Got what I wanted for Christmas

I was back out to the same field I hunted Christmas Eve, since I left without firing a shot. I had to wait all day but I was not disappointed, the ducks started first then the geese came out to play.

 (That was just a quick video, when I get a new powerdirector I will be able to make some better movies.)
Now if you saw in the video I was able to get 2 mallards, one dropped and the other one flew to the other side of the field and I had to chase him down. I finally got the drake and went to look for the hen. After one flock of ducks landing in the decoys and 2 flocks of geese wanting to drop in I finally found the hen. When I found her she was not where I thought she had landed she was actually 20 yards closer. So I didn't get anymore shooting but I did get both the birds I put down.

Today I went to a water spot I have access to, the water around here has mostly turned hard. I sat out in the first blizzard of the year until 1pm before I decided to pack it up and head out. I missed on some Goldeneye's early and when a pair of mallards came in I missed one of them, but the other came home with me.

I gotta clean the misses out of my gun so I can stop blasting holes in the sky.

One more day and my duck season will end in Indiana......might get a week in Arkansas??? hmmmm.......

So sad

That's what my mom would always say after whatever I had planned didn't turn out the way I wanted it too. She never really sounded sorry though, like she just wanted me to think she felt sorry for me, Huh......
I went out Duck and Goose hunting today, since alot of the water has locked up, I hit a field I have had luck at.
I gotta tell you that I did get to the field a little late, and my best opportunity at a goose was foiled by not being ready in time. I was still setting up when I had 7 or so geese pass right over me, and all I could do is watch them.
Before I go any further let me tell you what the weather forecast was. I was supposed to have a decent day until around noon, then there was going to be snow then rain after 4 pm. Let me tell ya, they still haven't perfected forecasting the weather.
Around 1pm it started raining, which wouldn't be a bad thing except I forgot my raingear. I waited for a while and in that time it started freezing rain. By this time all of my decoys had a nice layer of ice on them, so I decided to start packing up. I had 3/4's of my decoys put in bags and all of them were lined around me ready to be put away when all of a sudden the storm lifted and it got lighter. That's when it happened, within minutes there were 25-50 ducks all around me, and once again all I could do was watch. You see one of the first things I had done was put my gun away to protect it from the rain.
It's said hindsight is always 20/20.
As I continued packing up all I could do was chuckle and say to myself,"so sad".

Gotta a goose yesterday

Went out goose hunting yesterday and had 2 come in and only one leave. I had some movement but am really excited for this upcoming week. Were having a storm come through tonite that is supposed to drop some snow. This should push some ducks down, which opens up for Christmas week then closes again. The good news is I will be able to hunt 4 days because of the holiday. I took today off from hunting because of the wind and rain. It would have been miserable out there today. I'll make up for it in a couple days, I can hardly wait.

Just in case I don't get anything written on Christmas.... MERRY CHRISTMAS...

Won't starve this year

Well I went out deer hunting this morning and just like last week the deer were hanging out by the wood line. I saw six deer by the wood line at about 250-300 yards from my stand. I was keeping an eye on them when I noticed a deer coming from my left across the winter wheat field. That doe made it halfway across and turned around when I looked back at the others they were making their way to me.
It took them a while but they finally made it to my field and started to cross. The bad thing was they were running with no intention of slowing down. I picked one out, led her a little and squeezed the trigger. I heard the muzzleloader bark and the thump of the bullet finding it's home. When the smoke cleared I watched as all the deer were still running. I quickly started to reload just in case I got another shot. After I was reloaded I looked up and saw my deer down and the rest of the deer were just hanging out by her. So I thought if I could get down and sneak to within a hundred yards or so I could get another shot. I stealthily put my plan into effect however just as I started to get close enough to get another shot the doe's picked my out and busted.
It was 8:30 am by this time, so I started to the car to lighten my clothes and get to work. I walked back out and started to field dress the deer when I heard the best sound a successful deer hunter can hear, the sound of a side by side driving in the field to you. My buddy Tom had heard me shoot, so he threw a jacket on and hopped on his Kabota and drug my deer in for me. Sure is good having friends with ATV's.

she weighed out at 131 pounds

From this angle the shot looks a little far back, but she was quartering away and on the run. The exit hole was actually right above her shoulder.

Ducks and Geese beware....... I'm back

Muzzleloader is here

Since muzzleloader has finally arrived my days have once again turned into 2 a days, with goose hunting in the morning and deer in the afternoon. Tuesdays report was, no geese, no deer I didn't even see a deer. Wednesday was more of the same except I saw deer. Thursday I didn't go goose hunting but did go deer hunting .... no deer. I really hope I can get a deer soon I only have one more week left.

The last week

I haven't ever let a cold stop me from hunting until this one. I started coming down with something last Thurs. and by today it has moved into my head putting alot of pressure on my ear. Yes I said,"my ear" this whole cold sinus thing is only affecting the right side of my head. Anyway been very tired and very stuffy the last couple days. I am however going out in the morning, it is the last day of duck season for me for two weeks, and there is no way I'm going to miss it. So hopefully I'll have some pics to post.... at the very least I should be able to get a good nap.

