Hunting-the Good and the Bad

You would think that a person who wakes up at 4 o-clock everyday would relish the thought of sleeping in late on the weekends. Not this guy; during hunting season I wake up at 3. It seems like with all the preparation I do, I am so how never prepared. Im constantly thinking about everything; my scent, the time of the year, the time, the wind, how will I lure them in and it goes on and on. So when I eventually leave the house I am so exhausted from the mental mind #&^! that all I want to do when get to my stand is sleep. But who am I kidding, it's hunting season and the deer are starting there Pre-Rut. I know that as the sun rises movement will shift from the feeding grounds to the bedding grounds and Bucks young and old will begin sizing one another up for full rights to the breeding ground. It's a fantastic time of the year, until your in your tree stand at O-dark-thirty and rain clouds pull over and deliver a torrential downpour all day. All I can do is just lower my head and shake it from side to side. But luckily I came prepared. I stored my poncho in my hunting bag and as most hunters would retreat to back home, this hunter started a stalk. I know from past experience that hunting while it's raining in the dense woods can have it's advantages. First deer will have a very hard time hearing you as you walk through the woods and second, the rain keeps scent dispersal to a minimum. So as I stalked I found areas in my hunting area that I didn't know existed like a deer highway that had multiple scrapes along the path. I poured some doe urine in the fresh scrape and sat back aways. As I sat I noticed movement from the corner of my eye. It was a very young doe working her way up the path. As I shifted she caught site of me and turned around and ran the other way. But nevertheless, I turned an uneventful day into an eventful day and latter on this week I will again wait in ambush for some unwary deer to walk by. For now its deer 1- wet hunter 0.

Hello and a quick Goodbye! Mr CopperHead

Today began the opening of bow hunting season and I had a great time trekking through the woods and scouting for deer sign. I used today to familiarize myself with my hunting area. The deer have the advantage, it's going to be another tough game of chess this year, but I'll get one hopefully.

As I was heading back out of the woods I saw a game trail and I figured I would just follow along side of it to understand more of the area. Well as I walked parallel to the trail, I came to a dead stop, I didn't know why. But it was the same feeling when I came to a dead stop a few years back when I was in the presence of a box turtle and the other time when I almost stepped on a rattle snake two years ago. My senses were high for some reason and I didn't know why until I looked down and saw a Copperhead similar to the one in the photo perfectly camouflaged along the Forest floor. WOE!!! I moved back a little and just observed it. It was beautiful! I couldn't stop looking at it, I was in a trance just trying to make out the patterns along the leaves. I know that Copperheads are the least fatal of all the venomous snakes but I also know they are responsible for the most bites in the U.S. But I won't be a statistic today. Because today the woods belongs to the fire ants, hornets and Mr. Copperhead