| manuman |
10-23-2005 04:37 PM |
RE: Turn around!
 OK--I'll be a little more detailed.After all the debacle tha my season had been turning into, this land was avalable, but had been mined for a while--it is part of a granite quarry. It was my only option , and not a good one, as it isn't known for holding many deer. I decided that poor land was better than none , and took the scouting trip to see how things had settled down after all the work activity, and I was very pleasantly surprised at the amount of sign--both deer and bear. I covered several miles and finally decided to hone in on the edge of a large thicket. I walked until I found a place where several trails crossed, and there was bear and deer droppings all over. We have tons of acorns, and this area concentrted the sign for whatever reason. After picking my spot, and returninglater thatafternoon, I settled in ,and i just had that feeling. The weather had become cool for the first time this year, and the wind had settled down after the arrival of the cool front--it was cool, calm, and nice. At 5:45 I heard the unmistakeable sound of footsteps in the leaves and got ready for action, expecting a doe most likely. I was surprised to see the bear making its way through the laurel thicket, and looked ahead for an opening. I got ready, and aimed at the crease where the neck and shoulders come together--she went down in a flash. I sat there, since I had plenty of daylight left, hoping a buck would show, but 3 more bears came in instead. 2 came together, and a single came by later.It was quite entertaining to get to watch them for a while. I even got some video with my digital. With all the visitors and dark approaching, I decided that I should drag the bear on out before it got any more crowded.I was by myself, so that wasn't the easiest task. It was all uphill the first 3-400 yards. Once I got it to the old logging road, I had to go get a chain saw to be able to get my jeep to pick up the bear. All in all, I was very pleased that the Lord saw fit to allow such a good result to an otherwise frustrating season.
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