shottyshooter
09-19-2012, 11:44 PM
I had the day off so I got the blessing from mama and pulled my oldest boy (11) out of school and went for an overnighter! We left around 4pm yesterday and were hoping to get some grouse, do some plinking and I had a bear and deer tag just in case.
I'm a new hunter and my son is really interested too so we were both quite excited. We were going to a spot where we passed on a small spring bear but got taunted by a number of grouse that were, of course, not in season at the time. On that trip, during a stop for lunch, my son went into the woods and saw the family of grouse that had seemed to be following us up the trail a bit and taunting us the whole way. I laughed and told him that the animals knew the regs better than anyone! He looked me straight in the eyes and swore that he would come back and get that grouse!
Well, I'm pretty sure this was him!
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q539/ic_contracting/P1070596_zps212b3ce4.jpg
We were only 30 minutes into the bush when he flushed and it was really close to the area that my son's vendetta origionated at. We cleaned him up and saved some feathers for the little ones at home (who are also developing a healthy interest in hunting). A second grouse flushed but we left it because it was in a tree above some thick stuff and our priority was to get to our area and set up camp.
We had a quick hike around as dusk rolled in - it was a beautiful night.
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q539/ic_contracting/P1070613_zps989d3627.jpg
Grouse and rice for dinner that night, the stars were out in full force and the fire roared until we forgot about the city and could only think about the morning and what we may find.
I'm pretty sure I smacked a bear away from the tent in the night. I awoke to some snuffling under the fly and in my haze figured I'd swat at it. LOL! As I woke up a bit more I listened hard but didn't hear anything else and there was no sign outside.
In the morning we grabbed some apples and started walking the cuts. Didn't see any deer but we saw this little BC oasis in the forest.
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q539/ic_contracting/P1070604_zps62ca9df1.jpg
We hit the end of the cut and turned around to go make breakfast. A twig snapped above us and it didn't take long to spot this guy, who appeared to be bedded down up there.
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q539/ic_contracting/P1070629_zpsa5e849a0.jpg
We checked him out for awhile but I decided to leave him be because he was smallish and - honestly - he had bed-head and acted like a niaeve little kid while he ate some berries and then tried to go back to his bed hehehe...
On the way back we crossed our own tracks and saw fresh deer tracks over top of ours! I have a feeling that we spooked a deer from the watreing hole and he just waited for us to go down the road a bit...
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q539/ic_contracting/P1070631_zps248730dc.jpg
We spent the rest of the day looking in vain for more grouse and had a great trip!
Many thanks to anyone and everyone here whose advice, weather offerred or gleaned, undoubtedly helped a newbie like me have such a great trip with my son.
I'm a new hunter and my son is really interested too so we were both quite excited. We were going to a spot where we passed on a small spring bear but got taunted by a number of grouse that were, of course, not in season at the time. On that trip, during a stop for lunch, my son went into the woods and saw the family of grouse that had seemed to be following us up the trail a bit and taunting us the whole way. I laughed and told him that the animals knew the regs better than anyone! He looked me straight in the eyes and swore that he would come back and get that grouse!
Well, I'm pretty sure this was him!
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q539/ic_contracting/P1070596_zps212b3ce4.jpg
We were only 30 minutes into the bush when he flushed and it was really close to the area that my son's vendetta origionated at. We cleaned him up and saved some feathers for the little ones at home (who are also developing a healthy interest in hunting). A second grouse flushed but we left it because it was in a tree above some thick stuff and our priority was to get to our area and set up camp.
We had a quick hike around as dusk rolled in - it was a beautiful night.
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q539/ic_contracting/P1070613_zps989d3627.jpg
Grouse and rice for dinner that night, the stars were out in full force and the fire roared until we forgot about the city and could only think about the morning and what we may find.
I'm pretty sure I smacked a bear away from the tent in the night. I awoke to some snuffling under the fly and in my haze figured I'd swat at it. LOL! As I woke up a bit more I listened hard but didn't hear anything else and there was no sign outside.
In the morning we grabbed some apples and started walking the cuts. Didn't see any deer but we saw this little BC oasis in the forest.
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q539/ic_contracting/P1070604_zps62ca9df1.jpg
We hit the end of the cut and turned around to go make breakfast. A twig snapped above us and it didn't take long to spot this guy, who appeared to be bedded down up there.
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q539/ic_contracting/P1070629_zpsa5e849a0.jpg
We checked him out for awhile but I decided to leave him be because he was smallish and - honestly - he had bed-head and acted like a niaeve little kid while he ate some berries and then tried to go back to his bed hehehe...
On the way back we crossed our own tracks and saw fresh deer tracks over top of ours! I have a feeling that we spooked a deer from the watreing hole and he just waited for us to go down the road a bit...
http://i1162.photobucket.com/albums/q539/ic_contracting/P1070631_zps248730dc.jpg
We spent the rest of the day looking in vain for more grouse and had a great trip!
Many thanks to anyone and everyone here whose advice, weather offerred or gleaned, undoubtedly helped a newbie like me have such a great trip with my son.