Hunting

[mlh]

I was wondering does anyone hunt. It’s the middle of November and the deer rut is in full swing and people here are out in the woods both men and women. I’ve never been a deer hunter but lots of people here are. When we moved in our home 48 years ago and on the family farm there were almost no deer. The first year we were in our home I walked down a logging road behind our home and found a deer track and ran back to get my wife so she could see it. I was excited and now I’m excited to get rid of some of them.
I’ve always been a groundhog hunter but they are all gone. The coyotes have did what we would never do, kill all the groundhogs.
Lynwood

[BB_TX]

3 good friends and myself all graduated from high school together. And have been deer hunting the same section of land in the TX hill country for 56 consecutive years. We don’t see each other a lot during the year, so it is like a mini reunion each year. So we spend our time reliving old times and ragging on each other about past mistakes and screwups. If we weren’t such good friends we probably would have beaten the h€ll out of each other years ago.

As we approach 80 we all move a lot slower now. And do our hunting with cameras. But we still look forward to our time together as well as the time spent in the woods alone just watching the deer, axis, turkey, raccoons, etc., even the antics of squirrels. And just enjoying life to its fullest while we still can.

[MandK]

Yep, Gun season opens in my neck of the woods Saturday. I wait until Monday though. I hunt public land so I leave the weekends to the working guys now. Hunting now is more of a walk in the woods to get a little exercise anyway but I get lucky every now and then. We leave to go south right after Thanksgiving so I don’t hunt the bulk of the season anymore. I lost my hunting buddy a few years ago but I hope to be around long enough to hunt with my grandson. Last year was his first hunting season, so I’ve got a while to wait.

[mlh]

Bill that is wonderful. Here is the story of two friends I took to Wyoming antelope hunting several years back. They wanted to go hunting and I had friends that would find private land so off we went for a nice trip. Sadly both died 3 weeks ago on the same day. All of my groundhog hunting buddies have passed. Even if there were any groundhogs left it would be a sad day in the field.
Enjoy your buddies while you can and congratulations to you and your old friends.
Lynwood

[AZ Traveler]

Have traveled from AZ for 2 hunt trips this fall. Traveled to MT for Sharptails and Huns in late Sep. Will arrive home tomorrow from a SD pheasant hunt with a cooler full of birds tomorrow.

Millie and Ranger were stars on both hunts. Haven't chased big game for a few years.

[RMcNeal]

I hunt in Tucker County, WV every year. It's in the northern tip of the state in the Monongahela National Forest near Canaan Valley. We are in southern WV right now and leaving Saturday. Usually a week of bow hunting and a week of rifle. Our rifle season starts the Monday before Thanksgiving. Getting older now and diabetes and heart failure makes it harder than it used to be, but I'm still at it.
My brother's oldest son had his first bow kill yesterday on the farm. We'll be canning deer meat this week before we leave on Saturday. I can't imagine not hunting in November. I haven't been home for Thanksgiving since 32 years ago when my wife and I were married.
I had open heart surgery 6 years ago on July 11th, and still managed to go hunting that November. Wouldn't miss it.

[mlh]

Groundhog hunting was my favorite. When I started over 50 years ago I had a 222 Remington and a 22-250. A long shot then was 300 yards. Now 300 yards is easy. Put the X on him and touch the 2 ounce trigger. Several years ago we shot 6 from 750 to 825 yards one afternoon. My longest shot is 1005 yards. I use a 17 PPC with 30 grain bullets and a 6mm X 47 with 106 grain bullets. My favorite is a 20 caliber X 47 using 55 grain bullets.
Back when we put everything in the truck of a car now you need a pickup. There are binoculars a spotting scope with an adapter for a cell phone to video so you know where the bullet went and a fully adjustable shooting bench, chairs.
A 1000 yard shot isn’t that spectacular any more. Back 50 years ago you guessed at the range. Now we have range finders and computer based ballistic charts so it comes down to a good rifle and high powered scope and a little luck. A friend in Wyoming shot a prairie dog at 2157 yards so a 1000 yards is no big deal anymore.
Lynwood