Hey teammates! Sorry I haven't been on here in a few weeks but things have been a little busy around our house! With my wife not working(she had to go leave without pay for her internship for her Masters), I have had to work every weekend to help make up the difference. Plus my son just started t-ball this year and I am one of the coaches, so since he has games every saturday, that pretty much takes up the rest of my time! Not that I'm complaining cause the ends justifies the means! And he is definitely worth it!!!! I know that I haven't helped the team at all and I have been trying when I can but with limited time its hard to get out there. I also seem to be having the worst luck when I do get out! Lets work it up til today...
1st time= went out opening day for an early morning hunt before his t-ball game and ended up calling a nice tom out for my guest, but time was up so no bird for me!
2nd time= with only about 2 hours to hunt after sunrise(another game) I ended up making a stupid mistake... my back was to the tree with a tom going off and approaching to my left, unfortunately my attention was so much on him that I didn't see the hen approaching to my right! You guessed it... she spooked and actually flew right over me towards him and I never heard him again!
3rd time= could not have asked for a better setup except that I was perfectly between two toms that would not for the life of them cross into the others area... again time ran out(another game)
4th time= then there was today... my son had a late game so I figured today was the day. Setup in a great spot with birds gobbling all around. 4 hens fly right down around me and one of them had a beard that had to be close to 7 or 8 inches. Just as I had made up my mind to take her when she got into range(thet were working right towards me) a tom lets off a thunderous gobble not 50 yards to my right! So I decided to wait it out! WRONG!!! He flew down into the adjacent field and out of site. And by that time my hen had made it out of range and I watched her keep going out of site! Well that was early so I figure I still have more time to see if he will come back into the area. I decided to sit it out and call very sporatically. At about 9:30, after I had just let out a couple yelps, I here a gobble coming from behind me and to my left(I'm hunting on a tree line that separates two fields) so I turn around. There is a clear spot in the tree line about 15 feet long so I know I can get a shot off if he crosses within range. Just as he is about 60 yards to my right, I can see him through the trees, he spooks and starts running! I step out of my blind wondering what just happened when all of the sudden I see a truck driving up the main path. The passenger looks right at me and waves! I'm standing there thinking (1) I don't recognize this truck and (2) I know he had to see my truck at the front gate! GUESS who it was?
TRESPASSERS!!!
The farm I am hunting is my brother-in-laws and I know the guy that farms it for him so I know its not him. I ended up walking back to my truck and then driving to the back of the farm to find them! They are back there FISHING! The back of the farm is bordered by the river! I approach them and ask them who they are and who gave them permission to be here? Then one guy states that he is kin to the people that own this farm! I kinda laugh since he is black and my brother-in-law is white! Then he gives me the name of the people that owned the farm about 10 years ago! I then got his name and called my brother-in-law to make sure I wasn't making any mistakes since it is his farm and he could have given this guy permission to be here. Well I got my answer "NO!" So I proceeded back to talk to them except this time I was displaying my badge and duty weapon! Not going to take any chances since there were two of them and we were in a very secluded area!!! PRESERVATION of LIFE comes FIRST!!! Well as soon as I approach the guy states who are you, then he looks right at my badge and gun! Talk about someone's eyes about to pop out of their head!!! Well that was all I was going to take so I introduced myself and told them I knew that they weren't telling me the truth. Then the guy states that he had been fishing here since he was about 13(about 40 now) and thought it was OK. Well I politely(its the job,LOL) explained to him that once the ownership of the property changed, his permission ended and that he had been fishing here illegally since that time! I also explained to him how he ruined my hunt and that if I ever caught him on this property again, without the owners permission, I would arrest him for trespassing! I then ******ed both subjects off the property! And wouldn't you know that after all the time I spent dealing with them, I had to leave to make my son's game.
Well I know that was kinda long but I had to vent to someone that might understand and to get it off my chest! Hopefully I will get at least one more chance to help the team, but its not looking good! This is our last week here in VA and I have a lot of work to do! But I will do all I can to help the team and gain a tasty treat in the process!!! GOOD LUCK and SAFE HUNTING!!!