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Sounds like my last trip. Most MEMORABLE hunting trip (except when I shot my first deer.)
We go out camping the night before so as to get an early start.
It's raining slightly so DH and I get out and put a tarp over the leaky tent. I tell DH to get out and do it naked, because our skin will dry faster than our clothes and I have towels.
It's public land, so about 3.30am the trucks start rolling in. We're definitely awake on time. Fortunately it's not raining anymore, just cloudy.
It starts off cloudy and cool, but it gets warmer and warmer all day long.
About lunch time we decide to take a break. Walking down the trail towards us came up a spike buck, so he walked. Didn't see a durn thing the rest of the day.
When we go back to camp at night, by then it's nearly 70*F which is possible for November in Arkansas (last week for example) but it's also getting darker and darker and darker. We were gonna fire up the grill, but I got in the truck and turned on the radio. TORNADO warning! WHY couldn't they mention the possibility of tornadoes yesterday before we went camping??? grrrrr
It gets darker and darker and darker. The trees start swaying like crazy. I did NOT want to be in the woods with all them trees flapping in the wind! No joke by 4pm it's pitch black, not your average early sunset it's BLACK. Starts pouring, we jump in the truck to get out of the rain. The guy on the radio says - possible tornado on the ground just north of Lake Wynona, heading towards Perryville
We were camping, somewhat northwest of Lake Wynona not far from Perryville (that's where we went for Sonic lunch)! The gravel flies! I didn't know you could go so fast on a forest service road! We hit the highway going the opposite direction of Perryville doing about 75 on a 2 lane in the dark pouring rain. I was scared! I drove until we had run out of the rain.
We establish that the weather threat is over via a TV at a 24 hour laundromat in some town I don't even know where. I think we might have hit hwy 7 by then. So we head for Russlleville and the interstate to take us back home, screw the camping gear we'll come back for it later (the guns were in the truck already). A tornado had gone across the interstate between Russslleville and home, so there was sheet metal all over the median and road. Another tornado tore up the small town of Cherry Hill right across Hwy 60. Cherry Hill is probably 2 miles down the road from Hwy155 that takes you basically to where we were camped!
We have since thrown away the leaky tent. I spent many a wet night in that thing, and 2 years after I threw it away my dad calls me to ask if I still have it because he's gonna take up backpacking. Apparently the poles that came with it were extra special, lightweight, expensive....
I've not been able to go hunting since then, simply because we worked overnight and I couldn't stay up all night and THEN try to stay awake on the deer stand. This year I am trying desperately to go, but I haven't been yet.