This last week has brought us some rediculous weather for April 23rd-27th. Tuesday and Wednesday weren't too odd, but just not ideal for being out. But then it turned cold and the snows came. Before the snow came, Joe and I were able to go out to the Bog for a few wet walks. It was raining all morning, but we only had the one day free, so... well that's what we do. It was a good day to realize that I'm lacking in the area of rain gear.
Our first walk, we put on about a mile or two zig-zagging through on the ridge by the Big Stone. I found one kill, but no bones. More importantly, no head. After about an hour of walking, my buckskin gloves were soaking wet. Of course, trudging through thick briar chasing rabbits isn't the best way to stay dry on a day like this. It was a neat falling haze of rain until about 11 or noon. Then it stopped. We went up to the Flaten crossing and went west/northwest on an old trail that i'd never been on. It was kinda cool. A ways back there we found a dead bobcat, which struck me as odd. Possibly trapped outta season or something and just left. Anyway, we didn't really find anything breathtaking back there. The trail went right up to the border, so we headed back to the East paralleling it back to the road. By this point we were both soaked.
We hopped in the Exploder and headed back to the Hill for something to eat.
The second our clothes were dry enough to bare, we headed back out for one last walk.
On our third little trip, we hung around the northwest end of the firing line. This was a really beneficial walk as far as last fall's bucks sign goes. We found dozens of scrapes in a pretty confined area and a few intersections and travel routes that you can tell were getting used during or just after rifle season. The thing was, the deer wouldn't have ever needed to cross the firing line. So even though we didn't find any antlers or other cool items (well joe found Gatorade's prototype can), we gained a lot of knowledge of what the bucks were doing last fall. Or more significant, where they were running.
Our first walk, we put on about a mile or two zig-zagging through on the ridge by the Big Stone. I found one kill, but no bones. More importantly, no head. After about an hour of walking, my buckskin gloves were soaking wet. Of course, trudging through thick briar chasing rabbits isn't the best way to stay dry on a day like this. It was a neat falling haze of rain until about 11 or noon. Then it stopped. We went up to the Flaten crossing and went west/northwest on an old trail that i'd never been on. It was kinda cool. A ways back there we found a dead bobcat, which struck me as odd. Possibly trapped outta season or something and just left. Anyway, we didn't really find anything breathtaking back there. The trail went right up to the border, so we headed back to the East paralleling it back to the road. By this point we were both soaked.
We hopped in the Exploder and headed back to the Hill for something to eat.
The second our clothes were dry enough to bare, we headed back out for one last walk.
On our third little trip, we hung around the northwest end of the firing line. This was a really beneficial walk as far as last fall's bucks sign goes. We found dozens of scrapes in a pretty confined area and a few intersections and travel routes that you can tell were getting used during or just after rifle season. The thing was, the deer wouldn't have ever needed to cross the firing line. So even though we didn't find any antlers or other cool items (well joe found Gatorade's prototype can), we gained a lot of knowledge of what the bucks were doing last fall. Or more significant, where they were running.
No comments:
Post a Comment