Tweaked my back

Last Wed. I tweaked my back, I noticed it as I was packin' my boat up from duck hunting. So Thursday I just stayed home and cooked my turkey and iced my back. Happy Thanksgiving (even though it's a little late) the meal turned out really good, probably the best turkey I have ever cooked. Friday I didn't have to work so it was Ibuprofen and ice all day. Then the work week started, I even took it as easy as I could there.
Which leads me to this morning. I wanted a hunt that was as easy as possible so I went pheasant hunting. I figured I could just take it easy and walk in the open as much as possible. So I started at daybreak, at a spot that I have always done well at, and started walking. Only a half hour in I flushed a hen, since this is a clean up, put and take hunt I was able to take hens. I gave her a warning shot but I missed. Oh well I started feeling better about my spot since I hadn't heard a cackle all morning.
Well it wasn't too long after that and I heard some rustling in the leaves, when I was able to pinpoint it-quarry found. Three shots later I had my two pheasants and was walking out with limit after only 1 hour.

Two really nice birds, my quickest limit on pheasants ever.

My end of bow season

The end of my bow season was deer filled but uneventful. I saw 11 deer and actually had a shot at some very alert doe's. This is a year of firsts for me: first I had a deflection from a branch and then I had a deer duck my shot today. Neither of these firsts are good things, however I'm not out of the venison business yet. I still have muzzleloader season to hunt.
I went duck hunting Tues and Wed morning, Tues. I went 2 for 2. Wed. I would have had the same outcome if I would've just thrown the loaded shells at the ducks. I couldn't hit the broadside of a barn if I was inside.
Anyway here's the pic of Tues.

Like the new calls?

This goose hung out with my decoys for an hour and a half. He just kept swimming by the goose decoys then over to the duck decoys. He must have known goose season was closed.

Oh well no more double duty hunting days 'til next year, duck in the morning and deer in the afternoon.
Now it's all waterfowl.... and some coon and pheasant is open and.......

Whirlwind of hunting

Tues. Morning I went out to a Lake pretty close to the house. Before I even saw my first duck this little guy came walking to me.

 I only had 1 decent shot and I made the best of it, making like a sniper with a shotgun. One shot one kill, I knew this drake was a little tall but I had to try.

I was shooting my newly won shells and let me tell ya, Blindside is some good stuff. This guy was up in the stratosphere usually I don't skybust but I thought there was a good chance of getting him.

Wednesday I got an invite to go to Weed's poo pond, this is a shoot I don't like miss out on. We didn't have the 900 birds that have been there come in, but we had a couple hundred come in and give us a couple limits.

How 'bout that new gun Weed's sporting. He started having problems with the old humpback that he usually totes so he picked up a Stoeger. Of course I'm still shooting the old workhorse X2 gotta love that gun.

Now I didn't say so, but I went out for deer Tues.evening. I didn't see a deer but there were a couple hundred geese and ducks dropping in my field. Since goose goes out this week and next I knew I had to shoot this. So I gave a shout out to a new buddy named Kevin. He told me he would go so we set up a time and place to meet. We got all the gear hauled out into the field, got everything set up and waited for the fun to start. We had 1 flock of  Mallards work in they made 3-4 passes and left out. I never called the shot cause I was waiting to see the wings cup and feet drop. Needless to say I felt pretty bad later, when I found out Kevin wasn't staying all day and I blew the only chance he had at some shooting.
Anyway Kevin left at around 11, so I moved the dekes around and settled in for a well deserved nap. I woke up to a crash and a screech. A Redtail hawk tried to steal one of my duck decoys. So now I'm awake and waiting for the evening flight. I got a couple misses out of the gun around 3:30 on a pair of  Mallards. Around 4:30 the sky started filling up with ducks and geese, my guests had arrived. The first flock of ducks I took one drake, the second flock that came in I carved out 3 to finish my limit on ducks. Then the geese started coming in, the first flock of geese I put 2 on the ground. I didn't have to wait too long for my last goose. I picked out the lead goose squeezed the trigger and watched him drop. When I got up to him and turned him over.............SURPRISE............. he's got jewelery on.

Sporting some new calls this year Buck Gardners spitfire duck call and Molt Gear's EX3 goose call

I'm not saying the new calls were the reason I got limit and a band but they didn't hurt.
In the infamous words of Barnie Calef ,"Stick and Stay make 'er pay". My lovely wife let me stay out all day (it was her night to go out) for our anniversary on the 7th, I wouldn't have this band if she made me come home.
Thankz Sarah.

Just got the band info:
INFORMATION FROM OUR FILES:
Species: CANADA GOOSE
Date banded: 07/22/2009
Banding Location: 15 E CAPE LOOKOUT, ONTARIO, CANADA
Age: HATCHED IN 2008 OR EARLIER
Sex: MALE

last week and this week

Went three for three last week on mallards the first one was on the previous post, here's the others.

