With the sweltering warmth the previous week, I’ve taken a cue from the fish and wildlife I write about and I’ve been stirring throughout the “cooler” morning hours and once more with the setting of the solar. My out of doors adventures have been a bit restricted. Oh, I did be part of my buddy, Brandon Sargent, for a pair hours of early morning white bass “catching.” The fish had been on an aggressive chew and it didn’t take lengthy utilizing half ounce lead slabs to place a pair limits on ice. Don’t assume I’ve ever seen extra fish on sonar, the underside 10 ft of the water column in 22 ft of water was actually stacked with aggressively biting fish that later turned the centerpiece of a giant fish late afternoon barbecue. I did enterprise forth about 8 p.m., one night to set by one in every of my corn feeders close to dwelling, ready for a hog and virtually hoping none would present up. It might have been mighty sizzling to be quartering a porker.
I gave up the hunt about 9:30 p.m., about thirty minutes after darkish. It’s a great wager that had I stayed out a bit longer, I may have put extra contemporary pork within the freezer however between the mosquitoes and sweat, I started to marvel if a sane man could be doing what I used to be doing and headed dwelling for some AC.
With few actual out of doors actions to share this week, I believed I would relate a few humorous occurrences from my previous.
WILD HOGS WITH GATORS: There was the time about 30 years in the past, nearly this time of 12 months, after I determined to go on a solo hog hunt up in Jack County. I used to be taking pictures a single shot Contender Handgun chambered in 7-30 Waters. The ranch proprietor was leaving on trip that afternoon and turned the place over to me. We drove to a pond the place hogs had been coming in to water simply earlier than darkish and there was a tree stand about 80 yards from the water’s edge. There have been three alligators inhabiting the pond and my buddy usually fed them the “trimmings” from animals taken on his place. As he started tossing the animal stays into the water, I observed three gators swimming close to the floor towards their lunch. It doesn’t take a ten foot gator lengthy to eat and in brief order, the gators disappeared into the murky depths. My buddy mentioned adios and headed again to the ranch home to load up his household and hit the street for his trip. I had the entire place to myself and did a little bit of fishing within the pond to kill a pair hours earlier than I might take up vigil within the treestand. Not an indication of a gator. I assumed they had been digesting again within the shoreline reeds someplace.
About 45 minutes earlier than darkish, slightly 100 pound boar got here out of the comb to water and walked to the water’s edge on the precise spot my buddy fed the gators. There was a flat rock there that sloped sharply into the water. On the shot the hog was down however he kicked his manner into the water’s edge. Once I climbed out of the stand and made it to the rock, bubbles had been arising about 6 ft out from shore. I used a stick and decided the water was not more than 3 ft deep. What to do? I used to be all concerning the meat and had a barbecue deliberate for the pork. I didn’t have a change of garments and determined to strip down and wade out to retrieve my pork. I nonetheless bear in mind stepping with trepidation into that pond, no signal of approaching gators however that was little consolation. My massive toe contacted the hog first, truly his snout with tusk. I reached down and grabbed the hog by a entrance leg and eliminated him from the pond with lightening velocity. Not an indication of a gator and all turned out very nicely. I’ve instructed this story many instances round searching camps and people who believed I used to be telling the reality questioned my sanity. I simply inform them that was again then after I was younger and had a forthcoming wild pork barbecue deliberate the next weekend.
OWL ON A FLY ROD: Means again in about 1959 after I was 9 years outdated again in very rural Pink River County. I witnessed a sight I bear in mind vividly to today. My uncle was an achieved fly fisherman and when he got here down from Tennessee to go to, I served as his “information,” taking him to all of the fishing ponds we had entry to. Within the waning minutes of daylight, I bear in mind Uncle Luke double hauling his fly line onto which was hooked up a small popping bug, deadly bait for bream and smaller bass within the pond. The road made a excessive arc and on the peak of the solid, I heard the road ripping off my Uncle’s fly reel at a speedy price. A barred owl had swooped down and picked up the bug, deliberately I assume, and was flapping his wings and making an attempt to dislodge no matter it was that was dragging him again to earth.
My Uncle was a gentleman and I don’t ever bear in mind his cursing, however he did then.
“Boy, what sort of &*&$ fish do yall have down right here in Texas.”
He managed to toss a shirt or one thing over the owl and took it dwelling (in all probability unlawful even again then). My dad common a leather-based tether and constructed a perch for the fowl adjoining to a low limb in a pine tree within the yard. I bear in mind the owl making an attempt to scalp me each time I walked below his perch. After a day or two, he was launched. I’ve thought many instances that this specific owl in all probability had an adversity the rest of his life for catching bugs on the wing.
In case you have been kicking across the open air so long as me, likelihood is fairly good you’ve got some comical occurrences in your previous additionally. It’s enjoyable to reminisce and makes for an “off beat” high when an outdated out of doors author has been spending an excessive amount of time inside below the AC.
