Yesterday I went over to hunt on the back side of the lake with no particular plan or route in mind. I drove up to the end of the Drew Road, assuming they still call it that, to the old Collins farm, to check if those bastards I got into a row with last year were in there. They weren't, so I decided to park at Dick's camp and go wherever the deer were.
This is the first time I've been through there since the various lots from the old Blow lot have been cut off this summer. Actually, they're still up there, skidding hitches out to the road, and although they weren't in there in the afternoon, they were in there that morning.
One thing that I noticed, is these machines that cut these trees leave the woods pretty clean: no tops to trip you up. The only thing, is that there are all these piles of trees waiting to be picked up. It's next to impossible to try and climb over them without breaking a leg, and you can walk several hundred yards trying to find a place to get around them.
The deer have the same problem, apparently. When I walked in, there weren't particularly a lot of fresh tracks where I went, but on the way back, having cross several rows, I found LOTS of fresh tracks. They're feeding on the tops of those trees, and instead of bedding down way up in Soulia Mountain in that swamp like they've always done, they're bedding down right on the end of Dick's lot.
In fact, I saw more fresh deer sign yesterday than I have all season.
I walked up back of John Bobot's, intending to walk along that 4-wheeler trail. But it's now basically gone, so I just went along a skidder trail and headed over to the old right-of-way that goes into 43 camp, as well as into Figure Camp. I encountered various sets of tracks, all heading the wrong way, of course, but there were some headed into that area on top of the hill that I like to check out. Actually I went in somewhat north of there, and wound up following my dad's yellow paint along the south edge of the Blow lot. I wound up at a post where these guys had quit logging; just back of that was the Hyland lot that was cut off last winter by Figure 8 Camp. There were areas that were completely clear-cut; I'm unsure how they get away with that. Probably the same way that some of their members are getting away with baiting, considering how they're so brazen about it!
After sitting on top of a big split rock where I could see probably farther than I could shoot in many directions, I headed south up the hill towards Soulia a bit, just to see what I could see. But the wind was whipping in my face, and since there were no deer up there anyway, I went back over towards Dick's lot. About this time, dad's old yellow paint faded away, and apparently Dick had been up in there this summer with this day-glo yellow paint; there is no missing that! [At this point I want to commend Charlie and Dick for their hard work cutting that line out; nobody can make a decent trail like R & D Outfitters, I tellya!] I went to his southwest corner. Whoa, was there a lot of deer sign in there! In fact, I found 4 beds that they had lain in the night previous. From there they'd headed down to eat all those buds from the treetop piles that are in rows.
So what I did, was to make a big circle, and try to determine where they'd gone to lay down, as by that time in the day, they weren't to be found. As near as I could tell, they had gone down into the Soulia farm, into the evergreens.
I walked north along Dick's line, then zig-zagged through his lot, since it's the only one that's not been logged off. Since there was a lot of evergreens in there, I thought that perhaps I might come across something. When I got down to the Soulia farm, I was glad to see that all of those nice evergreen trees were still there; I guess I thought that's where they were going to log, when in fact it was just north of the Blow lot.
I was struck at how far you can see in that Blow lot now. The deer are working that area pretty heavily right now, and in the next few years as the underbrush grows, I can see that there will be a lot of deer in there. The only problem is that hunting alone reduces your chances of seeing anything, and by the time you get in there to sit, you're covered with sweat.
[I forgot to mention that in my previous post, my scent totally spooked those deer that were on my property. Most of the time when I walk up that hill, the wind is at my back.]
I walked back along John Bobot's west line. There was a place where there is a stone wall, and the deer had crossed right in there to feed on those treetops. I could see John Bobot's house from where those deer crossed in there.
I noticed that the top of Dick's metal chimney is all bent over, and the rain will be going down his pipe. We had severe windstorms last week; perhaps they blew his chimney top.
This is the first time I've been through there since the various lots from the old Blow lot have been cut off this summer. Actually, they're still up there, skidding hitches out to the road, and although they weren't in there in the afternoon, they were in there that morning.
One thing that I noticed, is these machines that cut these trees leave the woods pretty clean: no tops to trip you up. The only thing, is that there are all these piles of trees waiting to be picked up. It's next to impossible to try and climb over them without breaking a leg, and you can walk several hundred yards trying to find a place to get around them.
The deer have the same problem, apparently. When I walked in, there weren't particularly a lot of fresh tracks where I went, but on the way back, having cross several rows, I found LOTS of fresh tracks. They're feeding on the tops of those trees, and instead of bedding down way up in Soulia Mountain in that swamp like they've always done, they're bedding down right on the end of Dick's lot.
In fact, I saw more fresh deer sign yesterday than I have all season.
I walked up back of John Bobot's, intending to walk along that 4-wheeler trail. But it's now basically gone, so I just went along a skidder trail and headed over to the old right-of-way that goes into 43 camp, as well as into Figure Camp. I encountered various sets of tracks, all heading the wrong way, of course, but there were some headed into that area on top of the hill that I like to check out. Actually I went in somewhat north of there, and wound up following my dad's yellow paint along the south edge of the Blow lot. I wound up at a post where these guys had quit logging; just back of that was the Hyland lot that was cut off last winter by Figure 8 Camp. There were areas that were completely clear-cut; I'm unsure how they get away with that. Probably the same way that some of their members are getting away with baiting, considering how they're so brazen about it!
After sitting on top of a big split rock where I could see probably farther than I could shoot in many directions, I headed south up the hill towards Soulia a bit, just to see what I could see. But the wind was whipping in my face, and since there were no deer up there anyway, I went back over towards Dick's lot. About this time, dad's old yellow paint faded away, and apparently Dick had been up in there this summer with this day-glo yellow paint; there is no missing that! [At this point I want to commend Charlie and Dick for their hard work cutting that line out; nobody can make a decent trail like R & D Outfitters, I tellya!] I went to his southwest corner. Whoa, was there a lot of deer sign in there! In fact, I found 4 beds that they had lain in the night previous. From there they'd headed down to eat all those buds from the treetop piles that are in rows.
So what I did, was to make a big circle, and try to determine where they'd gone to lay down, as by that time in the day, they weren't to be found. As near as I could tell, they had gone down into the Soulia farm, into the evergreens.
I walked north along Dick's line, then zig-zagged through his lot, since it's the only one that's not been logged off. Since there was a lot of evergreens in there, I thought that perhaps I might come across something. When I got down to the Soulia farm, I was glad to see that all of those nice evergreen trees were still there; I guess I thought that's where they were going to log, when in fact it was just north of the Blow lot.
I was struck at how far you can see in that Blow lot now. The deer are working that area pretty heavily right now, and in the next few years as the underbrush grows, I can see that there will be a lot of deer in there. The only problem is that hunting alone reduces your chances of seeing anything, and by the time you get in there to sit, you're covered with sweat.
[I forgot to mention that in my previous post, my scent totally spooked those deer that were on my property. Most of the time when I walk up that hill, the wind is at my back.]
I walked back along John Bobot's west line. There was a place where there is a stone wall, and the deer had crossed right in there to feed on those treetops. I could see John Bobot's house from where those deer crossed in there.
I noticed that the top of Dick's metal chimney is all bent over, and the rain will be going down his pipe. We had severe windstorms last week; perhaps they blew his chimney top.
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