My first field hunt this year was at Willards' property. I had a good hunt, however I didn't shoot good. The first goose came in low and quiet. I shot 3 times he was still flying, I called him back, shot at him 3 more times and he still flew away. I was able to get 2 geese out of one flock and crushed a susie out of another. The whole day all I could think of was what Willard had said to me last year,"why were you shooting so much."

No deer yet still tryin'.

Just a quick posting

I went out for MY opening of waterfowl season, just like last year it was almost like a ghost town. This guy didn't get the memo thank goodness.

Hopefully tomorrow will be better.

Still hunting

I've been out 6 times this year for deer and have seen deer all but one time. I would like to say that they were all out of range but I can't. This morning I had a buck follow me to my stand. He hung out at 10 feet for at least 10 minutes. Why didn't I shoot? Well I had just got to my stand and shooting time wasn't for another 15 minutes, so I didn't even have an arrow nocked. So, sadly all I could do was watch him. He eventually meandered across the field, none the wiser of how close to supper he was.
Anyway here's a couple videos of some deer just out of range.
p.s.- the first buck went in exactly where these two did.

 I only have 3 more days before deer season starts to infringe on waterfowl season, wish me luck.
apparently I really need it.

Deer season has begun

Ok, so I have to admit that I haven't been keeping ya'll up to date on what's been going on, so here's the lowdown.
I went dove hunting a couple times in the beginning of Sept. also did some goose hunting in the first two weeks. The dove hunting was better than last year, however the goose hunting was a little slow.

Here's the pics

second day out, limit by myself

finally got lucky, not limit

Weed and I after the first yearly Poo Pond hunt

 

 

The third week of Sept. I mowed  lawns even though Sears didn't want me to.
Long story short, I sent my lawnmower in for service and it took them 3 weeks to get it right. The last week in Sept. I went fishing for the last time this year and again left the water frustrated and confused.
So now were back to where we started, deer season has begun. My opener was on Tues. afternoon I could've closed the deal on a decent doe if the wind was a different direction. Wed. morning I didn't see anything but geese in my field, last nite I saw a doe and a buck, both out of range. This morning I saw 5 bucks and 2 doe's none of which did I have a shot at. Should've been in my other stand, two of the bucks would've ran right underneath it.
My deer season is officially on hold until next week. I only have 6 more days to get a deer before the waterfowl opener so wish me luck.

Oh yeah, I almost forgot, I have alot of footage from the start of season that I am going to wait to put together until I have a better movie program. Right now I record in quicktime and avi and in order to use my movie maker I have to change all the quicktime files to avi. This takes alot of time to do so I am on the hunt for a new movie program that will support both files thus shortening my editing process. So that being said the video is on hold for right now.

First missed goose this year

I went out this morning to try to get a couple geese. I had some problems, I was late (but it was foggy), the geese weren't around, and I dropped my gun in the water.
I don't even know what happened other than a miss communication between my hands and my brain. When I picked it up I drained the water out of it and hoped it would fire. Well it did fire however if you notice in the video I wanted to squeeze off a third round but couldn't cause the gun jammed.

 So right now I'm drying out my gun to oil it back up and hopefully go out again tomorrow. By the way all the sqawkin' in the video is 2 egrets, one blue heron and I even had a couple ducks take off.

Where's Losthunter1?

It has been quite a while since I have posted anything here. The reason is that I haven't had anything to report.  Well to be 100% honest I have to say that I have had 2 fishing trips that I haven't posted here because they were both poor fishing days. Both trips were on small lakes and the fish just weren't cooperating.
Even though I have no excuses I do have reasons for my hiatus. Work .... yes work, since April we have been on mandatory overtime, picking up one day every other week. Yeah I know that doesn't sound like much, but it has effectively shut down my fishing, since I don't fish on my extra day weeks. Now the other dilemma is my mother in law had 2 trees that needed to come down. That job alone took me 3 weeks to complete. One was a huge ash tree that was dying in the front yard and the other was a pine tree in the back yard. The huge job coupled with the warm weather limited the work days to about 2 or 2:30.

Most of the work was done on the first couple days, then the clean up and removal took at least a couple days and 3 trips to the compost site. At one point I was strapped into the top part of the tree and some guy stopped and asked my buddy Jeff if he needed any help. Jeff told him no and pointed to me and said," he watches AX Men." The guy laughed and drove away. 

My 18" Poulan did all the work.

The pine tree I took down by myself in one day. I had to cut it into 3 sections to make sure I wouldn't take the fence down or any of the phone lines.








