Trip to the Stirling Camp

Mary's brother George lives in North Carolina and every November he comes home to go deer hunting.

Mary's Dad's property is near Camp Chicken so we volunteered to take the 4-wheelers and load up some apples and sugar beets to take up to the Stirling hunting camp to put out for the deer. George doesn't get here until a day or two before the season starts so he doesn't get a chance to put out any bait for the deer.

We put the apples and beets in Arlene's little trailer and loaded up for our adventure.





When we take the 4-wheelers, Mary always had to hold Tiny, but Arlene came up with this idea for a "Tiny Carrier". She took an old camo back pack and turned it around so the backpack part was in the front. Then she took a bungee cord and attached it to the shoulder straps in the back to hold it in place. We put Tiny inside the bag so she was able to ride without Mary having to hold her.




Tiny actually really likes it. She is comfortable and warm and she can look around and see where we are going.

We headed out to make the trip to the Stirling camp. It is quite a ways away from Camp Chicken, probably at least two miles on two track roads. Part of the road goes through poplar swamp and it gets pretty muddy. The last mile is pretty rough. It was slow going with a fully loaded trailer and both Arlene and Mary on the 4-wheeler.

But we made it and didn't get lost once.



Mary spread out the apples and beets and we put the rest of the bags in the old horse barn for next weekend. Years ago, men would come up in this area and cut pulpwood. My grandfather, Elmer Rutledge, his brother Len, and his cousin, Hughie Leach and their families would live up in these woods and cut pulpwood for a penny a "stick". I think a "stick" was actually a poplar tree. They used horses to drag the "sticks" out of the woods and they kept them in small barns.




We spent some time looking around the hunting camp at the new deck and outhouse that had been added since our last trip up here.





I really liked this old thermometer that was hanging on the front of the cabin.



This sign hangs on the old horse barn welcoming guests to the Stirling camp.