Had to take advantage of a nice day

72 degrees the 8th of April. After a winter that was, for lack of a better word, Stubborn, the nice weather was welcome. Rachel even had some time this afternoon and she wished to join me! I like when Rachel gets out with me as I know she is swamped most days, and I enjoy her company. We joined a friend, Jon Jones, at a wildlife are with three barrow pits to try our luck at a few crappie or bass, or anything that would bite for that matter. It was great to get there and see all the ducks. Bluebills, mallards, a few butterballs, shovelers, canadas, common mergansers, and a few unidentified. We walked the shoreline as the structure of this place was rather bleak. We tried small, bright, etc and could not get a fish to hit. I finally tried something with a little flash as something mimic the injured shad we kept seeing. Four casts and finally.

First open water fish of the 2013 season!

When I fish, all I want is one. I don't care what size or species, just one. I could have walked away at this point. A few more casts and another. Rachel came over and joined me in my 'honey hole' and I lost a nicer bass just before I could grab it. I was on a hot streak. Jones was finally fed up and he joined us as well. As he was changing his gear I hit a big one. One minute I am cranking, the next, my line is taking a slow, steady, pull across the bank. This was no slouch of a fish. I fought this fish for at least 15 minutes. I dropped my bag off with Rachel, and made my way back and forth on the bank following where ever it went. Back and forth....It never surfaced. We ruled out bass, and there was not wicked run, just slow and steady, so pike was out. I figured catfish or carp. When I finally caught a glimpse of him, Jones and I freaked. Within a minute Jones grabbed my fish.

I was hoping for a legal legit catch, but I had snagged his dorsal fin with one of the treble hooks. I was still stoked to have pig of catfish in hand!

 Rachel and I washing him off for pics

Jones wanted a fat cat belly pic.

 

We tried for another hour or so with no more fish but it was a great afternoon nevertheless. 

On our walk out we discover a small flock of Ross's geese came in on us out of no where. So now we have snow geese amongst the rest of the increasing number of waterfowl on the pit. Great way to spend a few hours indeed. 

Stay Tuned

Shed Hunting Fun

Had a few more opportunities to get out and walk again. Two Saturday's ago Rachel joined me on a hike through the big timber that we hunt near Boone. We took our time and enjoyed the first taste of real spring weather. We found one small very chewed buck,

We walked for two hours without any bone but it was wonderful to spend some time out in my sanctuary with the wife.

This last weekend I got permission to walk the property I found Coleman's Legacy last year. I took Michael with me as usual and it was kind of hit or miss out there. With a gully-washing rain, and winter melt, the creek flooded something fierce, so we had to look on the high ground for anything not washed away. We crossed the creek at the bridge and were no more than ten minutes in and I found a dead head we missed last year.

It was great to not be skunked. We had just started walking the 'good' side so there was much more ahead of us. Another ten minutes, at the highest point on the property, and I had real bone.

There was a beaten path trail down the creek bank here but it lead into the abyss that was flooded/strafed bottomland. We continued to grid the area and surrounding for anything else but it proved futile. We forged on ahead and walked the vast ragweed canes down below. Luckily the flood damage was minimal down there. Michael finally hit pay dirt.

The pictures do not do this antler justice. It has a sweeping beam and great mass. All but the brow tines were broken off and a little chewed. It was a great find for either of us. Michael continued to search for the match and I split off to search the surrounding area. Again, another dead head we missed. This one was really old and rather beat up.

We found a couple of dead does as well but no more bone. Saw a fair amount of pheasants throughout the day as well. After walking this property we headed over to Coleman's for a quick look around. It was flooded pretty bad last time we were there and this time it was navigable. No bone there but the giant slough that formed off of the creek on the Eildert's side of the fence was covered in ducks. There were more bluebills than mallards out there. It's a big open expanse, so it was a welcome site to divers. There were canadas, wood ducks, teal, mallards, pintails, bluebills, and a big flock in the middle of unidentifiables. This alone made the trip worth it. They spooked when we got a little too close and it was a swirling mess of ducks overhead for the next twenty minutes. Absolutely wonder-struck.
The afternoon was spent working in the hogbarn with Nick, Lisa, Michael, Ma and Pa. We got a lot done and even had some time to play with some gun a little. I gave Michael my Billy Bass under the pretense that he must turn it into shards. We shot some blackbirds for a little bit and then Nick got the idea that he needed to shoot a snowman with a slug. Whatever. He built his snowman shucked a shell in and then a sparrow landed on brush pile behind the barn. He couldn't not try...Wouldn't you have it the crazy kid obliterated the sparrow with saboted slug from a smooth bore shotgun. Then he shot his snowman and was done. Michael then took one if his turkey loads and took care of Billy Bass.

 

As you can see in the picture, Michael saw a blackbird.....

Stay tuned