For God's Sake, Get Out And Hunt.

It started off with a Mexican breakfast; Huevos Rancheros, eggs over-easy, corn tortillas and lots of coffee. "Power up," texted a friend, who understands these things and it was good advice, because one funeral, one Mass and a lot of driving later, I was at a ranch in Teague, spotlighting.

And that was a whole lot of fun; driving about the country in search of pigs, coyotes, rabbits and whatever varmint crossed our path. Sure enough, we shot several rabbits and lit up lots of deer, including several bucks. It was ghostly to see their eyes shine out as they bounded off into cover and this was a good omen, because I wanted to shoot a buck in the morning.

5.30 am rolled around with eschatological suddenness and before you could say 30-06, we were heading down a dirt road to a game-camera-proven buck location. The wind was in our favor and we walked in to the cover of a copse, stealthy, senses heightened. Sure enough, there were large deer on a treeline at around 200 yards. Crosshairs on and... they were does, and there's a county ban on shooting them. So no shot.

Still, it was good to see them in the crisp sunrise of a Texan December morning. A bit like Spring, in Canada.

After checking a few other spots, with no luck, my friend shot a duck. I missed one, but consoled myself with a fresh rabbit, a lot of venison sausage (thank you) and the promise of many more hunts to come.

What a good way to spend a Thursday evening and Friday morning! Clean air, good country, the excitement of a hunt, and fun company. Alright, I didn't get my buck but I did get outside myself, which is no bad thing for anyone, and added a rabbit to the freezer. My wild-eyed dog, Blue Spotlight, had a blast too.

I'd say everything about that is right on.

LSP

Squirrelly

Keen-eyed readers of this so-called blog will know that my pal's "squirrel rig" is a Ruger 10/22 with a fixed power 4x40 scope. My squirrel rig isn't so fancy, just an old JC Higgins bolt action .22, with open sights. It was old when I got it 5 years ago at the Gold Nugget Pawn & Gun and I'd like an upgrade. Probably another bolt action, a Ruger American? And a 10/22, for semi-auto fun? And a lever, too, just because they're neat. Anyway.

Out in the Field

Monday morning seemed like as good a time as any to test the rigs against the squirrels, so we set up in some woods and waited.

Woods

I like listening to the sound of the woods after getting into position and being still, senses tuned. Before long the trees come alive with birds and, hopefully, squirrels. After about 20 minutes we starting calling, or at least my buddy did; I'm not sure if my strangled sounding chirps qualified. 

Creek

The effort didn't go completely unrewarded. Outlying Squirrel Force scouts made an appearance, 4 of them, but they were fast and we didn't get a shot. Still, location confirmed, and we moved on, deeper into the woods till we got to a mighty oak (not the tree in the picture, obv.) that leaned over a creek.

It was good to be there, in silence, knowing that that tree had been there well before the land and Ralph's Creek was even mapped. I kept an eye out for the arboreal adversary and Indian artifacts, but didn't see either. Vultures swooped down on the tops of the trees, just visible through the canopy.

High Flyers

We made our way back to my truck, via a V of migrating Cranes, and I shot my friend's "rig" off the back of my rig. Proper little blaster. I like the Ruger 10/22; just a lot of fun to shoot.

Message to market? Get out in the woods and hunt more.

LSP