I was trapped inside again until about an hour and half before
dark. As soon as I hung the phone up I grabbed my bow, tossed on some
wool and made haste to the woods.
I know it is still supposed to be fall but I was hard pressed to see that today. We've lost nearly all of our leaves now, and the north wind was especially brutal, it spit snow and ice throughout.
That was today, three days ago we had beautiful blue skies and incredibly brilliant leaves across all of the north country. It looked liked this just out my back door.
As I was moving through the woods I took every opportunity to bust a stump. I've really had a blast this year roving the woods and stump shooting. It has without a doubt sharpened my shooting skills to a whole new level. I also found one heck of a blunt! This thing is a monster, I've wrote about it before but in case that was missed it is the Small Game Thumper (SGT) head from Vantage Point Archery (VPA).
I've been seeing ruffed grouse regularly. The males have been strutting my logging roads looking for mates, I've gotten close a few times but just not close enough until today. As much as I love deer hunting there's something even better about grouse and longbows!
I spotted him at about forty yards moving in my direction so I just waited. I was off the trail by about ten yards, hold up in some balsam firs watching the yellow aspens shed their leaves like a dog sheds a winter coat in May. At twenty he was passing through an opening, the the SGT tipped arrow darted forward and he never knew what hit him.
I'm not sure that it gets much better than slipping through the forest with a longbow in hand, good wool keeping a frosty north wind at bay, seeing and feeling the changing of a season and putting a fine meal on the table.
Hope your season is going as good as mine!
I know it is still supposed to be fall but I was hard pressed to see that today. We've lost nearly all of our leaves now, and the north wind was especially brutal, it spit snow and ice throughout.
That was today, three days ago we had beautiful blue skies and incredibly brilliant leaves across all of the north country. It looked liked this just out my back door.
As I was moving through the woods I took every opportunity to bust a stump. I've really had a blast this year roving the woods and stump shooting. It has without a doubt sharpened my shooting skills to a whole new level. I also found one heck of a blunt! This thing is a monster, I've wrote about it before but in case that was missed it is the Small Game Thumper (SGT) head from Vantage Point Archery (VPA).
I've been seeing ruffed grouse regularly. The males have been strutting my logging roads looking for mates, I've gotten close a few times but just not close enough until today. As much as I love deer hunting there's something even better about grouse and longbows!
I spotted him at about forty yards moving in my direction so I just waited. I was off the trail by about ten yards, hold up in some balsam firs watching the yellow aspens shed their leaves like a dog sheds a winter coat in May. At twenty he was passing through an opening, the the SGT tipped arrow darted forward and he never knew what hit him.
I'm not sure that it gets much better than slipping through the forest with a longbow in hand, good wool keeping a frosty north wind at bay, seeing and feeling the changing of a season and putting a fine meal on the table.
Hope your season is going as good as mine!
Winter sure comes early to the north country. 70 degrees here today, and that's the coolest we've had so far. Nights are cool though; good sleeping weather.
ReplyDeleteIt seems earlier than usual to me Bob. Three years ago we had a doozy of a winter, started having a fire in the woodstove in early September. Then we had a couple mild winters. We started burning again this year the last two weeks of September. This winter wind that started up yesterday has been something else.
DeleteThat is awesome man. I just started using a recurve and am not even ready to deer hunt with it yet, let alone take a grouse. always love the story and photos.
ReplyDeleteThanks friend, hope you and that recurve find success and many years of enjoyment in the field!
DeleteBeautiful photographs! Love the fall colors. I've never seen a grouse before. What do they taste like? And thanks for visiting our blog!
ReplyDeleteJen
Grouse taste like, er, well not chicken! Sorta. Grouse are field birds and have a heavier taste, more woodsy, certainly wild. Largely dependent upon where they are taken. Slow roasted but not for overly long, they are pretty lean so wrapped in bacon is always a win.
DeleteRoasted over a campfire is probably the absolute best of all though, spices of hunger and anticipation can be found there like no where else!
Congratulations! Longbows and recurves rock!
ReplyDeleteYou betcha!
DeleteYou guys seem to have leaped into winter already. We're not quite that far along yet, but it won't be long now.
ReplyDeleteThanks for bringing us along, and of course, nice shooting. :)
Thanks WW. It is a bit early for us to dip this cold, though historically speaking my area has had snowfall in all the months of the year at one time or another.
ReplyDeleteThanks again!
I can't believe you've lost your leaves up there already. I still have too much green here. They're about to turn though and I can't wait to get out there and enjoy the fall colors. Nice shot on that bird. Small game with a long bow is definitely some skill.
ReplyDelete