeling a bit too warm. Where the deer fell, there wasn't any active mountain streams to try to wash off any of the blood or my knives.
I tied a rope around the neck of the doe and tried to tuck her front legs in as well to help ease the drag a bit. I started carrying everything along with the doe but it was a bit too much. I ended up carrying my crossbow, stool, backpack, and heavier jacket ahead some amount of distance then coming back to drag the deer. I kept doing this through the rest of the day until I was able to get it to the car eventually. The drag used up almost all the remaining daylight...several hours. At a point trying to catch my breath in a clearing from a pipeline, the folks driving on the road in the ATV had come back off the hill. I am certain that they saw me but didn't approach me. There is a parking lot and access closer than where I park and at times I wondered if I shouldn't try walking through there and get permission to move my car to the lot and lessen the distance for dragging.
Once I finally got the deer dragged to my car, I was pretty exhausted. Thankfully my father was able to come and help me lift her into the car on the tarp I bought to keep the car clean. He also brought some water so I could re-hydrate as I was certainly dehydrated. I had to deal with some cramping the rest of the night after that.
We got the deer back to my parents house and got her hung up in the shed, then began to work on skinning her. We had to bring her back down once due to not getting one of the legs skinned right. We took a break about half way through the skinning for dinner then I went back out on my own and finished the job. I had it skinned and decapitated before going to bed. I didn't sleep real well due to the cramping of being dehydrated. I made a point to carry water with me going forward.
I went back out the next morning but didn't necessarily plan to stay out for more than a few hours. I mainly wanted to search some more to see if I could find any evidence of hitting the buck, and if so, any chance of finding it. As I walked in, I entered near where I dragged out the doe. I was a bit south of the spot. I walked toward my stand and as I walked I happened to find the bot that killed the doe! It was south of the hit spot as well and seemed it might have taken a right turn (facing the deer) once it exited the body. One of the blades of the broadhead was missing and the broadhead itself was slightly bent but the shaft of the bolt and everything else seemed to be ok and re-usable. I stashed it with my other bolts and continued to my stand where I unloaded my backpack and stool. I then walked back to the spot where I had shot at the buck to again search for any evidence I may have hit the deer. Again, I found nothing. I more thoroughly searched all around the area trying to decipher which tracks likely belonged to the buck. I assumed the deeper and more dug out ones were likely belonging to the buck as it would indicate it had been startled. But there was no blood anywhere near those tracks. I also could find no sign of the bolt that I had shot at the buck. I walked along what seemed to be the tracks looking for any evidence of blood but I found nothing. I followed along as far as the edge of the wooded area and along a stream bed before giving up on the idea of finding any blood or this buck.
I went and sat in my stand for a little bit, drinking a bit of coffee and water and eating a sandwich. A small buck came from behind me in the direction I was facing. I had come from the northeast. It was not a "legal" buck. He hung around for a little bit looking at me before getting more suspicious than curious of me and ran off. As I left my stand, I went back toward the blood trail from the doe to see how it looked a day later. It had dried up quite a bit and was a lot harder to decipher on the leaves whether it was blood or just reddish leaves.
I also found as I left by way of one of the old roads, that the area I had been sitting was indeed now posted. I took a picture of the sign so that I could have the information of those who posted it and I moved along. I crossed over the main road that is still in use on that side of the hill and headed south up the hill. I was able to see where the signs cross over the road and continue toward the old compost dump. It would see that where my father would like to set up and hunt was outside the posted zone but not where I had been setting up.
I walked up to his stand, It was still intact even though he's not really been taking the time to go out to hunt anymore. I headed west along the ridge of the hill, passing over one of the oil roads into an area I had walked a bit some years ago while squirrel hunting and scouting for deer. I had also walked through here a couple different times during a few of the previous unsuccessful hunting seasons. I had always seen deer but not before they would see me. As usual, some distance ahead of me I saw a deer get up and begin to run. I mostly just saw the tail. It stopped and it looked likely to be a buck but was far enough away it was hard to see the antler situation. It ran off and I decided it was as good of a time as any to get a spot set up to hunt in there. I gathered some downed limbs and smaller logs and built up another little makeshift ground stand for myself to utilize at some point. Once I ensured it to be mostly stable enough for leaning on to take a steady shot, I made my way back down the hill and to my car. I ran into Denny who had his dog out on his property and spoke with him for a few moments. His memory is going but he was still friendly, even if he didn't recall who I was. I eventually told him I needed to go as I wanted to try to quarter the doe I had hanging with it being so warm out.