Now on the bright side since it has snuck into Sept. I did get drawn for the dove hunt in Huntington this year. I asked Brian if he wanted to go, he said he would as long as it wasn't going to rain the whole time, like they were predicting.
Well it didn't and we went and wow were the birds flying. I got a second day draw and got to choose 17th which with all the no shows turned out to be closer to 6th or 7th. I gotta tell ya the doves were everywhere this year, the numbers we saw would've been great for a first day hunt let alone the second day. So we definitely had our chances to get limit. The only thing stopping us was our ability to shoot better. As it turns out we shot right at the average (1 bird for 4 shots). I ended up with 12 and Brian did one better with the bakers doz. I did get some ok video however I haven't put it together yet so for now just a pic.

Lesson # 38: Always check the pic to make sure you get all the players.

Happy 4th in the civilized world

Today is the 4th and I am not only thankful to live in the USA but also thankful that our power was restored today at 2pm. We had a storm go through last Fri that cut power to much of Fort Wayne. We unfortunately were one of the many that lost power. Yes we went 5 days without power.
When we heard the power may be out "for a couple days" we immediately went out and got a generator to run our freezers and fridge. I also had to get another boat cover as my last one lost it's battle with the elements after the storm. While I was at work on Sat. Sarah moved everything from the fridge, to coolers and got ready to switch everything from the little freezer to the big one. Speaking of work we didn't loose power where I work but Sarah has found out the store won't get power back until after Saturday.
 Once we got the generator started and running it made the 90 plus degree days a little more bearable. No we didn't have A/C but we did get to use a fan and listen to the radio a little bit. Sarah even hooked up a light so she could read,(I thought that was excessive) it was kinda like camping at home. During the outage we grilled out every nite, cause we have an electric stove. We generally stayed outside until it was time to shower and go to bed.
If we went out we couldn't leave for too long cause the geni had to be watched and filled, so we didn't stray too far from home. I did however get all the oil changed in the vehicles.
 Well that's how our 4th is going and since my mandatory extra day is tomorrow we should be getting to bed early tonight.

Happy 4th everyone

Finally something to write about

The last couple weeks I have fished some of the smaller lakes with mediocre results. With the mandatory days every other week at work I find my days off shortened.
Yesterday however was a different story, I was finally able to make it back up to the big lake after weeks of a north blow.
With the winds out of the SW I motored out to 70 fow (5 mi) and set my lines. After trolling for 30 mins I had my first rod fire, I grabbed it and quickly realized that this was a nice king. He made 3 line scorching runs, during the fight I had to try and clear my dipsy line because this fish was all over the back of the boat. Not sure how he came unbuttoned but he did, that might have actually been a good thing cause he almost had my spooled twice. Better to lose the fish than all my line and my new spoon.
Next up was a small king on a bloody nose slider, put him in the box. Then my deep rigger fired again, another scorcher he made 4 runs and again I almost got spooled but this guy made it into the box. #3 was another small king on a blue thunder set on a rigger 35 feet down. My last king also fired from the deep rigger same story as the other 2, gear burning runs and worried about getting spooled (I will be re spooling with more line). After landing the second king I decided to pack 'er in and started the 75 min run back in. Yes it took an hour and 15 min to get in, it only took 20 min to get out. The waves coming in from the SW where around 2-4 with some rogues thrown in for good measure. Needless to say I finally made it in, took the hero pics and rolled home. When I got home we fired up the grill and Sarah cooked 1 fillet while I put my gear away.

the ruler is 2' long

 By the way I got home and weighed the bigger kings and they were just over 9 pounds, if my scale is right, whollotta fight for a "small" fish.

Fished 2 little lakes

Yesterday I wore out the bass on Tippy. It was very windy so I let the breeze push me down the shoreline. I figured out pretty quick that there would be only one lure to use. I caught almost all my fish on a white terminator spinnerbait. Once I figured out the pattern, catching bass was a breeze. The fish I caught were on  the wind blown side and I did the best when I drifted over the points casting shallow with a stop and go retrieve. The bigger fish were in the 10 fow to 15 fow range, once I put all this together it was a 30 plus bass day. Once again I didn't get any pics cause I forgot my camera bag at home. I know I know I gotta start getting pics, I'll try harder next week.

Last week I spent the day at Hamilton Lake fishing for Pike. The day was pretty slow but I did catch something like 3 pike and 2 bass. I told you it was slow, I caught my fish on a deep diving white x-rap. Not a whole lot else to say, it was a slow bite.

 

Whether it was 5 fish or 30, fishin' all day still beats workin'!!

Double Shot

I finally got a little time to myself, so I thought I should catch you up on what I've been doing.
Last week I finally got a small break in the weather so I went up to the big lake. When I first started out I noticed that once again the forecast was wrong. The rollers were coming in at 1-3 instead of the one foot or less that was forecasted. I thought that when the wind switched that it might lay down some. So I did the best I could and set up a trolling pattern that would keep me in the ditch as much as possible.
I started at 7am and stayed til 6pm in the time in between I caught 2 coho and 2 kings. One of the kings weighed in at 16.4 pounds this is not only the biggest king I have caught but it was also one of the best fighters.
When I started fighting this fish it made 3 line stretching runs and actually brought me once around my boat. Yep, he ran around my left rigger and over my dipsy line around the bow and finally I landed him in the usual corner. He really gave me a run for my money.

