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Hunting, generally.....
Just thinking about how differently I've viewed this over the years...
I hunt mostly Whitetails and small game in the hardwoods of northern Wisc, but I suspect that really doesn't matter.
Used to be, I'd be pretty disappointed if I came back without meat. Not that it didn't happen quite often, cause it did. But when it happens today I'm really not all that miffed. Don't get me wrong, I still have those days when the urge to harvest is almost overwhelming based on recent scouting or stand sits - ya feel a bit stoked. Today is gonna be the day.....
Yet there are those other days when I just get out there without that sense of 'purpose', for lack of a better word...just to be there. And lately, for me, those days can be just a riot. This could spawn another thread altogether, but I think of the days that chickadees tug on the tag ends of my Gillie headwear, right next to my chin...and sit on my arrow when the bow is across my legs, or the Ruffed Grouse that walks the length of the log that my boots are on, right up to my feet...then gives me that look like he just pooped his feathers. Or watching the little mouse from 20 feet above that takes a half hour to roll an acorn about the same size as he is...over to his den. Or the Great Horned Owl that found a gray squirrel he thought he'd tackle going up a tree, a fight that lasted about 20 minutes of back and forth...There are others that don't come to mind at the moment.
More recently, at the end of one of those days I just tear off a few layers, get a blood-warming adult beverage, warm the hands and other things that need it....have a bite to eat...and sleep like a baby. Wake up the next day and want to do it all over again.
At one moment I think I'm getting soft; the next I see my freezer has unused capacity. Does that make me a conflicted individual? :tooth:
I hunt mostly Whitetails and small game in the hardwoods of northern Wisc, but I suspect that really doesn't matter.
Used to be, I'd be pretty disappointed if I came back without meat. Not that it didn't happen quite often, cause it did. But when it happens today I'm really not all that miffed. Don't get me wrong, I still have those days when the urge to harvest is almost overwhelming based on recent scouting or stand sits - ya feel a bit stoked. Today is gonna be the day.....
Yet there are those other days when I just get out there without that sense of 'purpose', for lack of a better word...just to be there. And lately, for me, those days can be just a riot. This could spawn another thread altogether, but I think of the days that chickadees tug on the tag ends of my Gillie headwear, right next to my chin...and sit on my arrow when the bow is across my legs, or the Ruffed Grouse that walks the length of the log that my boots are on, right up to my feet...then gives me that look like he just pooped his feathers. Or watching the little mouse from 20 feet above that takes a half hour to roll an acorn about the same size as he is...over to his den. Or the Great Horned Owl that found a gray squirrel he thought he'd tackle going up a tree, a fight that lasted about 20 minutes of back and forth...There are others that don't come to mind at the moment.
More recently, at the end of one of those days I just tear off a few layers, get a blood-warming adult beverage, warm the hands and other things that need it....have a bite to eat...and sleep like a baby. Wake up the next day and want to do it all over again.
At one moment I think I'm getting soft; the next I see my freezer has unused capacity. Does that make me a conflicted individual? :tooth:
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Coming from the vastness of Colorado's national forests to the mid-west has given me an appreciation for the small quite places that can be found around here.
You seem to have a more diverse collection of wildlife to play with than around here. Last time out all I saw were a few crows, chipmunks and hawks. I really need to explore more of Wisconsin.
Sako
I don't know if it's an age thing, or maybe something to do with the amount of animals harvested, who knows. I'm only in my mid 30's, but I feel the same way, frequently. I didn't kill a deer last year, and it was OK. I had does galore around me, almost every time I went out. 22 of them one evening, an evening I'll never forget. There were other times, I really wanted to put something in the freezer, but it wasn't to be.
I love watching the squirrels, knocking a field point, hoping one will hold still for just a second, in bow range.
I'd have tried to hook the little guy on sugar cubes, rock salt, or whatever it is that deer get addicted to so that he'd come back willing to sell out his 6x6 uncle to you for his next fix.:devil:
I have had my good days in the woods that were "unproductive" in terms of bringing home game, and I don't knock those times at all.
Right now, however, I am at the point I have spent the last 1.25 seasons hunting hard to close in on my first mule deer buck, figuring out territories, habits, trails, food & water locations etc. . . I have seen many does, one buck of indeterminate legal status, and last week out, had a fleeting glance from 200 yards of either a large legal buck, or a doe the size of a great dane. The cigar has been getting steadily closer to the match, but has yet to be lit.
I will undoubtedly mellow back into a greater appreciation for the natural beauty of Mr. Forky Deer, but at the moment. . .SOMETHING. . .NEEDS. . .TO. . .DIE!
My father and I discussed this topic at the end of a day of failed tactics this last trip out: I found myself quoting Sean Connery from The Rock - - the bit about winners, losers, and prom queens seemed appropriate.:bang:
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
It's the most wonderful time of the year....