I went back to my parents and did exactly that. I quartered the doe. I removed the front legs and bagged them up in garbage bags then proceeded to find a way to fit them into my parents freezer. I removed the ribs and spine where it attached at the pelvic bone, also removing the backstraps. I then tried to saw through the pelvic bone while the legs were still hanging but eventually I pulled them down off the hooks and cut through the pelvic bone while the legs were on the floor where I had a bit more leverage to make the cut. This method worked out for me and after trying to spray off the legs of any dirt or other debris from the floor, I bagged them up as well and put them into the freezer. I removed as much meat as I could from the ribs and neck area before settling in for the night. We had a tenderloin dinner that evening.
The following day, I went back out but set up closer to where I parked on the land that Denny actually owns. It was a bit of a wet morning. I gathered up some downed limbs and logs and made another makeshift ground stand right on the edge of his land and waited to see if anything might move through. There are tracks around the area. I didn't see anything and decided to come in early due to the rain.
I worked my way through more of the meat I could harvest off the rib area and the neck. I left as little as I could of the meat and when I got to the point I didn't know if I could get much more off the neck in particular, I bagged up the meat I was able to harvest, leaving some cuts for stews for my mom, and set everything into the freezer.
I went back out to the woods one last time with my crossbow and set up again on the edge of Denny's property in my makeshift ground stand. I stayed through the whole day. It was dry and moderate temperature. The only deer I saw were to the east of where I set up and moving a fairly good distance away. They may have been moving along the pipeline or one of the oil roads. Between where I sat and the deer there was quite a bit of brush that obscured any chances for a shot or much decent visibility of them. They did not make their way any closer as far as I could tell. At some point in the mid afternoon, a man came to one of the oil rigs and started it up then proceeded to look into the wooded area where I was sitting. He noticed me, then apologized and went on his way in his truck. He returned a bit later to turn off the oil rig. I saw no more deer and came in at the end of daylight and finished my archery hunt.
Back at my parents house, I decided to hang my hunting clothes in the shed where I had processed the deer. I figure if any scent from the deer is lingering perhaps it will attach itself to the clothing...at the very least it should be closer to natural smell than storing them inside the house.
I drove back to Chicago the next day, loaded with the meat from this deer frozen after sitting in the freezer. Some of it I was able to fit into a cooler and the legs I kept in the garbage bags with frozen bottles of water surrounding them. I had tossed the rib cage, the hooves, and the hide over the hill behind my parents house where my grandpa would usually toss the waste from any of the deer he had processed as well as lawn clippings and other compostable items.
I processed through the legs and other meat over the next week in the kitchen back home in Chicago. The first couple of days were busy with prior commitments so I left the meat in the car, covered and in the bags with the frozen water bottles in hopes that they would remain cold.
In the end we came away with steaks, chops (backstrap), burgers, and jerky from the meat as well as the liver, the heart, and the tongue. We made the tongue and liver into taco meat which we shared with our friend Guy while he was in town and our landlord Moses. I tried to utilize the lung with the taco meat but it was pretty well bloodshot and I found some of the broadhead blade in it as well so I gave up on trying to salvage them for safety purposes. Moses also got some of the jerky (we hadn't finished that yet before Guy left).