This is what the parking lot looks like when I get done fishin'

 This week I went to Max and had a blast. The smallies and largemouth were killing it all day. I started the day trolling for walleye but I was only able to catch a couple rock bass and quite a few decent largemouth. So since I wasn't catching walleye I pulled in the trolling gear and started casting. That's when the fun began, I caught both on tube jigs, x-raps and spinnerbaits. I didn't get any pics not sure why but I wish I had, I caught some really decent fish.

Turkey 2012

First Name	Jeffrey
Last Name	Kimber
Result	Successful
Property Name	Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area
Hunt Date	4/25/2012 - 4/27/2012
Congratulations! You were selected to participate in a reserved Turkey Draw hunt on 4/25/2012 - 4/27/2012 at Pigeon River Fish and Wildlife Area. This is what happiness looks like, a successful Turkey hunt draw. Since Turkey hunting is hunting, scouting is required. Usually I hunt a property that I know quite well, and have extensive Turkey knowledge of, thanks to coyote hunting. This year I started putting in for a draw at a FWA because they have the sense of safety in mind and only allow hunters on the property until 1pm. The reason I mention that is because I have hunted it in the past, and had some idea of where to start but wanted more spots just in case. I did alot of walking and saw alot of sign. I marked many spots of interest and also saw some other stuff. Since I had some spots all I had to do now was wait for opening day.                                                               FINALLY OPENING DAY IS HERE I was up at 2:30am to eat, gather and load gear, drink some coffee and have some alone time. That all had to be done before I could make the hour long drive to the property check in. I arrived to see I was the 10th or 12th person in line waiting outside for the doors to open. Finally some lights came on and the door swung open and we started filing in. After I got checked in I quickly walked to my car and started off to the spot I had left the 2 strutters a couple weeks earlier. Now lets just say that everything looks different at night and when I came to the first cross road, I took the left. Then I made another left, when that should've been a right. I'm in the wrong spot, so I start to drive back to the main road when I get passed by a truck going the opposite way. I made it back out to the main road, after briefly looking at my map I thought I was back on track. When the next cross road came up I again took the left. I got down about 2 blocks and realized I was on the wrong road again. So I turned around and went back out to the main road, went down to the next road and made my left. This looked better, even though it was pitch black still I knew I was in the right area. I made it to the parking area I was looking for and low and behold that truck I passed was already parked there. Well there goes my #1 spot, so I started over to my #2 spot. I made it to the parking area, pulled in and started piling on the gear. I walked back about 200 yards and set up on a path that was at the end of the field and went back into the woods. When I was scouting I heard a turkey just gobbling it up back there. The sun started to come up and the turkeys were gobbling on roost, I could hear 4 different turkeys. I was feeling pretty optimistic for having to hunt my #2 spot. When the turkeys hit the ground I could hear them walking around back on the path around 50 yards from where I was. I could also hear some hens back there, yelping and purring so I yelped and purred back to them. They were getting closer and I was beginning to think this might happen. The reason I was calling to the hens is because many times they will drag a Tom in with them. They were yelping, then I yelped back, they yelped again and I cut back at them..... they just shut up! I would yelp and nothing, I just lost the hens. I waited for at least an hour before getting up and gathering my decoys. The hens had fallen silent and the toms stopped gobbling. Since I had spent almost the entire day in this spot I walked the path to figure out where the birds came from and where they went. Well I found out that there was like a big H cut back in the brush and that's the path the birds were on. I also figured out where they went, and that I could easily reach it from the other side of the section. So I walked all the way back out, got to the car and drove around to scout the other side. When I got to the path and started in I heard another hen. Same deal as before, she yelped then I yelped, she yelped then I yelped. She yelped and I cut, she shut down and I saw her run away across a perpendicular path. OK I thought NO MORE CUTTING, I decided to make this my theme for the rest of the hunt. So that was day 1, and with my newly acquired knowledge I felt confident in tomorrows spot. Same drill as the first day but I was 4th in line today. I got checked in and made it to the parking area at spot #2, packed back to the spot I found the day before and set up my decoys. When the sun started to rise and the forest started to wake up I heard my turkeys start gobbling. My hopes were dashed when I realized they were gobbling on the other side of the creek at least 150 yards away. I wasn't worried about the distance as being the main problem, but turkeys don't cross obstacles to get to hens very often. I gave it a couple hours and then decided to pack up my gear and go to the car. I headed around to the other side of the section where I could get on the birds. When I got there, there was a truck already in the parking area. Since it was getting on in the day I decided to go to a spot where I found a dozen or so dust baths. This was a spot that I call a sitting spot, I know the birds are around but don't have alot of confidence in the spot. So if I have a couple hours I will go set up my decoys and call every 15 or 20 minutes. This field was right next to the field that I saw the deer in while preseason scouting. On my way over to the field I spotted a gobbler strutting in a field all by himself. I parked my car on the first pull off I found, making sure to pull off to the side. I grabbed my gear and started out to try and set up without bumping the tom. I walked around giving the bird plenty of room. I started to set up on a field that was 2 fields away from where he was strutting. When I went out into the field to set up my decoys I looked up and saw him only half a field from me. I knew that if I could see him, he could easily see me so I made a low slow retreat. When I got back to the edge of the field I set up my half blind and started calling. I waited and called for at least 30 min without a response from the Tom. Since I couldn't see the bird I decided to get up and see if he left. I made my way down to a low spot in the field and crept over to the edge of the field and spotted the Tom 50 yards to my right. He was still strutting in the next field but he was strutting with the length of the field. I snuck back to where I had my blind set up and called and waited and schemed. I started to think that if this bird was strutting back and forth I would be able to get in front of him and low crawl in for a shot. So after another 30 mins of calling I implemented my plan. First thing to do was find the bird in the field, there was some long grass between him and me. When I finally saw him he was walking and strutting in the opposite direction, he was already 2 fields away from me. I figured he was following a hen, and my plan was shot. I got back to my gear picked it all up and started the long haul to get in front of the bird, again. Long story short I packed all the way around to the other side of the section only to loose the Tom. So I headed all the way back to my car, to move on to the field I was originally going to. As I got close to my car I noticed there was a black suv parked next to it. Then I saw the emblem, it was a Conservation Officer. He got out and we went through the usual hunter CO stuff, license, ext. He then informs me that I was parked in a no parking area and that he had to give me a ticket. My initial thought was, well you don't have to. After we chatted for a while longer and he gave me the ticket, I was on my way to my next spot. This is where the video picks up: You can see the full screen video better once camera angle #2 appears- the first video was taken with an I-Kam and then with a HD 12000 from sports-vue.        So to wrap this up, if you saw where the sandhills were in the scouting video, I shot "Ticket Tom" in that very same field. Yes, I nicknamed him "Ticket Tom" because I think he was the Tom that I was chasing the day before when I got my ticket. You know the Visa? commercial that goes: yada yada cost= $ and this cost= $ then you paid = $ getting the turkey= priceless You remember that commercial? Well trust me I can put a price tag on that Tom. All in all I still had an awesome 3 day hunt, and remember when they say to park in "designated parking" areas only, they mean it.

