A day in the woods with big Ted.

[Britsmoothy]

Dawn till dusk out in the woods today. Dodging showers and battling with planta fasciitis, it's been a long day!
I started of with pushing the crows off the sheep fields. As it got light they started to arrive and eventually a shot presented itself and down the crow came. I tied it to a birch twig to upset its kind.

Next I went on the long walk to check some maize that has only just been harvested.
It was worth the hike. Lots of pheasants and clouds of pigeons.
I passed on the hen pheasants and walked the hedges hoping a cock bird would break cover and take to the air. Just when I thought it was not going to happen one broke cover just after I had past it. It lifted on the wind wings beating the air and hurling abuse all in a split second.
I didn't rush Ted to the shoulder but took my time. The bird disappeared in the smoke and reappeared on the way back to earth at speed!
The ounce and a quarter of #5s doing a thorough job.
With that accomplished I needed a break so made for a quiet sheltered spot to make a fire and have a rest. I had been on my legs for seven hours.

Jess worked some cover plots for me on the way home but no cock birds were flushed, just hens.
Ted the 10g had two crows, two squirrels and the pheasant. I missed a couple of crows and a pigeon.
I'm hoping to decoy some crows early tomorrow with Ted so I'm not cleaning him. Jess though was filthy and needed a good shower and a belly full of food.

 

[azmntman]

Dang I wished you was my neighbor! Oh the fun we would have!! Excellent day, makes me consider heading out for a tree rat this afternon!

 

[Jaeger]

Dawn till dusk out in the woods today. Dodging showers and battling with planta fasciitis, it's been a long day!
I started of with pushing the crows off the sheep fields. As it got light they started to arrive and eventually a shot presented itself and down the crow came. I tied it to a birch twig to upset its kind.
View attachment 104128
Next I went on the long walk to check some maize that has only just been harvested.
It was worth the hike. Lots of pheasants and clouds of pigeons.
I passed on the hen pheasants and walked the hedges hoping a cock bird would break cover and take to the air. Just when I thought it was not going to happen one broke cover just after I had past it. It lifted on the wind wings beating the air and hurling abuse all in a split second.
I didn't rush Ted to the shoulder but took my time. The bird disappeared in the smoke and reappeared on the way back to earth at speed!
The ounce and a quarter of #5s doing a thorough job.
With that accomplished I needed a break so made for a quiet sheltered spot to make a fire and have a rest. I had been on my legs for seven hours.
View attachment 104133
View attachment 104130


Jess worked some cover plots for me on the way home but no cock birds were flushed, just hens.
Ted the 10g had two crows, two squirrels and the pheasant. I missed a couple of crows and a pigeon.
I'm hoping to decoy some crows early tomorrow with Ted so I'm not cleaning him. Jess though was filthy and needed a good shower and a belly full of food.

Dawn till dusk out in the woods today. Dodging showers and battling with planta fasciitis, it's been a long day!
I started of with pushing the crows off the sheep fields. As it got light they started to arrive and eventually a shot presented itself and down the crow came. I tied it to a birch twig to upset its kind.
View attachment 104128
Next I went on the long walk to check some maize that has only just been harvested.
It was worth the hike. Lots of pheasants and clouds of pigeons.
I passed on the hen pheasants and walked the hedges hoping a cock bird would break cover and take to the air. Just when I thought it was not going to happen one broke cover just after I had past it. It lifted on the wind wings beating the air and hurling abuse all in a split second.
I didn't rush Ted to the shoulder but took my time. The bird disappeared in the smoke and reappeared on the way back to earth at speed!
The ounce and a quarter of #5s doing a thorough job.
With that accomplished I needed a break so made for a quiet sheltered spot to make a fire and have a rest. I had been on my legs for seven hours.
View attachment 104133
View attachment 104130


Jess worked some cover plots for me on the way home but no cock birds were flushed, just hens.
Ted the 10g had two crows, two squirrels and the pheasant. I missed a couple of crows and a pigeon.
I'm hoping to decoy some crows early tomorrow with Ted so I'm not cleaning him. Jess though was filthy and needed a good shower and a belly full of food.

That's a great picture of you resting on the log. With no hunter orange on you blend right in. Try switching to a completely different kind of shoe or boot to remedy the plantar fasciitis. Or get some really good shoe inserts?

 

[Brokennock]

Great stuff my friend. Excellent resting spot you have there.

