Hey fellas. The big guy upstairs looked down and smiled upon me this morning. For the last month this ole boy has been hammering down trying to get enough meat in the freezer to hold us over until next year. That totally put a stop to my squirrel hunting. It’s been a rough year all the way around for me this year, even squirrel hunting. It about kilt me sitting up in a tree watching squirrels all around me, but I had a job to do. Now it looks like I can get back to my beloved squirrel hunting.
An interesting story about this morning that I’d like to share with you all. As some of you know from reading my book, I’m fanatical about being as quiet as possible in the woods. Nothing squeaks or rattles on my equipment. I cannot explain why other than it has flat paid off many times, and in different facets. This morning was one of such.
This was not a muzzleloader hunt. However, the basics are exactly the same, different deer tool. I almost took my .54 GPR this morning but due to the long bad luck streak that’s been with me, I decided not to take the chance at the last minute. Pretty sure the outcome would have been the same.
It rained all night here. Still raining at 0800 hrs. Then the rain stopped. No way was I going to go sit up in a tree stand in the rain, but considering it had stopped (for the most part) I decided I was going to give it a try. I was at least 3 hours behind my normal departure time, but what the heck.
Grabbed everything, got some breakfast and headed out. By the time I got to the woods it was about 0900. I didn’t want to take a chance on riding my four wheeler up through that thicket and scare any critters away, so I took off on foot up the hillside rather quickly. Made it to my tree, got in my climber and up I went to about 25 feet platform height as quietly as possible. By the time I finally got settled in my stand I looked at my watch. It was 10:07 hours. Sat there a couple of minutes evaluating everything, look down into the thicket, and a nice 8 point was working his way through the brush. It took about 20 seconds before I could get a shot. He hit the ground then slid down the very steep hill for about 15 yards and stopped. I couldn’t see very much of him but I knew he was dead. Looked at my watch and it was 10:11. I had only been in my stand for maybe 3 1/2 minutes before he came through. I would estimate the distance of 40 yards.
So, the moral of the story is, if the leaves were not wet from all the rain, that made it possible to ease in quietly, and, had I made any noise at all going up that tree, I most certainly would not have gotten that buck. He had to have been pretty darn close. It was also very quiet in there this morning.
Believe it or not, this was not my only time this has happened. It actually happened two other times while bow hunting. One time was, I think maybe a minute and a half and the other time was 3 minutes.
For the record, I don’t claim to be a ghost or some kind of spirit that magically appears and disappears with no sound. We all make noise in the woods while hunting, even squirrel hunting. However, call me weird if you like, but I do my very best to be as stealthy as possible most all the time, yes especially while squirrel hunting. Easier said than done sometimes but it does have its benefits, such as this morning.
Just thought I would reiterate that for you all. Now, with a little luck, I can get back to squirrel hunting in a couple of days.
I hope no one minds me posting these pics.
Glad the pressure is off ol buddy. Make sure to oil your innards after being out in the damp woods grocery shoppin