Yesterday on Lake Michigan

After weeks of a north blow, yesterday promised to be a great day with little to no waves.
Yeah right, since when can weather forecasters predict the weather? With the visions of flat calm water dancing in my head I set out at 4am to drop the boat at Portage Marina. By the time I was leaving the safety of the creek and entering the Big Lake I knew I had been duped once again. The dreams I had of flat calm water was replaced by the harsh reality of 1-3' rollers.
So what to do? stay and play or run and hide...... well I'm just dumb enough to know that it wasn't bad enough to keep me off the water so away we go.
I dropped my gear in and started the daunting task of trolling against the waves. A couple hours later I was finally able to set up to troll the trough. That made my day a whole lot easier and much safer. I finally hooked up my first king in 51 fow and then I had to pay some dues. After a couple passes on the waypoint with no more takers I decided to extend my troll. Using mom's theory on fishing I looked around to see where all the boats were. I saw 3 boats in front of the donut so I started that way. I hooked up with my second king, after repeated passes I decided to troll in. On the way in I hooked up 2 more kings (the small ones) that left me only one short of my limit.After hours of getting bounced around like a cork I thought I had given more than most would, so I packed it up and headed for home.
As it stands I left the house @4am and got back to the house @9pm.

Come to think of it I had a couple hours of daylight left when I headed in if I would've stayed I might have been able to catch that last fish.... hmmm thoughts for next time.

That was the second king, almost the king that got away.

Hamilton Lake

I got out to a local lake today for a couple hours. It was pretty windy and fairly cool. I did catch a couple pike and a shorty largemouth. I am really trying to get back up to the big lake but haven't had any luck. The weather has kept me homebound.
I am also getting ready for turkey season. I got drawn at Pigeon River this year and I am really looking forward to the hunt on the 25th-27th.

