Things that are wrong with southern hunting
12-05-2005, 06:54 AM
#1
Boone & Crockett
Thread Starter
Join Date: Nov 2003
Location:
Posts: 11,472
Things that are wrong with southern hunting
Oh relax!! I bet you had the gloves on and ready to fight. Sorry to disappoint you, but I simply want to know what may be some annoying things about hunting in the south. There Is never anything wrong with hunting period, but what do you have to deal with that you wished you didn't in the south.
Here's what comes to mind for hunting in the northeast:
Wake up at 3:30am. Check the weather channel and it's 17 degrees out and 2 degrees with the windchill factor. Nice north wind of 20 mph. Go outside and scrape 3 inches of ice off your truck. You get to your hunting spot just about the same time the truck finally decides to start heating up.
Get out and get dressed. Takes about 30 minutes to put on all your crap to stay warm. You can't possibly put anymore layers of clothes on and you're still shaking like a leaf. Off you go to waddle toyour stand.You feel like the abdominal snowman because you have so muchcrap on.You go to turn on your flashlight but the batteries are dead. Dang things only lasted 2 days in the cold. Walking through the snowcovered field you step in numerous puddles that are concealed by the snow. You get to your stand and your boots and pants are giant camo icicles.
Finally get to your stand and your nostril hair is frozen. You climb up the ladder stand. Get to the top and your gloves are now wet from the snow on the rungs. Your seat has about 15 inches of snow to be scraped off. Nothing quite like stand 20 feet in the air on metal with frozen boots shoveling snow! You sit down and the cold frozen metal makes the loudest creek noise you ever want to hear in the woods. There is now way in heck you could ever stand on the shooting platform that is now a small hockey rink.
Off and finally hunting! Get all settled in and you realize you are insane for being out in this weather. Snow is pelting you in the face. You need to get up every 15 minutes and shake off. The dang squirell insist on climbing the tree above your head and knocking snow off the limbs and sending them down your back. You are starting to get seasick because your tree is swaying so bad in the wind. You just tell yourself you can survive at least 2 hours.
Cool a deer is coming towards you. You quietly grab your gun and go to raise it. This takes some sort of gumby like manuever with all the gear you are wearing. Finally after 3 or 4 attempts to shoulder your gun you figure out the right position. You get your gun up and put your face to it and your scope is fogged/snowed over. Great! Quickly and quietly clean it out and go through the shouldering the gun again. Bingo! Success! You shot a nice doe.
Go to call your buddy on the 2 way radio to tell him and the batteries are dead in that too. Now if you can make it down the tree in one piece it will be a very good day. Make it down and your gloves are soaked and freazing. The cold doesnt' seem to bother you at the moment because you just shot a deer. You now hope you can find your deer before it is covered in snow. No problem... you follow a bloodtrail that Helen Keller could follow. You recover your animal and now the fun part.
You have to field dress it and "transport" it out of the woods. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes time to take that parka, jacket, sweater, sweatshirt, longsleeve shirt, turtle neck, and gloves off!! OK so now you are cold again and the excitement of killing the deer doesn't quite let you ignore the fact of being frozen anymore.
The deer is gutted and time to drag. Only takes about 3 hours this time for you and your buddy to get the deer back to the truck. Nothing like dragging 150 lbs. through 2 feet of snow. Now you are sweating your butt off. The wind is wipping harder and the snow is coming at you sideways. Most likely will be sick for a few days after this. The deer is strapped to the top of the truck
and off you go to the butchers.
Another day in the woods in the northeast.
God I love hunting!!!
So what is it for you in the south that you have to deal with? Things that can bite you and kill you? The bugs? The heat?
Here's what comes to mind for hunting in the northeast:
Wake up at 3:30am. Check the weather channel and it's 17 degrees out and 2 degrees with the windchill factor. Nice north wind of 20 mph. Go outside and scrape 3 inches of ice off your truck. You get to your hunting spot just about the same time the truck finally decides to start heating up.
Get out and get dressed. Takes about 30 minutes to put on all your crap to stay warm. You can't possibly put anymore layers of clothes on and you're still shaking like a leaf. Off you go to waddle toyour stand.You feel like the abdominal snowman because you have so muchcrap on.You go to turn on your flashlight but the batteries are dead. Dang things only lasted 2 days in the cold. Walking through the snowcovered field you step in numerous puddles that are concealed by the snow. You get to your stand and your boots and pants are giant camo icicles.
Finally get to your stand and your nostril hair is frozen. You climb up the ladder stand. Get to the top and your gloves are now wet from the snow on the rungs. Your seat has about 15 inches of snow to be scraped off. Nothing quite like stand 20 feet in the air on metal with frozen boots shoveling snow! You sit down and the cold frozen metal makes the loudest creek noise you ever want to hear in the woods. There is now way in heck you could ever stand on the shooting platform that is now a small hockey rink.
