Wattsy said:
roundball said:
shootrj2003 said:
My best times are spent in the woods wether I get game or not.To have the freedom to walk in the woods with a rifle is enjoyment and proof that there is still some freedom in this country,One of the best times was in a stand dozing when two squirrels ran up and over me and were as surprised as me!Another time was bow hunting and I squatted by a tree to let things "simmer" down while I made myself part of a tree and watched as a squirrel worked his way over to me and he climbed the tree almost set on my shoulder and then looked me eye to eye from about3" away til he finally saw through the camo and took off!. No for awhile it was get meat for me but now I just love the hunt and the things that happen on it,I carry a camera most times now also.
Those kinds of examples are what makes coming home empty-handed no problem at all...similarly,
I've been turkey hunting and had a ruby throated hummingbird appear right in front of my face mask, literally almost touching me with her beak as she peered into the eye holes then it hit me that she might peck me in an eye so I shooed her away.
.
For the record... Id pay good money to watch that "eye-peck" on video! :rotf: :rotf: :rotf:
It was something...I'm sitting down fully camo'ed and well concealed in a 3 sided natural blind, turkey decoy 25yds out into the oak ridge, calling every now and then.
I begin to hear a hummingbird around me and sure enough see one several feet away exploring one bush or another, and eventually it stops, hovering 2-3 feet away in front of me.
Looks me over pretty good...then comes a foot close...then another...until I can faintly feel the air from its wing beats through the mesh of the face.
Then it angles over directly in front of first one eye, then the other...a beak length away and that's when it hit me it might dart in the rest of the way and peck me in the eye and I raisd a hand to scare it off.
The hunting trip gets better.
Not long after the hummingbird encounter, I hear something slowly stepping through the leaves over my left shoulder / left side maybe 10yds away...finally, a long beard is coming to the call.
The steps stop...I'm sitting frozen on place, not calling...then a few more steps and it stops...I'm straining my eyes trying to look left without moving my head...another few steps...and I see the front legs of a deer coming into my peripheral vision.
A few more steps and I see its a 4 pointer...and he's fixated on the turkey decoy...continues to take slow cautious steps past me and closer and closer to the decoy.
He finally stops and stretches his neck so far out to try and sniff the decoy that I thought he was going to lose his balance and tip over...LOL.
When his nose touched that solid plastic decoy...which probably had my scent on it...he took off like a rocket.
The kill ??
I didn't fire a shot that day yet it's one of the most memorable / enjoyable hunts I can remember.