 

[Whughett]

4 and 20 black birds baked in a pie ……………..

 

[sawyer04]

Thanks for sharing Brit, If Jess was trained to brew a spot of tea you would be set.

 

[Britsmoothy]

That's a great picture of you resting on the log. With no hunter orange on you blend right in. Try switching to a completely different kind of shoe or boot to remedy the plantar fasciitis. Or get some really good shoe inserts?

Yes sir, have inserts in all my boots.

Thanks everyone, it was a good day for a simple woods bum.

 

[user 49399]

Awesome!

“woods bum”. Last person I heard say that was my granny back in the sixties. Brought back many memories about her and her old 16 gauge shotgun. Thanks for posting!

 

[Skychief]

Great post friend. The one photo needs printed and framed with a brass plaque reading 'The contented man'.

 

[.36Rooster]

You are doing it man! I like that fire. I graded and tied rebar yesterday and poured a footing and stripped simon forms today. It was in one of those towns out in the mountains where some of the deer just realize the pickings are easy and tame up and become resident deer. Saw a dandy whitetail this afternoon right in the middle of pouring. Would have made pope and young minimum. Wouldn't dream of hunting those kind of deer out there in town though. I feel like they add to the landscape.

Speaking of decoying crows though, seriously man, when i was a teenager. I stuffed knee high black socks with straw and staked them to the ground with broken arrows, and that brought them into shotgun range as they swooped in for a look see, with only a crow call...

Also, on another avenue, back in those days when I coyote hunted more, i once had a white grocery bag in my pocket, and hung it out on a stick, and called. A rabbit distress call brought a coyote into the field i set up in...but the instant he saw that white object in the middle of the field, he ran straight to it....where I promptly missed him, out of excitement.

 

[zerosprk]

Awesome short story, sounds like a great day!

 

[3Setters]

I need to relax like that during a day of hunting. But that wont happen this weekend with snow showers predicted.

 

[deerstalkert]

la buena vida!

 

[oldwood]

Early the hunter rises , waking all the camp with noise of preparation.
He goes forth at day, returning well beyond the dark.
His breath smells of strong drink , and the truth is not in him. ................oldwood

 

[deerstalkert]

i thought that was a fisherman! we all know hunters are honest boy scouts!

 

[.36Rooster]

I need to relax like that during a day of hunting. But that wont happen this weekend with snow showers predicted.

I would just go out man. With a light coat, The walking more than keeps you warm, and with the snow, any rabbit or bird tracks you find, you know will be fresh...and when you stop walking, relaxing by the fire still keeps you more than warm. Try it. If you don't like it you can walk back to the truck and go back if you don't like it...better to have gotten out there at least. I can find a place and get tender and have a small fire started in 10 minutes, while finding bigger sticks and logs. A hatchet and a blowdown is all you need. You can always go home early if you need too, the truck is nearby. Better to have gotten out there and done the kind of stuff we like at least...I can't even get out there right now from work...

 

[Britsmoothy]

I graded and tied rebar yesterday and poured a footing and stripped simon forms today

That is hard work! Graftin" we would say..

 

[3Setters]

I would just go out man. With a light coat, The walking more than keeps you warm, and with the snow, any rabbit or bird tracks you find, you know will be fresh...and when you stop walking, relaxing by the fire still keeps you more than warm.

Oh, I'll be out once the rains turn to snow. It's the sitting back to relax that I have a problem with. But one thing I have found over the years, rain/snow with temps in the 30's makes for a miserable cold hunt. Luckily when hunting around home, I can be back in 15 minutes to change into dry clothing and back out again.

 

[oldwood]

Have to clean up my shop. Haven't run the sweeper for 3 months. Taking care of a sick wife and all else around the house has caused a six month upset of my m/l fun. Bad weather is my friend , as I have a reason to hide in my shop and play w/ my adult toys. HMMMMM........Where is that set of parts for the months ago aborted scratch build I was doing????? Think it was a Reading style smooth rifle w/ walnut stock and restored original parts????..........oldwood

 

[Whughett]

Adventures such as these are theoretical open to all in the USofA, as a city dweller the logistics of it take careful planning. It does bring me back to my child hood of the 40’s and 50’s and a large southern Ohio Farm with several creek bottoms and hilltop meadows and woods where such adventures were available. Days long past but I enjoy such posts as those in these pages.