Fitting the dentist in

Between dropping my daughter off for her job and making my 6 month dental cleaning I had 3 hours to hunt. I figured I might as well take advantage of it since rain is in the forecast for the rest of the week. I got 2 then headed to the dentist in my camo. If I had not done that I would never have known that my hygienist also hunts squirrel! We had a nice conversation about hunting in general and then my dentist joined in! He hunts deer and I told him that I haven't hunted deer because I don't like the taste of the meat. He gave me plenty of tips on how to cook it in order to make it taste delicious. Now I am pumped up about the possibility of deer hunting. I am going to have to see what I can do about that. He was also generous enough to share a few pounds of ground venison, so I will be giving it a try soon!

With my hunting hygienist, Lisa, a bear and my "hunting hair".

Those Fast flying doves!

Just how fast does a dove fly? Apparently pretty darn fast. I sure can't seem to hit one unless it is sitting in a tree. So far this season I have gotten one. Last season I got two, both of them off of bare tree branches. I know one thing for sure it won't hurt to practice, practice, practice, but that will probably have to wait now until after squirrel/dove/rabbit season is over. I do have some idea of how fast they actually fly though. My partner was driving 55 mph the other day and a dove was flying parallel to him and having no trouble keeping up! No wonder I can't hit those darn things!

What happens when I dove hunt?

I get a squirrel that appears to be a cross between a fox squirrel and a black squirrel. That is a first for me, didn't even know they existed.
Tomorrow I am going squirrel hunting, maybe I'll get a dove!

The importance of a good scope!

After two hunts, with no success by me, we decided it was time to head to the shooting range and check out the accuracy of my scope. It became obvious very quickly that there was good reason I was not getting any critters. My scope was off by about 4 inches!  We had sighted the scope at the beginning of the season and with a similar experience last year I decided it was time to replace the old scope with a new one. Now I have a Nikkon vari-power scope and I am looking foward to trying it on this Friday!  I am thinking that the squirrels have decided that "That girl can't hit the broad side of a barn" so they now have no fear of me, maybe I will finally get my limit!

First dove hunt will be tomorrow afternoon. Last year I got one, those flying buggars are hard to hit. I have done a little clay pigeon shooting since then ( probably not near enough) and I just got a new book about hunting, which had a chapter on hunting doves, so we will see if I absorbed enough information to make a difference.

My partner has been doing some research on cleaning squirrels, so we have experimented with different options and have pretty much gotten it down to a science now, although I'm sure we'll continue to look for faster and better ways to get that job done.

One of my favorite areas of the land I hunt on. Can you see why it has a calming effect on me? Off to the right there is a hedgerow that the squirrels like to run along.

This is a prickly pear, or at least that is what I call them, they are all over the property where I hunt. The pretty flower is very deceptive, it tries to disguise the fact that there are thousands of tiny little thorns that are terribly annoying if you get them in your skin. Even though we live in Central Illinois our soil is very sandy allowing cacti to grow! You can also open the plant and eat the inside of it, interestingly enough.

Ready to go again

Ready to go again

As I sit down to write today it has been almost a week since I last hunted. I feel the anticipation of hunting building to a point of it becoming a need.  I sometimes just NEED to get out in the woods. I NEED to feel the fresh air moving around me. I NEED to walk through the trails and feel the earth beneath my feet,  to hear the leaves rustling in the wind and the birds singing their songs. I NEED to settle up against the side of a tree and scan the tree tops for movement, movement that tells me there just might be a squirrel moving through the branches, or maybe the sound of nuts being cut as he gorges himself preparing for winter. The sight of that movement or the sound of nuts being cut causes a rush of adrenaline and a reminder to myself to just be patient and wait, to enjoy the moments leading up to the shot.
It doesn't even matter sometimes if I don't get anything at all (although I sure do prefer to get something) I never leave the woods wishing I had done something else. It is a place of peace and restoration for me. A place where the cares of the world evaporate and I can just exist. No dirty dishes in the sink to consider, no laundry that needs washed, no one demanding my attention, it is my oasis. 
Now, as sorry as I am I must go unload my van of groceries.

Until next time,
Melanie

P.S. I hope to soon get a few pix up. I am slowly but surely going to figure this blog thing out!