Outdoorsman Thread

[Dinadan]

Scott - Great story about the Grandsons and turkey! I bet I could call all day and not see a thing!

Jerry - my mother also hated snakes. She was bit by a ground rattler when she was five years old, and that one incident left her with a lifelong dislike for all snakes. I never saw her kill one herself but I think she considered that men's work!

[MITCH RAPP]

Scott, Great Story! Grandkids are the Best!

[TripleF]

Thanks guys!

Well, we took our call to the woods today.....you guessed it....nothing!
They were quite impressive as we sat on a log about 20 or so yards off the trail in full camo and watched 9 people go by and not one had a clue we were there. I told the.....be quiet....don't move....and they were MONEY!!!!

Hanging with these 2 is the highlight of my life and the reason I keep moving forward.

[MITCH RAPP]

Scott, Very Nice! Here are my 2 Grandkids form our last tent camping trip at the Beach. My Grand Daughter is 16, so it's all about texting no matter where or when!

[313 Mike]

Good stuff Scott ....With camp skills like that, maybe your grandkids are destined for a Marine Corps Recon unit!

Mitch, that has got to be the biggest "fire pit" I have ever seen in a campsite! That had to be throwing off some serious heat.... Looks like you could forge a blade in that thing!

[MITCH RAPP]

Yeah Mike! Good thing they are large, cause I do like to Burn a lot of wood when I'm out there!

[TripleF]

Thanks fellas!

Mitch.....nice set up bro.....very impressive!

I was impressed Mike...they were very sly. They're getting waaaaaaaaaaaaaaay better at playing hide and seek,,,,,they don't make a move when I come looking...

[313 Mike]

After a long soul dimming week of work I needed to get back out in the woods today to replenish myself, and opted to strap on the pack and head off to explore some of the far reaches of a 3200 acre piece of public land down the road from my house. Went way off the beaten path and ended up clump jumping through multiple areas of marshy swamp to reach a far off ridge that overlooked the whole marsh. Then I climbed up and over that ridge and came upon an old barbed wire fence and a boundary sign marking the edge of the public land. On the other side was a farmer's field and an old red barn in the distance. I reached the end of the line. I took a roundabout way back, and other than a pair of soaking wet and muddy hiking boots, was no worse for the wear. And my soul feels much better now.

[TripleF]

Mike...............LOOOK!!!!!! There's a knife on top of that sign!

Oh sh!t, you put it there, huh?

Good on you bud! I need me a day like that except I'd come back drenched from head to toe.

[jlw257]

Saw this today, wish it was my driveway
Azalea in bloom

Larry

[FRJ]

That sure looks nice. My lawn is grey. Ground is still pretty much frozen here still, but thawing daily.

[jlw257]

We had 3 inches of rain last night and found this little boy out by the garage.

Larry

[treefarmer]

Larry, that's one thing I was hoping not to find last week when our grandsons were here, especially after killin' that big moccasin near one of the ponds a few weeks back.
Thankfully we didn't run across any snakes last week, or at least we didn't see any, they probably saw us .
Fishing was their number one priority but Grandad made 'em do a little work too. We hooked up a set of planters, learned to change the seed plates and put fertilizer in the hoppers, then planted sweet corn. We caught, cleaned, ate fish then caught and released. We also had some old time gun safety lessons before we went out to shoot some .22s. I had to separate them at this time, only one at a time when we were shooting. They are 9 and 10 and you can't emphasize safety too often! Seems like today young kids are started on things like the Ruger 10/22 with a 50 round clip and a fancy semi-auto handgun that will shoot umpteen times . I prefer old school, simple, deliberate motions to teach a child how to shoot. We shot an old single shot Winchester 67 Boys Rifle and an old Ruger Bearcat for safety sake. The youngest one has a dominate left eye, as do I. Got him turned around and had him shooting left handed in just a minute or two. We cooked a big supper one evening, fried venison, fried corn bread, peas and rice and big glasses of iced tea .
All in all we had a good time with them but we had to rest for a day or so after they went back home, don't know why?
Here's a few pictures of our activities.
Treefarmer

[jlw257]

Mr Phil
They will alway remember these times with you, planting and shooting. Great fun.
Larry

[FRJ]

Phil, I sure admire your approach. Especially about the shooting. A great atmosphere for the boys to learn.
And they learn so much more than the intended lesson.

[TripleF]

Good job Philip! These boys will know how good they hed it when they get older! The memories will
be permanent in their brains! I just looked at the 4th post in the original posts and swa your boys 3 years ago.....my, how they've grown!! Much respect to you my friend!

I took the grandsons on a mission.....pulled out the camera as they walked ahead.....
Later we stopped had our traditional apple and beef jerky and I told them they should become
Green Berets! Oh, how they loved that......

[Dinadan]

You fellows sure are good Grandfathers! Loved the photos and stories.

[Old Hunter]

Out scouting turkeys between the river and in the swamps early this morning (found two nice Toms); ran into this big fellow, scratching his back on the power pole. His nose was up on the pole a good seven foot above the ground. I'd guess he's around 400 lbs. OH

[jerryd6818]

Hard to tell from the picture but from your description, I'm guessing that's a bear? I hope you were packing heat Colonel.

[Old Hunter]

Jerry, yes, a black bear. I'm pointing to the scratching he's done on the powerpole in this picture from last October - I'm 6'-2", the scratches go up over 7' in height. When I saw him this morning I was about 120 yards away - he was scratching his back and his nose was higher than the highest scratching on the pole. I couldn't get my cellphone out fast enough to catch him scratching - got him once he dropped back down to all fours (note the top of his back is about 3-1/2' to 4' above the ground). Here is my first picture today, he had just dropped to all fours - not telephoto, but you can make him out better than in the earlier photo. When I'm alone in the woods I carry this 44 MAG - we have wild hogs, black bear, coyote, the occasional feral dog, etc. At this point I've only killed an aggressive pit bull and some coyotes - wouldn't shoot a bear unless I was directly threatened. OH

[jerryd6818]

Fiddled with your picture a little bit. He is a big ole hoosier.

[Old Hunter]

Wow Jerry, you really made him stand out there - great job! We were looking at each other - I guess we were both assessing the situation - he ambled on into the swamp, apparently not too bothered by my presence. For my part, I decided that it was only gentlemanly that he could have any turkeys in his zone - I went the other way! OH

[Dinadan]

OH - great sighting! It does make a person more alert when he knows that there are bear in the woods, does it not? We have a few bear in my area, though I have never seen one. I have seen the sign along a creek when I was kayaking. I keep looking, though of course I am always looking for any wildlife, from squirrel to deer.

[Colonel26]

Wow Jerry, you really made him stand out there - great job! We were looking at each other - I guess we were both assessing the situation - he ambled on into the swamp, apparently not too bothered by my presence. For my part, I decided that it was only gentlemanly that he could have any turkeys in his zone - I went the other way! OH

You are quite the generous gentleman!

[FRJ]

Always follow proper etiquette when encountering black bears in the wild.
Well done.