Days Past

[Christophero]

Now that hunting season is pretty much over til this fall I thought I would post a picture or two of a past hunt with my youngest son. This was taken in January of 2011 on a very snowing morning. It was a beautiful day and the last he and I have spent in the woods together, since.


This is the make shift blind I've used on my Dad's farm for a number of years: a fallen osage tree that tucks us back quite well.


Maybe someday he will remember the fun we enjoyed hunting, shooting and making bows together. Right now all he has on his mind a a girl, like every young man his age. Until then these photos are a treat to see every so often.
The rifle is my T/C Renegade purchased in 87. It has been a very faithful gun over the years. No dead deer that day but many have fallen to it and a hand cast maxi hunter conical.
Feel free to share your favorite photos while we wait for the next hunt.

 

[Patocazador]

Here's a shot missing a flushing covey of quail. I'm going again in 2 days to see if my dog and I can scare some up. Maybe I'll be a better shot.



Here's one I didn't miss.

 

[Christophero]

Cool Picture, and beautiful bird dog to boot!

I'll add another photo on to the thread of a young buck I shot one evening with a minute to spare of legal light. His head was behind a tree and I thought I was aiming for a doe. It was all very well and good, though.

This was using the T/C Hawkins I inherited from a good friend after he passed away. It was an early kit gun he purchased off another gentleman whom he knew from Wyoming. The first owner had not completed the gun but only took it to the point where he could elk hunt with it. It was not very pretty, only functional. I had not shot it, even though owning it for over 10 years. Finally I utilized my wood working skills and finished the rifle. Thankfully, the sights accepted my standard load of 65gr 3f powder with the hand cast Maxi-hunter bullet. This buck was my very first hunt with this gun.

 

[FishDFly]

How cold was it, to us folks from the South we can not imagine hunting when it is that cold.

Put another log on the fire and another bowl of butter beans please.

 

[robert reed]

How cold was it, to us folks from the South we can not imagine hunting when it is that cold.

Put another log on the fire and another bowl of butter beans please.

Richard, for once, I agree with you. Just don't forget the grits. :grin:

 

[Ron LaClair]

I love hunting in the snow

 

[SgtSchutzen]

I love hunting in the snow

Me too :thumbsup: Living somewhere that don't get snow just wouldn't seem right to me. I can live without the subzero stuff we're getting now though.

 

[longcruise]

One opening day around Sep 8th in the colrado Rockies we started off at 15deg.

 

[longcruise]

Those are wonderful photos.

I like your quiver. Hard to see on my phone, is that bobcat covering it?

 

[Captjoel]

Wow NWTF Longhunter, those two photo's of you look like paintings by David Wright!!! Good stuff!

 

[Christophero]

I certainly agree with you, Mr. LaClair, I enjoy a good hunt in the snow very much, myself. Always love seeing you photos, whether here or on the archery forums.

For you southerners, that day was cold but not frigid. There is a big difference in the two. I spent about a year in Florida almost 30 moons back. Had to come back north because I missed the change of the seasons and the SNOW! It doesn't feel like hunting season until the air gets a nip in it.

 

[FishDFly]

"Richard, for once, I agree with you. Just don't forget the grits"

In Texas we hunt different than folks up north.

We have enclosed blinds, swivel chairs, carpet on the walls so when you fall asleep and kick the wall it does not make a noise and lastly a heater.
When you could get reception, a battery powered TV was in the blind so we could watch the Cowboys.

In a previous life I was forced to travel to Chicago and on a regular routine. Each morning I would go into the restaurant and order biscuits and gravy or scrambled eggs, sausage and grits, never did get either order.

 

[Patocazador]

As someone who was raised in Chicago, the only reason to live there is you don't have any other choice ..... except maybe Cleveland.

 

[FishDFly]

Going there I found a wife and moved her to East Texas, best thing about Chicago is the places to eat, nothing else.

How the folks survive when Lake Michigan is froze as far as a person can see, I do not know.

Hunting in the north is to much for me.

I a wimp.

 

[Spikebuck]

I love hunting in the snow

Absolutely! I especially like the first snows of the year when they happen in October. Sitting on deer stand with that first snow of the year coming down is exhilarating! And when it gets into single digits above to well below zero it's like a challenge...can I do it?

Twelve below zero air temp and -30 windchill



Ten below air temp and -20 windchill



Five above zero at 8 steps:

 

[FishDFly]

"Twelve below zero air temp and -30 windchill"

It is not that cold in my freezer, you are tougher than I.

 

[Arcturus]

You southern boys are a bit soft in regards to the cold. There are reasons to not like Chicago or Cleveland, but the weather isn't it. Winter is fun! Hunting deer in the heat when I have to worry about the meat spoiling? No thanks. And summer down there? You can have it. June through August are pleasant on the Great Lakes, but a scorching hell down south. To each his own I guess... :wink:

 

[smo]

You Guys want to talk about cold move to South Fl I'm talking South of Miami in the Homestead/Key Largo area when it's +32 down there it's COLD :shocked2:

 

[Patocazador]

To paraphrase Mark Twain: "The coldest winter I ever spent was a summer in San Francisco."

It all depends on your state of mind, adequate clothing, and weather conditions other than just the temperature.

 

[Spikebuck]

"Twelve below zero air temp and -30 windchill"

It is not that cold in my freezer, you are tougher than I.

That was a brutal 10 days of hunting. Seven of it was like that...low single to below zero air temps and strong N/NW winds. My eye lids would literally start to get "sticky" on my eyes like they were freezing up! Three hours on stand (I mostly sat on the ground, but some treestand) and I felt like I had been beaten with a baseball bat. But, you play the cards you are dealt. I was seeing lots of deer and in the end I got a good 7.5 yr old buck (cross-section tooth aged).

There's actually something about those kind of conditions I like. One is, I'm the only one dumb enough to be out in them, so have the woods to myself! :grin: But it's really a personal challenge of endurance.