End of year report

I made an end of year video in the woods while hunting today, but I'm sorry to say that it was so windy that you wouldn't be able to hear what I was saying. I'll try to recap what I said:

If you remember, hunting was really bad last year from the opening day of pheasant season through the entire summer. I hunted chucks during the summer and nailed a few, including one with a 17HMR revolver. Other than that there was rarely a squirrel to be found. As usual, I saw an occasional rabbit, but those all disappear prior to the start of hunting season. My expectations for squirrel season 2009 was zero, but I was pleasantly surprised to have seen and bagged 19 during the first couple of months of the season. Henry Repeating Arms let me field test their Hoo1T octagon barrel 22, which worked out better than I could have imagined. I bagged every squirrel that I aimed at on the first shot. I didn't even have that kind of accuracy with the 17HMR, so I couldn't have been happier with that rifle. Special thanks to Anthony Imperato, the President of Henry Repeating Arms.

Once November arrived the appearance of squirrels came to a grinding halt. From the beginning of November through the end of December I averaged 2 hunts per week and in those 2 months, the number of squirrels I spotted could be counted on one hand. I think Nov 9th was the last day that I bagged a squirrel.

I bought my first pheasant stamp in 30 years this year, and hunted with an old bolt action 20 gauge that an elderly neighbor gave me. I bagged a bird right off the bat on opening day, and another early the following weekend. From that time on I haven't seen another bird, nor did I see anyone else put one up. Throughout the months of November and December I rarely heard a shot, even from hunters who had as many as 5 dogs. It was obvious to me that the DEP was not stocking late Friday or Saturday, but instead sometime during the week if at all. I'm guessing someone was getting a heads up or the retired guys who hunt during the week were bagging them all, because there were none left for Saturday, when most working guys hunt. These areas are called 'Wildlife Management Areas', but I haven't seen much management, including CO's in the field. In fact, I haven't come across a conservation officer in 2 years! Prior to that I rarely walked in the woods without being stopped and having my rifle and backpack inspected. I'm wondering how many birds are being brought out per hunter during the weekdays? I really hope I'm wrong about this.

Why no small game? I believe the answer is that a major predator problem has developed. For the past 2 years I had seen 3-4 hawks constantly patrolling the hunting areas at all times. Once while coyote hunting, 2 hawks dived on a tree out of nowhere and ripped a squirrel off a trunk a stone's throw in front of me. This year I saw a hawk dive down and nail a rabbit about 25 yards from my vehicle. I contacted the DEP about the predator problem and the biologist suggested that I trap fisher cats, which he believed to be the cause. I did see my first fisher this year, but at a distance. Coyotes were a problem, but I believed they moved out of the area this year because I haven't seen scat, tracks or any other trace of them. The discouraging thing is that even the predators appear to have left the area. I have a feeling they have moved off to patrol the housing areas where most small game live and die on the roads.

What amazes me is that the nut crop has been huge this year. There are nuts everywhere. I had a lot of fun earlier in the season when the leaves were on the trees. The trees were so full of nuts that I could sit under certain trees and listen as pieces of nuts fell from the treetops. In time the squirrels would show themselves and sometimes I'd get a shot through the dense leaf cover. That was a blast, but I'm sorry to say that it didn't last long. Once the trees became bare, on very rare occasions I'd spot a squirrel on ground level running for a few seconds, but that became and extremely rare occurrence and I never got a shot. My hope for the remaining two months isn't very high, though I will be out there just the same. This season I've hunted on absolutely perfect mornings, plus in snow, rain and sleet. The results have been the same; nothing.

I hope to spend more time target shooting at the range and reloading throughout the Winter and Spring, so check those pages to see what's new. I sure hope you are having better luck hunting where you live. If so, consider sending me photos and a story that I can post because we all would be encouraged by some success. My email is brshooting@sbcglobal.net. Wishing you and yours a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Happy and Prosperous New Year.