All hunting done for now

[Wes/Tex]

Our deer season ended at sun down on the 19th and I never got one, so phoey! I was getting packed up before dawn to go out and clean up the rabbit & squirrel population with mixed thoughts about taking ole Yodels, since he's rather become a pet, of sorts. Irritating pet, but so entertaining I wasn't even sure I could shoot him.

Anyway, got a call from the land owner just before I left to let me know the property was actually sold yesterday and I couldn't hunt there any more! :cursing: Now what? Finally decided to stop by the local pecan dealer who has small sacks available outside their place 24/7 and left my dollar in the can and drove out to the lease anyway. Got the pliers out of the tool box and cracked a small bag full and left them under Yodel's favorite tree...seemed like the least I could do for a buddy. Even a buddy that makes you want to tear out your hair. He chipped and chirped at me but seemed to sense I was there for some ulterior reason!?! So much for being a mighty hunter! I'm going to miss that mob of daft critters!

 

[Jim Evans]

Its a shame about your hunting land but that goes on about every where.
IS Yodels a squirrel?

 

[smil]

Coyote?

 

[Carl Fowler III]

My sympathy for your loss...I know you guys pretty much have to pay to hunt down your way so losing a lease is a pretty big deal...hope ye find a much better lease this time with bigger deer and meaner squirrels...here in PA we pretty much have a lot of land to hunt, but constantly are losing land to development....I feel your loss as I too have lost some favorite places to hunt that now only exist in my mind!

 

[roundball]

Tough break Wes...if there is a silver lining:
1) As I recall you weren't seeing many deer there anyway;
2) You can start right away to try and find another place.

Might be a good idea to start that search right now and not wait a few months until everybody else starts looking again too...good luck!

 

[Loyalist Dave]

Did your lease terminate with the sale or did it transfer to the new owner, meaning your permission continues until the lease expires. Some leases do that. You might want to check. In some states the lease actually has to say "agreement terminates upon the sale of the property". That way a crafty land owner can't take your money on August 31st for a full hunting season, and then sell the land on September 1st, pocketing your money and you get nothing.

LD

 

[Wes/Tex]

Guess I should have explained things a bit more clearly. So here goes:
Yodels is a definitely a squirrel...big ole grey with a twisted left ear. He'd been a general pain in the rotunda since the first day when I let him sneak behind a big oak trunk and cleared the .62 against the tree...scared the squirrely juice out of him and ever since, when I go out he speeds around from tree to tree dong his Paul Revere impression and letting the world know I'm hiding in a tree...it's become a daft game.

There are not a lot of deer in the area, or so it seems, but one got the bejeebers scared out of him when I discovered how far a small branch can deflect a .610" ball!

The property belonged to a friend I've known since 1977. It'd been for sale some time, but I was hoping it would take a bit longer yet. Joe has always let me hunt free with the stipulation that I let him know when I'm going. The guys from Houston who actually leased the hunting rights are the type who go out the first weekend and if successful don't seem interested in coming back. Joe has a similar arrangement with them about notification, just for his own knowledge. I'll just have to look around and see what's available next year. Some times things open up surprisingly, some years not. this situation was ideal for me since I was by myself and not having to deal with the 7mm Mag. crowd.

With the fun I've had this season, I certainly can't complain a bit. I'd never seen a squirrel, in the wild, so brazen and unafraid of a human. The time he got above me in the oak and dropped acorns was so outrageous, I still can't get it out of my head! I snuck out this morning and put a whole sack of cracked pecans under his favorite tree. He chattered a bit at me since it was out of our usual pattern. I backed off about 25-30 yards and watched him make three trips down and back up with pecans! I hope the little rascal lives a long, happy life. It'll certainly be less exciting for him. Joe says the new owner intends to run cattle on the property, which means little or no hunting pressure! Oh well!

 

[jamesthomas]

I haven't even been this year! and it doesn't look like I'm going to. I would find out who the new owners are and see if you can get their permission to still hunt on the land.