Off and finally hunting! Get all settled in and you realize you are insane for being out in this weather. Snow is pelting you in the face. You need to get up every 15 minutes and shake off. The dang squirell insist on climbing the tree above your head and knocking snow off the limbs and sending them down your back. You are starting to get seasick because your tree is swaying so bad in the wind. You just tell yourself you can survive at least 2 hours.
Cool a deer is coming towards you. You quietly grab your gun and go to raise it. This takes some sort of gumby like manuever with all the gear you are wearing. Finally after 3 or 4 attempts to shoulder your gun you figure out the right position. You get your gun up and put your face to it and your scope is fogged/snowed over. Great! Quickly and quietly clean it out and go through the shouldering the gun again. Bingo! Success! You shot a nice doe.
Go to call your buddy on the 2 way radio to tell him and the batteries are dead in that too. Now if you can make it down the tree in one piece it will be a very good day. Make it down and your gloves are soaked and freazing. The cold doesnt' seem to bother you at the moment because you just shot a deer. You now hope you can find your deer before it is covered in snow. No problem... you follow a bloodtrail that Helen Keller could follow. You recover your animal and now the fun part.
You have to field dress it and "transport" it out of the woods. Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh yes time to take that parka, jacket, sweater, sweatshirt, longsleeve shirt, turtle neck, and gloves off!! OK so now you are cold again and the excitement of killing the deer doesn't quite let you ignore the fact of being frozen anymore.
The deer is gutted and time to drag. Only takes about 3 hours this time for you and your buddy to get the deer back to the truck. Nothing like dragging 150 lbs. through 2 feet of snow. Now you are sweating your butt off. The wind is wipping harder and the snow is coming at you sideways. Most likely will be sick for a few days after this. The deer is strapped to the top of the truck
and off you go to the butchers. Another day in the woods in the northeast.
God I love hunting!!!
So what is it for you in the south that you have to deal with? Things that can bite you and kill you? The bugs? The heat?
12-05-2005, 07:09 AM
#2
Boone & Crockett
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ponce de Leon Florida USA
Posts: 10,079
RE: Things that are wrong with southern hunting
Early in the season the heat and the skeeters are bad. Not a lot of complaints here, but the biggest would be where I hunt the rut starts around the middle of January and is just getting good when the season ends the first of February. I would like for the season to start a couple of weeks later and end the middle of February. Havn't seen a heavy snow since '74.
12-05-2005, 07:16 AM
#3
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: Monroe, LA
Posts: 56
RE: Things that are wrong with southern hunting
Simply put - It was 80 freakin' degrees on Saturday. Yes, that was this Saturday, DECEMBER 3. Nothing like hunting with mosquitos and sweat. This week it will be in the 30's. I love our weather here.
12-05-2005, 07:22 AM
#4
Senior Member
Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Ellerbe NC USA
Posts: 1,396
RE: Things that are wrong with southern hunting
Wake up at 5:30, put on camo Tee shirt and camo shorts. Spray from head to toe with Deep Woods Off, put on bugsuit, go to basement. Start 4wheeler, place coffee in cupholder, ride 3 minutes to stand with coffee and rifle slung over shoulder. Park 4wheeler, walk two minutes, climb into stand. Finish cup of coffee just as daylight approaches, see LOTS of deer.[:'(] It's too dang hot to drag one out once sunrise comes, so watch the deer, plan on which one to take when it gets cooler. Then WAIT and WAIT and WAIT for some cooler weather (which comes a month or so later)[:@].
[&:]Wake up a month or so later, when it FINALLY cools down, see the frost in the yard, get back in bed and wait til it warms up.
12-05-2005, 07:49 AM
#6
Join Date: Dec 2005
Location: Cushing, OK
Posts: 107
RE: Things that are wrong with southern hunting
Here in OK it's a crap shoot every year. Some years it's in the 70s, some in the 20's. The only gripe I have is that sometimes the higher temps force me to go after a deer that ordinarily I'd leave overnight, if I'm worried about recovering the deer. I can imagine some of what you're talking about, because I spent the winter of 93-94 in Saratoga Springs. The first time in my life that I stepped outside in really frigid weather and my nose hair froze in about 5 seconds, I just about had a fit. Didn't know what the hell was going on!
12-05-2005, 08:49 AM
#8
Typical Buck
Join Date: Nov 2005
Location: Caddo Mills, TX
Posts: 600
RE: Things that are wrong with southern hunting
There is nothing like walking to the stand in the afternoon and getting so damn hot that when you get there you take off your shirt, your shoes, and your socks in an attempt to cool down.......
-john
-john
