Patience is the Key

When hunting, especially with a 10 year old, patience is the key. When the prey you are seeking is deer, squirrels have a tendency to run all over you. When the ten year old with you wants to "blast" the squirrels with a .243 rifle it is hilarious, but not too conducive to killing a buck.

The hunting goal for the year was for my son to kill a buck because the last two years all he has been able to kill is does. He wants a buck, but the squirrels are terrorizing him because he loves to shoot his gun and squirrel hunting is nearly a guarantee whereas deer hunting requires a little more time and patience. Either way it is great to spend time doing something we both love to do.

Squirrel Hunting Article

Here is a great article I found about squirrel hunting. Click here for the article.

Fox Squirrel

My son has developed a love for squirrel hunting. Actually, he has always enjoyed it, but I though deer hunting was his favorite. We typically squirrel hunt before deer season opens, but once deer season opens the squirrels are forgotten. I think the issue is the number of squirrels that run around while we are sitting in the tree stand while we are deer hunting.

He decided this weekend to squirrel hunt instead of deer hunt and while we didn't see as many squirrels (of course) we did see a fox squirrel that is now in the refrigerator. He made a good shot, but the squirrel temporarily escaped us, but we eventually found it on a limb of a nearby tree and were able to get it on the ground. He was very excited and the time was well spent. He is hunting with a 410 gauge shotgun and we are about ready to try a 20 gauge with a little more knock down power.

Enjoying Brushy Lake

Most of my outdoor activities are shared with my son. This mainly due to my daughter just now getting old enough to venture out with us and my wife's somewhat lack of enthusiasm for the great outdoors. This time, however, we all went to Brushy Lake which is in Bankhead National Forest located in North Alabama.

Brushy is a beautiful place that has a smooth asphalt trail leading back to a man made dam that has created the lake. Don't think about a hydro-electric dam, we are talking about a very small dam that still allows water to flow over after a big rain. It is a beautiful setting to have an outdoor excursion. Brushy has many cliffs and the trails around the bluffs offer a little more adventure than the asphalt trail.

My kids were looking for Indian artifacts and making up stories about what the crevices made by the boulders could have been used for. To the other people wanting to enjoy a quiet day in the woods, I apologize for the cackles and laughs of my kids that could have been heard for miles. Simple things like throwing acorns in a creek seem to make them very happy. I was standing there wondering why we spend so much money on toys when some water and some acorns cause more excitement that I have ever witnessed while they were playing with toys.

My son thanked me later for carrying us out there so we could bond with nature and with each other. Wisdom truly does come out of the mouth of babes, or at least young men.

First Deer Hunt of the Season

Squirrels were abundant, woodpeckers were present, and birds were everywhere. The scurrying squirrels made a lot of noise keeping tune with the percussion section of the woodpeckers. The morning was cold, but not breezy. This is a perfect set up for the first deer hunt of the season. Sitting in the treestand with your 10 year old son, who loves the outdoors, waiting patiently for a big buck to show itself makes for a great day.

A heavy frost covered the ground and we had to wait a while before we saw any deer. We were about ready to pack it in when they appeared. The deer were too far to shoot when they appeared but moved slowly in our direction. The deer were just feeding along the edge of the woods enjoying the cool weather. A couple of them stood on their hind legs to eat some acorns off a low hanging limb.

Ever so slowly, they made their way toward us, but before they were in good shooting range, they wandered off into the woods and out of site. My son was positive he could have made the shot, but I explained later that he stood a good chance of not making a clean shot and we might not find the deer. He added, "Yea, and it might suffer" which made me realize he understood. He still told everyone he met the remainder of the day he could have made the shot.

All in all, it was a great hunt. We didn't fill the freezer with any meat, but the memories will last a lifetime. This is what hunting is all about and why we pile on the clothes and head out before daylight anticipating a big buck stepping out of the woods.

Sharpening a Knife

My grandfather was an expert at sharpening a knife. I can do pretty good, but despite several "training sessions" I don't have the skill of my grandfather. Maybe by the time I am 80 years old I will be a little more proficient. Here is a great article that gives some good, practical advice. Click here for the article.