Reflections from the tree stand.....

[oopswasthatyourdog?]

So last weekend was the season opener for rifle season here and as I sat in my stand admiring the sights and sounds I started thinking about habits we have while in our stand and little things that we notice while time passes. Here are some of my musings:

At dusk or dawn there is nothing louder then the sound of velcro, or the safety on your rifle.

Ten turkeys making a ruckus at dawn sound like there are 500 of them

Coyotes pass your stand during deer season but are reluctant to come to a call in the winter....out east at least

A red squirrel jumping into your blind at first light will reduce your life expectancy by at least 5 years

Stepping 6" from a grouse while walking to your blind in total darkness will reduce it by a minimum of 10 years.

Spotting what could have been that same grouse during daylight makes for better eating

Some habits I always have...

I remove the sling from my rifle once in my stand.....it always seems to catch on something at the worst possible moment

I make and bring Banic bread with me every opening day

 

[looch]

Ten turkeys making a ruckus at dawn sound like there are 500 of them

When they come down from their roosts it sounds like someone dropping small appliances from a plane.

Coyotes pass your stand during deer season but are reluctant to come to a call in the winter....out east at least

I saw one on opening day - came to within 50' and never saw me. I saw another on Sunday - 100 yards away in the middle of the field. Coyote opens on the 8th here and I likely won't see another.

Stepping 6" from a grouse while walking to your blind in total darkness will reduce it by a minimum of 10 years.

I keep repeating to myself whenever I'm still hunting "be ready for a grouse flush...be ready for a grouse flush..." - but I'm never ready and it always scares the s**t out of me.

Some habits I always have...

I sample at least one fruit from every crab apple tree I come across. Some are fantastic, some make your face disappear inside your mouth.

 

[WayneD]

Try flushing a grouse from the roof of your stand just as you haul yourself into it in the dark some 12 feet from the ground. Happened years ago and I don't think my heart has slowed down yet!!!

 

[stuckon308]

Stepping 6" from a grouse while walking to your blind in total darkness will reduce it by a minimum of 10 years.

Spotting what could have been that same grouse during daylight makes for better eating

Isn't that the truth. It never happens when I'm actually looking for them. Just when I'm trying to be all stealthy and stalk a deer.

 

[Duffy]

The first little while I'm in a tree stand or ground blind I imagine all the senarios I can for an animal to come into my view and how I will react and get a shot. I actually move my gun into position to see if I can take shots at all areas I can see. Once the "dress rehersal" is over My mind starts to wander till I see or hear something.

While sitting in a tree stand or a ground blind for hours the mind can wander and be very creative. I invent things and make up jokes and such.

You can learn some interesting things about wildlife from you stand.

Once I watched as a shrew very carefully crossed the line I was set up on. I thought he was a real "chicken" as he nerviously moved from one bit of cover to the next (leaves and sticks)

1/2 hour later a great grey owl flew up and landed in a tree accross from me. He was likely looking for a shrew who was not too carefull. The next day I saw a small weasel crossing a line in a careful manner and thought that the owl would just as likely eat a leasts weasel as a mouse or shrew.

 

[knockturnal]

I always enjoyed sitting in my stand and not thinking about anything besides what is going on around you. And I usually wonder what animals would say to each other if we could understand them.

 

[Boonie Boy]

A red squirrel jumping into your blind at first light will reduce your life expectancy by at least 5 years.

Happened to me today - I was getting the rifle out of the truck and preparing to walk into the stand when the little bugger literally EXPLODED out of the brush behind me and scared the crap out of me. I thought for sure the little guy was biggest buck in town...

 

[Pudelpointer]

After two close calls, I have learned that when a Goshawk is hunting from a roost anywhere in sight that you should move around ALOT so that he sees you are bigger then a chickadee, and if you are wearing one of those stupid Himalayan style toques with the ear flap ties hanging down, that they apparently look like a squirrel tail or something, and that can initiate an attack.

Lucky for me, both times the Goshawks have decided to break off the attack within feet of my face. The first time was looking around and when I looked forward again all I could see was eyes, beak and talons flaring hard right about 5 feet from my face. Just about s##t my pants!

Second time, same thing, except I saw him coming from farther away and managed to get my arm up and it swerved off at about 15 feet.

This September, this was not from a stand but, I had a couple Great Grey Owls fall in love with my cow elk call and follow me through the woods for over an hour, while they mewed at me and flew from branch to branch, sometimes just out of reach. It was pretty cool for a while, then it was just annoying for the next 45 minutes or so.