Blog Entries from the WeHuntSC.com blogging crew
I had a pretty busy weekend over this past Thanksgiving Holiday. I spent a lot of time in the woods and swamps and don?t have much to show for it, but then again that?s why they call it hunting rather than shooting! Though, I don?t mind getting out in nature and not shooting anything?it?s a whole lot better than being at work!
We knocked off early at work on Wednesday and I headed down to Pageland. I wasn?t able to hunt that evening because I gave the devotion at football practice that night. After that we had the Turkey Bowl draft and then I headed down to the in-laws! We stayed up pretty late talking and I got to bed around 12:30.
During the day on Wednesday I gave Mr. Bruce Puette a call to see if he wanted to go hunting Thursday morning. Just like clock-work Mr. Puette assured me that he was going. I should have known he was going because if the sun rises, Mr. Puette is usually in a stand somewhere! I woke up at 4:15 in order to get ready and meet Mr. Puette at his hunting club. Though on Thursday morning he put me in a nice stand overlooking a gas line and he hunted a different stand. I had the perfect setup and a good stand, but nothing came through. I could hear the duck hunters wearing some ducks out in the distance though. Those guys were shooting every couple of minutes. There are obviously some ducks flying down around the Pee Dee River!
After the hunt with Mr. Puette I ate a very nice Thanksgiving lunch with my in-laws. I ate enough to hold me over, but I didn?t over-eat because a big game was up next on the schedule. That?s right?the Turkey Bowl was scheduled for 3 o?clock and I needed to be there and ready to play! You may be wondering what the Turkey Bowl is?well if that?s the case then please refer to the blog entry I wrote for 2MinuutinVaroitus.com where I describe the Turkey Bowl in full. Some of my Finnish friends asked me to write a blog for their web site so they sent me a shirt and I gave it a whirl.
Thursday evening we ate yet another Thanksgiving meal and this one was at my parent?s house. If you know my mama, then you know she can cook and she puts on a big spread every Thanksgiving. We ate until we almost couldn?t move. I was so tired from the Turkey Bowl that I had to go and lay down at a decent hour. I think I got to bed that night around 11.
I was up early Friday morning to go duck hunting with Gavin Jackson and his duck hunting crew. I got all layered up and stepped outside. As soon as I got outside I knew something was off. It wasn?t cold at all. I started getting hot after a few steps. When I got into my car I noticed that it was only 60 degrees whereas the day before it was 38 degrees. Some kind of warm front had come through the area and I didn?t even wear my jacket in the swamp!
We made our way into the swamp and got everybody set up. We had 3 hunters and me and I set up on the beaver dam to try to video the event. It started to get light and we anticipated birds flying in from everywhere, but for whatever reason, nothing much was flying. We had 4 birds come in real low very early and they got out of there quick, but it was too early to shoot plus they were in and out very quickly. After that we only saw a handful of ducks in the distance and before too long the hunt was over. We had our own little ?lame duck session? in the swamp. Though, the lack of birds flying didn?t stop me from filming and taking pics. I got some good footage of the setup and guys walking through the swamp. Videoing while duck hunting adds another factor into the mix that is somewhat scary?water. I was scared of dropping my camera in the water, but what can you do right? The tripod also got introduced to swamp mud on this trip. Even though we didn?t get any birds much less a shot at a bird, we still had a good time.
I had to be at Central at 12 because the bus was leaving for Woodruff at 12:30. We made our way over to Woodruff and I thought the bus we were on was going to break down before we got there. We did end up making it and I have to say that our game this past weekend vs. Woodruff was one of the best high school games I?ve ever been a part of?coaching, playing, or watching. Woodruff had a nice stadium and it was jam packed, music everywhere?it was the electric, Friday Night Lights environment that you read about and only experience every now and then. The game was full of big hits, big plays, momentum swings, and it was down to the wire. In the end we won the game and everyone was on edge until the clock struck zero. Woodruff had a really good team and be on the lookout for their Qb next year. He was running the show and doing a good job with it. Now we?ve got Dillon again and I hope we can break our recent trend with them!
After I woke up I headed back down to the in-laws and hung out for a while. We even did some painting for my mother-in-law! It never hurts to keep the in-laws on the good side I guess. Later that evening I hunted near their house from my climbing stand. I?m not a big fan of climbing stands, but every now and then I?ll break bad and use mine. And it took me more time to get situated because of my use of the safety harness, but I always use it when in the climber. It can be aggravating, but the downside would be a whole lot worse than if I wasn?t wearing it.
In this setting I was overlooking a swamp behind me and a fire break in between some planted pines and oaks in front of me. I had some corn out beneath me and also on the fire break. I had been putting corn out there for a while, but had never hunted there and I figured it would be the perfect set up. I thought that I wouldn?t be able to film out of the climber, but after using it I think I could use my Irwin Grip and make it work. We shall see in future attempts!
On this hunt I saw everything but a deer. I had some wood ducks fly over me and then came the geese. Throughout the whole afternoon I had 2 squirrels running around below me. Sitting in the stand I had my back to the swamp and I figured that if something was walking through the swamp that I would hear it and be able to turn around in time. Well I was sitting there in the quiet when all of a sudden I hear something slurping water behind me. I was frozen. I knew there was no way a deer could have walked through there that quiet enough to get close to me and drink water. I slowly turned around and 2 huge raccoons were quietly walking through the edge of the swamp. I tried to get them on film, but by the time I turned around they had gotten behind some brush and I couldn?t get the camera focused on them. I guess they came down from one of those trees or something. I have no idea how they got that close to me. Right before dark I had, what I thought to be a chipmunk, come out of some thick brush to my right. It was getting dark and was difficult to see, but after looking at the bird it was plainly a quail. I haven?t seen them around much, but I definitely knew what it was. I watched it walk around for a bit and then it flew off. It was a neat afternoon in the woods with the exception of not seeing any deer!
Below is a video with visuals from the weekend...no ducks or deer harvested, just scenery!
By the time Sunday morning came around I had to sleep in. The weekend was wearing me out and I didn?t want to fall asleep in church! No hunting on Sunday afternoon as we watched film at the coaches meeting and then I spent some time with the wife!
Overall it was a good, long, weekend. Thanksgiving, good food, the Turkey Bowl, an exciting football game and road trip, duck hunting, and deer hunting made up my whole weekend. I didn?t bring anything home other than myself, but it sure was fun. I was actually glad when Monday came around because with this kind of scheduling, I have to go to work just to rest.
Regards,
Clint