Post by huntergks on Sept 5, 2015 17:29:59 GMT -6
Opening day, Tuesday 09/01 didn’t turn out the way I had hoped. I got into the woods about 6:30 & it was beautiful, clear skies, no wind, & 62 degrees. Couldn’t ask for much better weather. I did see 4 reds & 3 foxes but only had 1 shot opportunity. I probably should have gotten a fox. I normally hear them going up & down trees but this 1 was in a tree about 10 yards to my right & I didn’t see it until it was about 40 feet up & getting into the canopy. I never saw it again. Have you ever almost started to do something then decided not to but couldn’t stop? That’s what happened with a red. It was sitting perfectly still when I put the cross-hairs on it. As I started to squeeze, it moved & I couldn’t stop my finger from continuing with the shot, a complete & total miss. I hunted most of the day & it did get warm about 10 & continued until I left at 4:30 when it was 87. A plus was seeing a flock of at least 9 birds crossing the road leaving the corn & entering a bean field next to a woods where I’m sure they would roost. I counted 9 & could see more in the corn but not sure how many. There were a couple of hens & the others were about ½ grown.
I had planned on hunting the woods behind the house Wednesday morning. It’s about 1 mile back & I ride my 4-wheeler. It was parked in the butchering room in front of the Ferris. I pulled the Ferris out, jumped on the Polaris, &.click, click, click. Wouldn’t start. I pulled the battery & decided not to charge it. It is about 7 years old & I didn’t want to take a chance getting stranded in the woods so I just bought another battery. DANG!!!! Those suckers are expensive!!!!
I got into the woods today, Saturday, 09/05 about 6:30 again. The weather was quite as nice with overcast skies, breezy but, again, 62 degrees. A little after 7:00, a red appeared on the top part of the stump in the pics but took off before I could get a shot. About 7:30, a fox started chattering in the west section of the woods. I listened for about 15 minutes & decided to try a stalk. I did get to the tree it was in & saw if for a second before it disappeared. About 8:30, I saw a limb bouncing to my right & started watching. I finally saw a fox moving towards me. It got onto the side of a dead tree but the there was another tree between use. It moved into another tree & I started following it in the scope. Every time it stopped, there was something between us. It finally moved into a crotch but it had its back to me. It did turn once but I couldn’t get the scope on it quickly enough for a shot. By this time the Savage with the scope & bull barrel was starting to get heavy but, luckily, it turned again & I put a shot on it right at the base of the skull at 8:30. It was a young male.
At 9, I took a walk through the west section of the woods past the tree where the 1st fox was. It took about 20 minutes & I didn’t see anything. Then, at 9:30, I walked through the east section again not seeing anything. I sat back down &, at 10, I heard a fox chattering in the same area as I heard the 1st so I started to sneak over again. I got about ½ way there when I realized that there were 2 carrying on, 1 on each side of the trail. I decided to go after the 1 on the left as the tree was only a couple of feet off the trail. It started to move & finally stopped on a branch in the open. There was a crack followed by a thud. I marked it down &started looking for the 2nd, which was barking & scolding. I couldn’t see it &, even if I could, there was a lot of foliage between me & the tree I thought it was in. Since it was still scolding after the shot, I figured, What the Heck, & plowed through the underbrush until I could see the tree fairly plainly. If it had shut up, I never would have seen it as it was on the side of a tree in a very deep shadow. It barked again, there was another crack & another thud. This 1 was a young female & the other was older. Between the time I heard the 1st bark & the 2nd bushy went down was a total of 15 minutes with the 2 getting shot within 2-3 minutes of the other.
After lunch. I headed back to the woods I was in Monday. I dozed off, heard something, & there was a fox less than 10’ from me dusting. It finished & wandered off never providing a shot. There were 2 reds wearing out my last frayed nerve constantly screaming at each other. Finally, 1 of them made the mistake of stopping in the Vee of 2 branches. It joined its 3 buddies for a free ride back to my place. They’re all soaking in salt water in the fridge.
I got the battery installed & the 4-wheeler is ready to go Monday morning behind the house.
If you look at the base of the skull of the squirrel in the forefront, you can see where I hit it. I had to place the other 2 in such a way as the gore wouldn’t show too much. I literally blew ½ their heads off.
