Armed reconnaissance

Well, it didn't quite "begin again" on my supposed time frame.  I was sick on October 11th, so I stayed home.  By Tuesday I felt way better, and after dropping my son off at school I took to the field in a strip of public hunting land just across the border in Oklahoma.  

As I got out of the truck, a flight of teal wheeled overhead, and headed north. This made me suspect there were small bodies of water near-by.  More on that later.  I headed south instead to have a look, as I searched for an easier path to test my still recovering lungs.

It wasn't much more than an armed walk in the woods.  I was listening and looking more than anything.  I kept my squirrel call put away and looked for signs of game.  There were lots of game trails, deer and hog, and the understory of the tall oak, elm, pecan, and ash trees looked like it is probably hot with squirrel activity, and perhaps woodcock.  There are adjacent open areas where woodcock could perform their courtship flights, and that, along with the leaf littered undergrowth makes me believe that in wet years there could be those elusive timberdoodles present.

On the return trip to the car I found a deer ladder stand.  It was not derelict, but a new addition to the woods.  Probably illegal on public hunting land, but it's better for the trees if we're not climbing them by other means.  Better for the hunter because they're less likely to fall to their death.  Not far from the deer stand I stumbled across the remains of an old building.  Just the foundations, but it made me wonder what had stood here.  

When I arrived at the car and had sat and drank some water, I decided that I could take a little more walking to the north portion.  I found the woods to be less open, and more biar chocked that on my walk south.  There were thick plumb thickets as well. Good fodder for deer and squirrels, but difficult to pass though.  When I finally navigated around and through all of the obstructions, I stumbled onto cattails.  As I made to have a closer look, a flight of four wood ducks flew over, easily in range.  Had it been waterfowl season, I would likely have gotten a pair of them.  Promising.   

In wetter times there is a small body of water here, but today it was a meager creek that led to a dried up puddle.  A puddle that was difficult to access, and showed to have a great deal of game traffic.  Deer, perhaps, hogs probably.  A crossbow would likely give a hunter a good opportunity at one of the feral nuisances.  As far as waterfowl, probably the best bet in the pool's current state would be to call to passing waterfowl and try pass shooting as they look for the other birds.  The problem, other than the difficulty of pass shooting is, that without a dog, a hunter would either have to be very careful when choosing his or her shots, or risk losing a substantial number of birds to the dense cattails and brush around the area.  Further investigation led to a second, equally dried up pool. 

Finding that I was then fatigued, I walked to the edge of the property that I knew to be well mowed by the Corps of Engineers, and took an easy path out.  While taking the easy route I got the only shot at legal game of the day.  A small group of dove too far away, but worth the effort.  I need wings to train my dog. 

After resting at the car I felt wonderful.  Best I'd felt in weeks.