Haggis
Appalachian Ridgerunner
Well today didn't go quite as planned. Woke up to freezing rain and sleet this morning, not the best weather for flintlocks, so bird hunting sounded good. But then the old man had to run his truck in to get it checked out so he and my step brother where late. When we got to our swamp property it had been cold enough last night so that it froze the ponds over and when there's no open water there's no geese. We were trying to figure out what to do when we spotted the tiniest pudddle of open water and that there were a load of mallards huddled there. As we were laying out our tactics, those darn ducks decide not to wait around for us and took off in the opposite direction that we would have like them to have flown; ie... towards us.
Since the only open water around was Oil Creek and it was at flood stage and in no condition to float, we thought we'd bust some grouse. I could not get a grouse to jump in any other direction but through the thickest part of the grapevines and hemlocks. I could see the blur of their wings but that was about that and I'm not a bush blaster. If I can't make a clean kill I'd rather hold my fire and try another day.
So on to deer hunting in the afternoon. My dad made a small drive thru the grapevine and hemlock woods on our property and pushed a scad of deer out to Tom and me. I saw a fine buck crest the hill and enter a hemlock thicket followed by several does and a few smaller bucks. Eventually a group of seven deer, 4 does and three bucks (2 - 6 points and a Y), passed within 25 yards of me, but I was holding out for that big 'un. That smart old deer dumped into a small ravine and circle his way right out of our sights, so no smokepoles were shot off today.
All in all it was a horrible day, spending a whole day hunting four different kinds of animals with no one else in the woods but us three. I really wish I was at work reading this post on a computer than to have wasted my time in the woods....Oh yeah we're goning to do it all again tomorrow and Saturday....:shakin:
Since the only open water around was Oil Creek and it was at flood stage and in no condition to float, we thought we'd bust some grouse. I could not get a grouse to jump in any other direction but through the thickest part of the grapevines and hemlocks. I could see the blur of their wings but that was about that and I'm not a bush blaster. If I can't make a clean kill I'd rather hold my fire and try another day.
So on to deer hunting in the afternoon. My dad made a small drive thru the grapevine and hemlock woods on our property and pushed a scad of deer out to Tom and me. I saw a fine buck crest the hill and enter a hemlock thicket followed by several does and a few smaller bucks. Eventually a group of seven deer, 4 does and three bucks (2 - 6 points and a Y), passed within 25 yards of me, but I was holding out for that big 'un. That smart old deer dumped into a small ravine and circle his way right out of our sights, so no smokepoles were shot off today.
All in all it was a horrible day, spending a whole day hunting four different kinds of animals with no one else in the woods but us three. I really wish I was at work reading this post on a computer than to have wasted my time in the woods....Oh yeah we're goning to do it all again tomorrow and Saturday....:shakin:
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