Rifle Season
The rifle season started out a bit rough in that during our trip to Pennsylvania, there was a blizzard hitting the Erie area. We left Chicago around noon on Black Friday and made it to South Bend for our first charging stop. I looked at the conditions and figured we'd go as far as we could. We had a couple more stops to make for charging at the Ohio state line, near Sandusky, Ohio, and near Cleveland, Ohio. I hoped to be able to book a hotel that had a charger on site so we could leave with a full charge in the morning and get to my parents house and I could proceed to go hunting. Unfortunately the hotel we chose did not have on site charging, even though it was indicated to be the case on the profile on booking.com. We stayed anyway. The next options we found that weren't terribly expensive were potentially in the midst of this blizzard and no telling if the chargers would be accessible in the snow or not. There was still availability of rooms but we opted for the closer hotel.
The next morning, the first day of rifle season, we left the hotel earlier than check out. My hope was to get to my parents' house and at least be able to get a few hours in the woods to hunt. We had to stop in Mentor, Ohio for a charge due to not having the charger at the hotel. As we approached Mentor, we began to get into the heavier snow cover from the edge of the blizzard. As we continued toward Erie, it was sunny and clear. We could see that it was a pretty significant snowstorm. For the most part the road had been cleared...at least one lane. A few spots got a bit dicey where snowpack and chunky ice remained on the road. There were a few vehicles that had been stranded in the snow. As we entered Pennsylvania, we came to find that I-90 was closed and we decided to get off a short time after seeing the notice on the road sign. We used State Route 98 and headed south to US-6N and then US-6 to get around the closure and hopefully the worst of the snow. We kept it slower than usual but steady and eventually got to my parents house at about 2:00pm. We had 10-15% of the battery remaining which was plenty to get out to hunt and back!
I unloaded the car then got prepared to go hunting, gathering my clothes, rifle, an ammunition. I got parked then began to walk into the woods and up the hill to the makeshift ground stand I prepared during archery season on the ridge. As I walked across the pipeline clearing I heard a noise and stopped. It turned out to be an ATV on one of the oil roads. It continued west and further uphill so I continued to walk toward my ground stand. I found the tracks of the ATV as well as some boot tracks that if the person was still in the woods, should be far enough away from where I was headed to not be an issue. I continued walking, noticing some turkey tracks, deer tracks, and coyote tracks along the way. I didn't see any movement or living thing as I walked though. I think it took me 40-45 minutes to make it to my stand. I had forgotten my stool but I figured I wasn't going to be out there long due to how late in the day it was. I got myself into the stand, accidentally kicking part of it lose and having to do a little repair work. I cleared away the snow and leaves as much as I could and waited to see if anything might come along. there was a deer trail right next to my makeshift stand as well as coyote tracks following the trail.
As I waited, I kept looking in each direction. To the south I had mostly the hillside to see as well as the edge of a higher ridge. It was less likely I figured to be where I'd get a shot but you never know. To the north was downhill and mostly a clear view of anything crossing that area. It was also where the oil road and an oil rig were so there was potential for human activity. To the east there was a short distance of a clear view that might allow for a good chance to shoot. Same situation pretty much to the west. Too far west the woods became thick enough it would be hard to see much.
As the sun began to set, I was watching to the east for a bit and turned back to look west and saw a deer standing there looking at me. It was definitely a buck but with the sunlight going it was hard to really see well enough what the antler situation was. I had my rifle and tried to slowly move into a shooting position with a learn on the stand but the deer ran at my movement back toward the west and there really was not shot to take at that point. I didn't stay out much longer after this as it was getting dark quickly. I came back in unsuccessful but I had the option to go the next day and planned to do so.
I woke early the next morning intent to get to my spot before it got too light. It didn't quite work out as it took my too long to climb the hill. I had no other human encounters. I saw more animal tracks though. I was looking at some deer tracks that crossed the oil road just north of my stand before I started up that hill and then heard a snort only to look up and see four white tails of fleeing deer headed southeast up the hill. They would likely have crossed by where my father hunts if he had been out there.