Ain't it? I love it. My wife is from the Philippines, a place I love to go get lost in away from the hustle and bustle of the rat race. But I reserve that time in the summer and late winter and spring. I don't dare leave this place in the fall. Fishing is good, it's hunting season, American football is played at this time, and it's just the time of year I love to be just about anywhere in North America, the Beautiful!
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Perhaps that was a spiritual encounter of some type.
Sure is nice to get a little icing every once in awhile though :devil:
Luis
Maybe Friday, hey.
AKA: Former Founding Member
I would have liked seeing his uncle for sure since a six by six on a white tail would be TWELVE POINT!!! Man would I like to get a twelve point. I have shot a ten point but not a twelve point.
I know what you mean and I agree that it is hard to explain. Sometimes the best days are those when you dont squeeze the trigger.
Natures ebb and flow has always fascinated me and when I was younger I used to regard a successful days hunting as being one where I managed to put meat on the table.
The change didnt happen like a bolt of lightning but as a gradual subtle shifting of the 'goal posts'.
Not conflicted........I remember reading a book years ago where reference was made to a 'Spanish' (?) saying that was something like "He is a man who is easy in his skin".
The term seems appropriate.
Alec
Great post!
And it's not an age thing, as jbohio opined. I'm 28 and I enjoy the same aspects of hunting as you mentioned. Once, I was sitting at the base of a tree and I suppose I was camaflouged well enough that a fawn walked up from behind me, nibbling at grass here and there about two feet away from me. I couldn't resist and when it looked away I reached out and touched its leg with my index finger. When it looked back at me, I stayed perfectly still and it just walked away like it was more annoyed with me than affraid. Truely a unique experience.
Did any off you guys see this? Exactly the kind of thing we're talking about:
Luis
Isn't it? Stuff like that it was keeps us coming back despite failure against the primry target. I guess I should calrify that this video is NOT me or my buddies. It's just a random YouTube video I stumbled accross one day, but it's topical nonetheless. Great to see that even deer can have narcolepsy (or maybe sleep apnea).
Ever sit with your back to a tree, while it's still pitch black, only to discover when the sun comes up that an army of turkeys chose that one for their roost? When those guys wake up and take off they can move the whole tree. After the last guy left that morning it looked like I sat through a light snow, turkey dander or something. I have no idea, but I was covered in it.
BANNED FOR SPAMMING.
LOL :spittingcoffee::rotflmao: That was bird crap. The tree limbs get covered in excrement, and when they leave, their feet disturb the droppings. I've seen the same thing on the water where birds use trees to roost for the night. When they fly off as you paddle up nearby, it looks like it's raining on the water beneath the tree.
Luis
Yeesh.....I kinda wish I hadn't heard that, feeling a little less clean at the moment. I honestly never thunked of that. So, I was camped beneath a latrine. :roll2:
I'm the Rodney Dangerfield of the woods. :tooth:
Now that is cool. That would definitely make my day to pet the damn deer. Reminds me of when my son chartered my other son's boat and brought five of his buddies and me down at South Padre. It was the end of the day and I had caught ZILCH, NADA, NOTHING all day long. So far, the day was sucking big time.
Then on the way in we were hitting some rocks my son had coordinates on trying for some late afternoon Red Snapper. Everyone was catching small snapper, from 3 to 5 pounds when one guy hangs another small snapper or so it seemed. While realling it in, something really big hit the snapper and the race was on.
Finally he got control of whatever it was and was reeling it up and about 45 feet of the stearn of the boat, this Beautiful 8 foot Mako shark jumps out of the water about 9 feet in the air. Wow! What a sight! Then I realized this was the fish that Clint was realing in. After it hit the water again it took off in the opposite direction.
He fought it another few minutes and he turned it back toward the boat. When it got about 30 feet off the stearn it jumped again about 8-10 feet out of the water. It took off again and he finally got it turned once more after about 20 minutes and got it close to the boat. When it was about 15 feet off the stearn it came out of the water again. I thought it was going to land in the back of the boat. My youngest son and I ran for the cabin. But it came about 5 feet from the boat. This time the Mako made for Davey Jone's locker and broke Clint's line. Wow what a thrill.
We all agreed that made our day. Now things like that are what make a day in the elements truly worth while. All this time I never even thought to grab my digital camera, which was right inside the cabin door, :uhm: :rotflmao:
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
I can't touch the fawn or sleeping deer feats....yet!
Richard
Shoot Ned, you've prolly had moss grow on your boots while you were sitting against a tree.:tooth:
Anyway, I spotted an owl doing it's best impression of a hummingbird no more than 3 feet over my head. The best I can figure, he though that my extinguished, oval-shaped LED headlamp was a mouse moving around. After the second time he made such a pass, I shined him with the lamp and saw a momentary flash of a beautiful, white owl panic off into the early morning sky. Ultimately, I'm glad that I spooked him. I don't think it would've felt very nice had he decided to lay those talons into my scalp.