 

[Patocazador]

I have a friend with a lease who allows me to take a doe off it almost every year. However, the only other hunting that I have access to is public management areas which require a draw for the most part.
This year has been exceptional for me on public land. I have killed 6 deer on public land and the doe on my friend's lease. This is certainly not typical but it can be done. Our muzzleload season usually is just 3 days long so only got one with the Hawken.

Public land may work for you too. Just be prepared to put up with the headaches.

 

[Spikebuck]

Wes...you did right by ole Yodels! He found the right hunter for sure. Since I've been following your hunting stories, I've almost come to know ole Yodels! Around here, the small pine/red squirrels are bold just like that.

I feel your pain on the land loss. The farm that adjoins my very small property was my great-grandfather's a long time ago, and while it's been out of the family a long time, I spent a huge portion of my hunting time on it. Some of my first "hunts" were just following my Dad around for squirrels way before I was old enough to have a firearm in my hands. When that land leased out a few years ago it about broke my heart. Then more and more of the land that was once available to pretty much everyone in the area got leased out a farm at a time. I finally went into a lease in 2012 just to have a private land place to hunt. The public land around here is almost unbearable.

Hope you find something good.

 

[Wes/Tex]

This is the kind of season I had and I don't doubt the deer were doing like the squirrel!
https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t1/1382970_10151948595549399_1321363018_n.png

har-de-har-har! :wink: :haha:

 

[roundball]

Our muzzleload season usually is just 3 days long so only got one with the Hawken.

Just curious, doesn't Florida allow the use of muzzleloaders during the regular gun season?

 

[nchawkeye]

It's funny how hunting land becomes a part of you after a few seasons and memories...

I'm afraid that in the near future if you don't own land or pay large leases, you won't be able to hunt...I'm sure thankful to have family land to enjoy...

 

[roundball]

It's funny how hunting land becomes a part of you after a few seasons and memories...I'm afraid that in the near future if you don't own land or pay large leases, you won't be able to hunt.

I thank my lucky stars all the time about the two small private woodlots I've had permission to hunt on, now starting my 21st year.
Neither one is more than just a few small acres, but each one is in the middle of hundreds of acres of woods and fields in the country...wildlife knows no boundaries so I get the benefit of their movement.
For the landowners, quarts of strawberries from a local farm in the spring, a couple restaurant gift certificates throughout the year, big Honey Baked Christmas hams, etc...very lucky to have these little places.

 

[Eric Krewson]

Deer hunting seems to be on a decline around here. Years ago when the local management area (Freedom Hills) held a gun hunt the cars would be bumper to bumper before daylight on the road headed that way.

The management area I am hunting this week has 36K acres and only 90 or so people have picked up a permit for the four day hunt, in years past it would be 4 or 5 hundred. You may see an occasional vehicle pulled off the road on the area but will never see another person in the woods while hunting there. The deer are plentiful but you do have to do your homework to find a good place to hunt.

I would hunt the place more but it is about 50 miles away and my diesel likes fuel really well.

 

[Patocazador]

Yes.

 

[satx78247]

There's very little "huntable" public land in TX. - IF my fried wants to continue to hunt deer, he's going to have to find a privately-owned place.
(IF we have a "vacancy" on our club's 2 huge leases, I'll call him.)

yours, satx

 

[Spikebuck]

This is the kind of season I had and I don't doubt the deer were doing like the squirrel!
https://scontent-b-iad.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ash4/t1/1382970_10151948595549399_1321363018_n.png

:rotf: Now that's funny, I don't care who you are. Good thing you had Yodels above your head instead of that deer or maybe the things dropping on your head wouldn't have been acorns!!! :grin:

 

[cynthialee]

Well that is so cool. Yodels is lucky he whooped you and you are a good sport.

 

[Wes/Tex]

Well that is so cool. Yodels is lucky he whooped you and you are a good sport.

Thanks, that's kind. He's sort of like the pet chihuahua I never had. Friend sent me this...it fits! https://scontent-a-dfw.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-frc3/q71/1506715_250794715088660_1975052796_n.jpg

And don't think that's not almost what I saw except Yodels was packing an acorn on a larger limb!