I continued to my stand. I had my stool this time and I worked the ground to get it set up in such a way that it would be steady for me to sit when I wanted to. I surveyed the area and it wasn't long before I saw movement to the west along the deer trail. It was headed right for me in the same general area the buck I saw the night before had been. It had antlers! I was able to get myself situation and a good sturdy rest on my stand to take a shot and could confirm that this buck met and exceeded the regulations for the area I was hunting as I saw at least three points up! I steadied my aim and took the shot as the buck had lowered its head to graze whatever was on the ground in front of it. The shot dropped this buck where he stood and I shot the steam puff of his last breath. I waited a few moments and saw no other motion from where the deer had fallen. It turned out my shot had hit just behind the neck and between the shoulders near the spine, breaking it. This is why it could not run. It was a bit of an odd shot especially considering I was on the ground and knelt down but the deer had also stepped into a dip so I think all that factored into the shot. I was originally aiming lower toward the vitals before it stepped into the dip but I didn't miss and it was a fairly instant kill at 8:00am!
I believe the shot was somewhere in the 35-40 yard range at most. It actually felt a whole lot closer but when trying to gauge it with the range finder, it read 35-40 yards. I walked over, poked at it a few times to ensure it was expired. I documented with some pictures, sent them out to my parents and Elphie. Then I gathered my stuff from the stand so I could begin the field dressing again. My father planned on going to church in the morning but offered to come help get the deer out of the woods. I accepted the offer and tried to explain exactly where I was...not necessarily the easiest thing to do, ha!
I had my first couple cups of coffee then got to work on the field dressing. As I was getting started the ATV I saw the day before rolled up the oil road. The man sitting in it looked like it may have been the man I saw during archery who turned on the rig down the hill. He rode off after a moment without engaging with me. I waved and that was about it. This one was a bit messier than the doe. It seems the bullet and possibly spinal fragments had made it through into the guts, ripping open the stomach. I did my best to clear that all out and with the snow cover, I cleaned out the body cavity the best that I could. It seems to have possibly niched the liver as well but I saved it nonetheless as most of it should be edible. Once I reached the vital organs, one lung was pretty much obliterated. I didn't try to salvage the other one, leaving it with the rest of the gut pile for scavengers. I cleaned out the body cavity again with the snow as well as my hands and the knife I was using and then started to pack up to get out of the woods. I pinned my tag to the deers ear inside my license holder because I forgot another zip tie.
I tied the rope around the antlers and tried to get the front legs tied up there as well. After the initial drag down to the oil road, the legs had popped loose so I took a break and re-tied everything. I had to go back and forth with my father by text to better explain where I was. I took a picture of the area and sent it before retying the deer up. As I was finishing, he walked up the hill not too far away and from there we made out way back down the hill. This drag was a lot easier due to the snow, even though the deer was quite a bit larger. I tripped up once but otherwise got it down the hill with no issues. Climbing the short incline down at Denny's homestead prove to be a bit of a chore as I kept slipping on the snow but we got it up to to the car together. Denny and Dawn (his wife) had just returned from church and came to see the harvest and took a picture. I moved my car so that we didn't have to drag the deer around to load it. We got him loaded in and headed to my parents house.
At the house, after unloading the buck, we sprayed it out to clean out as much remaining residual stomach contents as possible. We got it hung up again and began to skin it. We took a lunch break and watched the Steelers beat the Bengals before getting back to work on skinning and quartering the deer.
I spent most of the next day processing the meat off of the legs and the day after that, after a morning trip to Erie for a quick car maintenance appointment in another blizzard, I worked my way through the meat on the body around the ribs, the neck, and the back. I had it mostly processed before we returned to Chicago. We celebrated Christmas with my family and shared a meal of tenderloin as well.
Back in Chicago, I finished processing the meat, grinding some of it for burger use or to turn to jerky. I saved the tongue again for tacos as well as the liver and the heart. We ended up running out of freezer space so I gave some of our meat away to friends.
I had to purchase a larger pot so I could boil the skull to clean it off as much as I could. I protected the antlers using tin foil. After I did the best that I could in cleaning it, I set it out near the compost box in the back yard in hopes that bugs will scavenge the rest of the non bone material and I will then clean it up and have it to display.
That same pot I used to boil the bones I had saved from both deer and make bone broth.
