Post by huntergks on Sept 23, 2015 12:21:11 GMT -6
I slept in this morning until 7:15. I got set-up in the woods behind the house at 7:45 to a beautiful morning, 51 degrees, no wind, & clear skies. I spotted the 1st squirrel working its way through the woods at about 8 with no shot opportunity. A little before 9, 1 showed up in the blowdown to my right stopping on a branch. About the time I got the rifle up, it jumped down & ran along the far side of a log out of sight. It got to the end of the log, crossed it & the trail & disappeared into the woods. About 15 minutes later, I turned my head to the right & there sat a bushy facing me just off the trail within 10’ of me. I averted my eyes so I wasn’t looking straight at it but could see it in my peripheral vision. It sat there for a few seconds then turned & hopped to the blown down & jumping onto the trunk. I had enough time to get the rifle up as it moved along the trunk stopping behind a sapling with just an eye showing which was all the .17 needed. Number 12 was a female. At about 10, I saw 1 for a split second further into the woods with no shot. Close to 10:30, another 1 showed up in the blowdown but took off like a scalded squirrel before I could move. At 10:45, 1 worked out of the woods to my left with a nut in it’s mouth, crossed the trail, & jumped up on the log that runs parallel to the trail look enough for #13, a male, to end up taking a ride home on my 4-wheeler.
The 2 previous times I had left this woods, I had seen a flock of at least 10 birds the 1st time & 4 the 2nd. I suspect they were hens & poults. Finding these 2 feathers in the trail tells me I may want to do a little scouting before next spring’s season.
At 11, I decided to take a walk through the woods to see what I could see. I had walked a few hundred yards & noticed something that seemed out of place between 2 trees. I had been taught that woods are vertical & to be aware of anything showing up parallel to the ground. What I saw was about 30’ from me & parallel. I though it might be a deer &, sure enough, it moved forward, a does head showed up. She saw me & was gone with a blow. I felt pretty good that I was able to get this close undetected.
I got back to the 4-wheeler & decided to walk to the end of the trail to see if anything was feeding in the bean field that been combined yesterday. I didn’t see anything but did find the end of an old t-post sticking up in the trail a few inches. I have been extremely lucky for several years to not have lost a tire as if I had been to the left of the sapling by an inch, the tie would have been gone. When I found it, all that was showing was the end about the wing. I tried to pull it by hand but only got it out as far as the pic shows. I couldn’t get a straight up pull with the wench so it took a lot of maneuvering & pulling to get it out.
You can make out the tire track to the left of the post.
I bought my house from the same farmer that owns the fields around me & allows me to hunt in his woods. He’s a real good guy. On the way out, I noticed a lot of large rocks in the field & picked them up. Any of you who have farmed or know anything about farming know what these rocks can do to equipment. I also picked up a large piece of tree trunk about 125 yards into the field. How did that wood get into a bean field, you might ask. This field runs along part of my creek & the flooding was so bad this year, that it dropped the wood plus a lot of other debris into the field.
Since bow season opens on the 27th & I don’t hunt this woods during bow season, I plan to hunt it again in the morning with a minor adjustment to how I sit so I am facing towards the blowdown which should give me more shot opportunities.
The 2 previous times I had left this woods, I had seen a flock of at least 10 birds the 1st time & 4 the 2nd. I suspect they were hens & poults. Finding these 2 feathers in the trail tells me I may want to do a little scouting before next spring’s season.
At 11, I decided to take a walk through the woods to see what I could see. I had walked a few hundred yards & noticed something that seemed out of place between 2 trees. I had been taught that woods are vertical & to be aware of anything showing up parallel to the ground. What I saw was about 30’ from me & parallel. I though it might be a deer &, sure enough, it moved forward, a does head showed up. She saw me & was gone with a blow. I felt pretty good that I was able to get this close undetected.
I got back to the 4-wheeler & decided to walk to the end of the trail to see if anything was feeding in the bean field that been combined yesterday. I didn’t see anything but did find the end of an old t-post sticking up in the trail a few inches. I have been extremely lucky for several years to not have lost a tire as if I had been to the left of the sapling by an inch, the tie would have been gone. When I found it, all that was showing was the end about the wing. I tried to pull it by hand but only got it out as far as the pic shows. I couldn’t get a straight up pull with the wench so it took a lot of maneuvering & pulling to get it out.
You can make out the tire track to the left of the post.
I bought my house from the same farmer that owns the fields around me & allows me to hunt in his woods. He’s a real good guy. On the way out, I noticed a lot of large rocks in the field & picked them up. Any of you who have farmed or know anything about farming know what these rocks can do to equipment. I also picked up a large piece of tree trunk about 125 yards into the field. How did that wood get into a bean field, you might ask. This field runs along part of my creek & the flooding was so bad this year, that it dropped the wood plus a lot of other debris into the field.
Since bow season opens on the 27th & I don’t hunt this woods during bow season, I plan to hunt it again in the morning with a minor adjustment to how I sit so I am facing towards the blowdown which should give me more shot opportunities.