I had to

I had to start fishing early this year. I have been watching the reports from Lake Michigan and they are slayin' the coho on our end of the lake. So I picked up my boat last week put my gear together and went up yesterday.
I trolled from 7a-1:30p and caught a short coho and a small brown trout. I was reeling in a lure with the intention of changing it when I saw a fish following it to the boat, needless to say I left it on. 
With the wind gusting to 30 mph from the South and having to fight it all day to keep the boat straight, I decided it just wasn't going to happen.
I pulled my lines, brought my boards in and secured my kicker by bringing it into the boat. I started my big motor and ran the mile and a half to the mouth of the river I put in on. When I got there I noticed there were 11 boats all stacked up and trolling. I remembered something my mom use to say ,"go to where all the boats are, they gotta be catchin' fish".
 So I pulled one of my rods out and started casting and watching to see if a net meets the water. After 15 min I didn't see a net drop but I noticed one of the boats pulling gear, so I went over and asked how they did. They said they caught a couple browns and a nice laker. I thanked them and wished them luck, and thought, I'm here I might as well try.
So I hooked up my kicker, put in my boards, put out my lines and started the troll.
I'm here to tell ya I should've never left the mouth, within an hour I had my limit. Oh yeah and do you remember the lure I was going to change? Well I never did, I ran it all day and when I got to the second spot I had had enough of it just swimming and not catching so I was going to change it. I started reeling it in when one of my other poles went off, so I put the first one in a holder and started fighting the fish on the second. When I was fighting the fish the pole I had put in the holder hooked up, the fish stayed on for a couple seconds then got off. So I never caught anything on that lure but I think the fish did like it.

Unfortunately this is the average size this time of the year, they'll eat good though.
The great news is all my gear worked and the motors started right up. The bad news is that when I loaded the boat I noticed my transducer was just dangling. I'm not sure when the bracket broke or what broke it, but it did happen on the lake. Unfortunately I will be grounded until the new bracket I ordered today shows up.

End of another Year

This hunting season ended with me chasing coyote and fox. Now to be honest our coyote season ends in March, but fox ended on the 28th of Feb. Since I didn't want to be in the position of letting a fox walk. I just hang up the guns and get ready for the fishing opener.

I hunted Mississinewa Reservoir last week and saw a fox, he busted me before I was even set up. I ended my season at Salamonie Reservoir hoping to get a fox and a coyote before the year ends. Well I didn't get a fox, but I did get a coyote on my second stand of the day.
I was set up on a field that to me looked "foxy". I almost didn't even finish this stand, when I first started the caller there was a dog at a house that was close to my calling spot that started barking. With the woodpecker distress screaming on my foxpro and 3 minutes into the stand I saw this yote charging the caller.  When he slowed I let him have it with a 50 grain V-Max, my shot was a little low so I put the crosshairs on him again and squeezed the trigger. With a solid "whump" the yote dropped, I switched to a coyote pup in distress and let it play for a couple minutes. When nothing else showed, I walked out to get my coyote.

 

2011 Hunting Season Breakdown

Species---Number of Critters Taken----Days Afield

Turkey----------1---------------- 5
Deer------------- 1 ----------------10
Dove-------------10------------- 1 1/2
Pheasant--------1 -------------- 1

Coon------------- 2---------------- 4

Coyote/Fox------ 1---------------- 2
Waterfowl-----11 ducks/29 geese-----35

Total-------------56-------------58 1/2

I even had a couple firsts this year:
First Northern Shoveler-AKA spoonbill

And my first lesser Goose that I shot at Weeds poo pond.

When you look at all stacked up, all in all I had another stellar year.  I can only hope that next year will stand up to the hopes and expectations.
 As the seasons change so does the quarry we chase. With the end of hunting season, the beginning of the fishing season is just around the corner. 

Woohooo bring on the fishing season.

Lets not forget Turkey season in April just a mid spring hunting fix.

Late Goose is over

Late goose ended last week on the 15th of Feb. Today I was going to go coyote hunting but the weather had other plans for me. So I thought I would catch up on my house work i.e.- put my decoys up for the year, and catch up on my blog.
Last week proved to be yet another tough hunt, I hunted the 14th and 15th. On the 14th I really had no good spot picked out to field hunt, and I didn't have any birds anyway, so I did some pass shooting. I was only out for a couple hours and got one goose. The bad thing was the goose landed on the snow covered ice. I had already thought ahead for this problem, and brought my fishing pole/ goose getter with me. What I didn't plan on was the weight of the goose and the drag across the snow breaking my line. So after a trip to the house to get a pole strung with 30# test braid I laid hands on my prize.

The lucky thing was that I didn't hook my goose with the second line. I actually hooked the weight from my first gang rig. Lucky I wasn't there all nite.
The last day of season I went to a field that I hadn't hunted all year. I checked it every week and the geese just never showed up so I never tried it.
With nothing to lose I got set up in the pre dawn hours, and stayed til' just after noon. That's when I started picking up my gear. I got home ate and hung out until 3:30, then I went to my pass shooting spot and waited.
Fortunately it didn't take that long for me to ground the first goose of the day, and not long after that I grounded my last goose of the year.

Even with all the warm weather and getting very few "new" geese I still topped my numbers from last year. I haven't totaled my numbers up yet but that isn't too far in the future. Only a couple weeks until the end of my coyote and fox season and Turkey in April, fishing is just around the corner.

Still Shootin' Geese

Last week I went back to the field that I shot the 3 geese at and pass shot it right before sunset. I only hunted for a couple hours and had a flock come by to roost for the night. I was able to get one goose out of the flock before they were out of range and time had expired. I didn't think that was too bad considering I was only out there for a couple hours with no decoys.

