Curious, Who has
Contributors to this thread:Pennsylvania
From: hawkeye in PA
21-Feb-15
Curious, who has taken advantage of the Pa extended small game season in February? I've been out stump shooting a few times, but not hunting. The outdoor 3D shoots attendance is way down also, regardless of bow type. How about last year?
From: Flatlander
21-Feb-15
Took the boy out rabbit hunting a few times.
From: Metikki
21-Feb-15
I hunted:)
From: Bogey PA
21-Feb-15
I got my pup out in some pheasant in grouse covers but had no intention of shooting anything. Still early in training.
From: hawkeye in PA
21-Feb-15
Wished we still had some grouse around! I seen one during archery season. Used to really enjoy stalking them in a fresh snow. Had shooting but they always won, lol. Have arrowed a few pheasants and rabbits though.
From: Bourbonator
21-Feb-15
I hunted squirrels a few times, but have been chasing yotes lately.
From: Red Beastmaster
21-Feb-15
I just came in from shooting my course through the woodlot behind the house. I always carry a few blunts just in case. I startled a big fat squirrel and he hung on the side of a tree at 20yd. I thought about ripping one at it but then thought, naaaaah. Save him for next year. :)
From: Jeff Durnell
21-Feb-15
I've been out here and there when I could find the time. This morning I went over to one of the game lands not far from here, shortly after the snow storm began. It's kind of been my ritual to go out the last day if at all possible, no matter the weather, kind of in order to say goodbye to yet another ‘season’.
It was really dumping the snow as I left the truck. I was dressed to cover ground, in wool. I had Lioness with me, an osage selfbow. My intended route would take me about a mile and a half back in, skirting the upper side of a long narrow swamp to my left with a hardwood ridge up and to my right. The going was tough with 16-20" of snow and a mid layer of crust to break through. The fresh snow muffled my occasional crunching pretty well and other than that, all I could hear was the snow falling on the remaining birch and white oak leaves and my own breathing. It was soooooo quiet out there. Every once in a while I'd stop until my breathing slowed completely, and just soak in the silence and stillness. It was very peaceful.
From: Jeff Durnell
21-Feb-15
I had gone several hundred yards trying to decipher the various tracks I came across, most blurred by the quickly deepening snow… any idea what this one is? …when I saw a doe about 70 yards away. I tried to move forward quietly, but another deer I hadn’t seen saw me and they moved off down into the thicker brush near the swamp. When I got to where they were standing, I saw that they were well sheltered and eating browse, weeds, whatever was available above the snow, not trying to dig for anything.
From: Jeff Durnell
21-Feb-15
From: Jeff Durnell
21-Feb-15
Fwesh deer twax.
From: Jeff Durnell
21-Feb-15
A little farther along I stopped to watch and listen to a pileated woodpecker and then saw some turkey tracks. They too headed down toward the swamp and as I studied down that way, saw a nice big tom about 8’ off the ground on top of a short brushy tree, wobbling, trying to keep his balance. He eventually flew down, walked away into the trees, and I did too. Even though I hadn’t really harassed the deer or turkeys, I sort of felt bad for making them move off in the other direction… it’s obviously tough goin’ out there now for everyone. I thought I’d have a much better chance at a rabbit if I moved down into the thicker brush too, and that was my intention all along, but just stayed higher and let them all be so they didn’t have to avoid me again.
The turkey was just to the right of those 3 pine trees.
From: Jeff Durnell
21-Feb-15
Eventually, I rounded the end of my loop and turned in the direction of the truck at which point it was mostly uphill, drifted knee high, and I was really huffin’ by the time I reached the very top. I came back up past where I stalked the bear in October, and stopped to watch a pair of nuthatches pass through working tree bark for bugs. Once they left, I took a picture of my bow standing in the snow so I could remember/reference how deep it was and then trudged on toward the truck.
From: Jeff Durnell
21-Feb-15
About halfway out I saw where a squirrel dug almost a foot and a half deep for a nut. He must have been standing on his head down in there. How in the heck do they find them things? Smell? Through all that snow? It was really fresh sign in the falling snow, so he must have just been there. Heck, he was safe, I wouldn’t have shot him anyway.
From: Jeff Durnell
21-Feb-15
During my walk, I saw the tracks of two coyotes, one red fox, one grey fox (I think), 5 turkeys, 10-12 deer, 3 squirrels, and whatever those mystery tracks were… porcupine maybe? There were small trees handy there with a lot of bark chewed off of their limbs that I thought looked like the work of a porky, but who knows.
Another hunting season gone.
From: Jeff Durnell
21-Feb-15
Oh yeah... check out this hunting seat.
From: Jeff Durnell
21-Feb-15
Good grief. lol
From: hawkeye in PA
21-Feb-15
Nice pics Jeff, I shot some in the yard today and walked up back. Saw that a deer was looking in the basement window over night. Or maybe eating the hedges:) I just don't see many squirrels around my place. If I go over to Dad's, about a mile away, almost always see a couple. But my old stomping ground is all posted up.
From: DaleHajas
22-Feb-15
Yer lucky that ole piliated didn't start on that bow ya left standing there lol
From: Jeff Durnell
22-Feb-15
She woulda ate him before he landed.
From: Treerat
22-Feb-15
Nice story you painted there Jeff.
Mike
From: HARRY CARRY
22-Feb-15
From 2:15 AM til around 2:30 AM Saturday morning, 5 deer were munching on the pine shrubbery in the back yard where I live. Two of the larger deer had scratched through the snow near two rotting tree stumps, and were eating what they uncovered. I could not see any antlers on any of them; they only activated the motion sensor lights on the house a couple times, but not as a group. Later in the day yesterday, upon looking at what they HAD eaten, the pine shrubbery is slowly disappearing, but I have no idea what sparked their interest near the stumps. My eyesight...watching critters out the window in the darkest hours of night...is not the greatest. (All happening in the north end of town Greensburg)
From: George D. Stout
22-Feb-15
Nice photos Jeff.
From: horsethief51
01-Mar-15
Can't get much further than the end of the driveway with the 2 feet of snow that has piled up (and still counting.)
From: Jeff Durnell
01-Mar-15
Yep Art, we got another 4" here in the last 24 hours. It would be nice to be in the woods today, but I'm working in the shop instead. I ran down the road to get some kerosene earlier this morning and saw 3 deer and a hen turkey. The hen was only 10 yards from the road... diggin'.
From: horsethief51
02-Mar-15
I have been seeing a few hens in a spot right next to the road for the past 3 days. Might be something good to eat in the brush there.
From: DirtnapOutdoors
07-Mar-15
Hunted with my beagles for bunnies until all then snow arrived
From: Jeff Durnell
07-Mar-15
I pursued osage bow wood today down in Washington county. It was a successful hunt :^)
From: Will tell
13-Mar-15
My boy and his pals shot 35 Geese the last day of the season.
From: Dale Miller
14-Mar-15
I got several gray squirrels with the .22 after several misses with the recurve.
Won't use my "wheels" on squirrels, just too hard on arrows, I either lose them or break them. As it is, I still broke one with the recurve. The wheelie rest also chews up the flu flu fletching quickly.
It is the same Howatt that I got my first bowkilled deer with nearly forty years ago.
