The Hunting Times

If you were not up this morning for the Halloween sunrise then you missed a good one!  Pictures cannot do it justice, but I will try... And then we ended the day with a visit from some little ten-month old dressed up a Sully from the Pixar / Disney movie Monsters, Inc.  He had a tail and horns to boot.  Then his aunt Shelby got him monster booties to wear as a Halloween gift.  What a riot... Little Will as Sully Now wearing his "monster" feet

As per our usual custom, RePhil, Davey, and I headed to North Dakota to try and knock down some roosters.  We took RePhil's boy Aaron (A-A-Ron) again this year and added two freshmen:  son-in-law Alex Martin, and Zach Livengood.  Also tagging along this year was Riley, Krueger's bird dog. We arrived in Ellendale, ND on Wednesday, 26 OCT after a 14 hour drive in a pouring rain that put 2.5" on the land we were about to hunt.  I'm not sure I got more than 1 mile of "dry boot" walking the entire time we were there.  On top of that, we rented a party van so that the six of us plus the dog could travel together and save on gas.  What we did not count on was that the van would not allow us to travel the sloppy roads.  We had to park and walk a lot farther than we normally would have. We waked Riley through the CRP on day one with a 100' lead to ensure she was "ready" to hunt and not run off.  None of us wanted to explain to Krueger why his dog did...

Alex called and said we should try to hunt Friday night, so we did.  We loaded up and hit the woods at 4:30 pm.  It was 63 F with a 7 mph wind from the SE, which was odd - or at least not standard.  Alex walked the fence row and sat on Neal, where the corn was still standing.  I walked down the road and sat on Marshall's bottom, near the creek.  And once again, the mosquitoes were awful. At first, Alex didn't think they were bad, but when the sun went down the wind died and the mosquitoes drove him out a little early.  I ended up seeing 2 squirrels, a flock of geese, and zero deer. Still it was an awesome day to be out! My view for the evening.  I sent this to Cuz Shane -  wishing he were here to share it with me instead of the damn mosquitoes! I called it quits by 7:15 pm.  Last legal light was 7:37. I was dark enough in the woods anyways and I was treated to this sunset as I walked out. I turned around, now facing ...

The Nov 2016 issue of Deer & Deer Hunting has a great article on "Lunar Rut Predictions" (page 36, author Charles J. Alsheimer).  Go back to this blog from Nov 4, 2012 to read about the rut and its phases.  That is a great recap. This current article suggests that we will be seeing heavy rutting activity on the second full moon after the autumnal equinox.  It also suggests that there is no 100% accuracy - it is Mother Nature after all.  And there are things that can suppress the rut, like:  storms, high temperatures, deer ratios, and human pressure.  I like that.  This author has my respect. Actual predictions for 2016 Seeking phase - Nov 9 through Nov 14 Chasing phase - Nov 15 through Nov 17 Breeding phase I - Nov 18 through Nov 29 The Sweet Spot - Nov 14 through Nov 24 "All things being equal, the rut's sweet spot this year will be from the full moon on November 14 to Thanksgiving on the 24th.  This period should be special becau...

So RePhil is supposed to be in Michigan visiting family this weekend.  But Davey calls last night and says he is helping RePhil remove a huge log dam in his creek.  Wait, what? The rains have washed out trees and jammed them up in RePhil's creek.  This backs up the water into his yard, and if it's really raining, all the way into his pool.  Not good. Now it seems that BaaBaa RePhil was cutting wood alone Thursday night trying to get the jam out of the creek.  After falling with his gas saw and nearly taking his head off, he thought it would be SMARTER to use an ELECTRIC chainsaw in the water.  Huh?  Is that what they teach at Indiana State? After I was driven from the woods last night due to mosquitoes, I imagined that it would actually be a better day cutting wood in a creek.  I got up at 7:30, ran Kathy's dog, loaded up the gator and headed to get Davey. We pulled into RePhil's at 0900.  We took before photos. Davey is proud ...

So today, Saturday, Oct 1, 2016, marks the opening day of archery season for deer in Indiana.  I had not yet even fired the crossbow this year - so unlike me not to be ready.  And, it was a bit damp (raining) this morning.  I slept in. I got my gear ready, including clothes, and fired the crossbow.  It was still on.  I headed for the woods at 4 pm, with sunset hitting at 7:30 pm.  It was 63 F with 73% relative humidity.  I drove out to Vice's tree farm, parked, and put on my face paint.  I walked to the creek - remembering then that I forgot two things:  my suppressed .22 to pop squirrels and a semi-truck load of mosquito repellent.  Mama mia - those things would not quit. I stalked to the creek and saw more squirrels today than I did the entire squirrel season.  I found a likely spot and hoped that if I stood still, the mosquitoes would leave.  Boy was I wrong. I spent the entire time swatting and getting bit.  I ha...