That hunt was on Wed and on Thurs I went West to a property I just got this year. Well when we got to the property Weed realized he had forgotten his blind so I sent him back to my house for my x-tra blind. As I was getting the gear unloaded, the house lights came on. So I went over to talk to the Joe the owner of the property. When I got closer I noticed it was the misses and not Joe at the door. She related to me that Joe had just been diagnosed with lung cancer and was not expected to last the week, and they had all kinds of family coming over to say their final goodbye's.
After hearing what was going on I told her that I won't stay and clog up their drive. She never even asked me not to hunt, as a matter of fact she kept apologizing, they are really nice people. I just found out yesterday that Joe passed on Sat.
So after moving on from the spot I was going to hunt, I moved down the road to another property I have. Tom's property has always been good to me, however with the wind coming in the way it was I knew I had alot of work ahead of me. I called Weed to let him know what was going on, and then started hauling gear the couple hundred yards to the end of the field. Well after seeing 12 geese in the morning, a couple doubles and a flock of 6, nothing flew until right before sunset.

So as you can see the action was fast and furious for a couple minutes. I got home around 9:30 that evening, threw my gear in the house, cleaned my goose and got to bed so I could get some sleep for work the next morning.

It would be sooo much easier on me if I didn't have to go to work the next morning.

Late season Goose has begun

 With Wednesday Feb 1st being the season opener and since my trolling motor got fried. I was forced to finish this years goose season on land.
       -late season like early season allows 5 geese a day-
With the weather staying warm our geese just haven't come down. So we're forced to hunt the same stale birds that have been around town all winter. Now that doesn't mean that you can't still get birds. It just means that you have to work a little harder to take some feathers home. 
Last week I hunted a field that I have hunted 3 other times without even firing a shot.
Well all that changed, I also learned that this particular field is a bad weather or afternoon field hunt only. Now the reason I say that is the only geese I could actually work came in afternoon. I shot 2 geese between 5 and 5:20pm, the only other goose I got was shot in the morning. Every flock that came over during the day just didn't want to play the way they did later in the day.
I left the house at 6ish and didn't get home until 8:30 pm, as a matter of fact I was informed I only had another half hour before Sarah called the cops to go look for me. It was worth it since I got to burn some powder and left the field with some geese.

Only 2 short

Goose is winding down

So what do you do when waterfowl starts winding down? Well you find something else to hunt, I chose to go after some fur, namely coon.
Since last week I have been out on 2 nite hunts and one daytime hunt. The first nite hunt didn't net me anything, I didn't even see a set of eyes. The first daytime hunt grounded 1 coon with 2 more just peekin' out of their den trees.

Last nite my buddy Nick and I went out on a full moon for a coon hunt. Now I have never done well on a full moon, last nite was a good change of luck. Nick thinks it was all him, and to tell you the truth I won't argue cause we brought home a coon apiece. Unfortunately we didn't have any come into the call, we saw ours spying from the treetops.

I took these pics with my old camera (I left my new one at home)

 

 

Nick with his coon

Next week goose opens for a couple days, I will get to hunt one of the days. Then it's probably coon til the end of the month, late goose comes in for the first 2 weeks of Feb.
Then it's all done til next year. So sad.   : (

Hunting slump is over

For the past couple of weeks my hunting and more to the point shooting has been lacking. It seems that when I have had shots I just couldn't seal the deal. Whether the geese were too far, or the coons just wouldn't come out of their tree, or I just plain missed.
The last couple of weeks have been a testament to my fortitude, due to the simple fact that I have come home empty handed and still managed to go out the next day to try my luck.
Well yesterday, that all changed for the better. I was hunting the river and had a flock of geese come in early, long story short I ran her dry with not a feather to show for my efforts. I thought they might be out just a little far out so I changed to my full choke and settled back to wait for the next flock. Fortunately it didn't take too long, I worked 'em in with dare I say some skill and then took my shots. I had 1 goose fall, after unloading on the flock I got up to untie the boat and go get my prize. I almost made it past my decoys when I found out my motor wasn't working. So I hopped out and drug the boat back to the bank and looked at the motor. I noticed that it looked just like an electric motor - I am not a motor repairman. My best guess is that the water in the prop had froze solid due to the cold weather. Since the motor wouldn't run I figured it was time to go, so I started picking up my decoys. I kept an eye on the goose the entire time, with the wind was pushing him across the water and I thought he would end up on the far shore.  
Wrong, he ended up on the opposite shore against the dam. I looked under the dam and noticed he couldn't make it over. I figured I would have to walk my boat and gear back along the shoreline. It took about a half hour but I made it back to the landing, loaded my boat and headed for home. When I got to the house I threw all my gear in the house, grabbed my fishing pole got in the car and headed back to the river. On my way I called one of my buddies that lives on the river and told him the whole story. Come to find out he had a key to the gate leading into the dam. So we met at the gate, went down to the dam and found my goose just outside of the wing of the dam.

 I have not checked my motor to see if it was just froze, but I really hope that's all it was.