It's October 20th and opening day of hunting season. When I arrived this morning it was still dark, the rain had stopped, it was in the 60's and there were 37 vehicles in the parking lot. As soon as it got light enough to aquire a target, everyone headed into the woods. Some jackass in front fired his shotgun into the air so he could say he took the first shot. Thanks for scarring the small game looser! I've become accustomed to entering the woods silently to hunt coyotes.
While there I had 3 deer sightings before 9am, with a total of 4 deer spotted. One young guy told me that he shot 2 rabbits very early on a path with a 17, so of course I had to check it out. That kid was the only person all day that told me that he got anything. I said 'Hello' to just about everyone I passed and asked them if they had any luck. NO ONE said they got anything! I didn't see a single bird flush even though there were a lot of dogs running around with their bells ringing. One guy said to me, "I wonder if they even stocked? So we spend all of our money on this stuff and we come home with nothing". We both laughed, but he was right. I rarely remember coming home empty handed. I usually came home with at least one pheasant, and a squirrel or rabbit. Today I didn't see a single rabbit, and I spotted my first squirrel at 9:30 and bagged it; 3 1/2 hours into the hunt. As I walked back, a car stopped and a guy with his wife asked me if I had any luck. We started talking and come to find out, this guy hunts coyote at my old spot! He even had a photo of a coyote that he took in his yard. Small world.
"All of a sudden I heard the sound of nails tearing down the back side of the tree that I was leaning against!"
At one spot, I saw 4 squirrels flying around in a clump of trees. I got a quick shot at one, but blew it. I decided to give my feet a break and sit down for 10 minutes or so with my back to a tree to see if they'd return. All of a sudden I heard the sound of nails tearing down the back side of the tree that I was leaning against! It must have been the same squirrel that I took a crack at a few minutes earlier. I was a telephone lineman in the Navy and the sound brought back memories of burning down icy telephone poles. I never saw the squirrel, but at least it was some kind of action. It was now 1:30 and I had been walking 6.5 hours and my feet were killing me. I didn't see anything else on the way back to the parking area, so I decided to call it a day. Quite disappointing. The new Cabela's opened Friday, so I'll check that out with my family tomorrow. I also put in for 3 vacation days next week (Mon. - Wed.) so I could hunt, but that's not looking to promising either. Monday it's supposed to be 80F (Oct 22!!) and the next 2 days they're predicting rain. I guess we'll have to wait and see. Hope you had a better opening day than me!
It's October 20th and opening day of hunting season. When I arrived this morning it was still dark, the rain had stopped, it was in the 60's and there were 37 vehicles in the parking lot. As soon as it got light enough to aquire a target, everyone headed into the woods. Some jackass in front fired his shotgun into the air so he could say he took the first shot. Thanks for scarring the small game looser! I've become accustomed to entering the woods silently to hunt coyotes.
While there I had 3 deer sightings before 9am, with a total of 4 deer spotted. One young guy told me that he shot 2 rabbits very early on a path with a 17, so of course I had to check it out. That kid was the only person all day that told me that he got anything. I said 'Hello' to just about everyone I passed and asked them if they had any luck. NO ONE said they got anything! I didn't see a single bird flush even though there were a lot of dogs running around with their bells ringing. One guy said to me, "I wonder if they even stocked? So we spend all of our money on this stuff and we come home with nothing". We both laughed, but he was right. I rarely remember coming home empty handed. I usually came home with at least one pheasant, and a squirrel or rabbit. Today I didn't see a single rabbit, and I spotted my first squirrel at 9:30 and bagged it; 3 1/2 hours into the hunt. As I walked back, a car stopped and a guy with his wife asked me if I had any luck. We started talking and come to find out, this guy hunts coyote at my old spot! He even had a photo of a coyote that he took in his yard. Small world.
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