I’m home for the holiday

A guy I once knew, who had plenty of experience, spoke to me about drinking on New Years Eve. He said it was for amateurs. The really dedicated drinker could get hammered any time.

It somewhat describes my feelings about this weekend. I may slide out for two or three hours of fly fishing, but driving any distance over the Labor Day weekend, like dipping snuff, leaves me cold and sneezy.

There are a number of things I can do over the weekend. I've got a muskie fishing trip coming up within 10 days to two weeks, and although I've worked on my lures, oiled and taken care of my rods and reels, there are other things that need to be done.

I’m not lacking in outdoor things to do. I just hope it cools off.

I've got to dig out my old floppy-brim felt hat that shades my eyes. It makes it a bit easier to spot a following muskie 15-20 yards away. I don't always wear it, but have caught some nice fish while wearing the hat. Is it a good-luck charm? I guess it's as good as anything else. Anyone who fishes for muskies need all the help and luck they can get.

A bunch of fishing and hunting books were purchased from an angler in western Ohio. They arrived nearly two weeks ago, and that state has some good muskie lakes (as does nearby Illinois and Pennsylvania), and I've got to get the titles cataloged. Doing so takes time, but there are some good titles on fishing for muskies, salmon, trout and walleyes in the batch. A few turkey books, some on deer hunting, and some on deer and grouse hunting, and they must be sorted through.

I keep a short list of names of people looking for a specific title, and when one shows up, they get first crack. In fact, if a certain title comes in, and no one has spoken for it up to that point, it sells to the first person that wants it. It's a fair and equitable way to do business, and if someone is already at the top of the list,  I tell the next person that he/she is second or third in line. People seem to respect that concept.

Sorting and cataloging those books will provide me with at least two days of work just pulling all that stuff into some semblance of order.

I suspect I'll do a bit of work on some of my tree stands during the early-morning hours just to make certain a big windstorm a week ago didn't loosen up the straps or chains. Climbing into a stand, and finding it wobbly, is not my idea of a good time.

I'll spend a bit of time drinking in the first of the fall color that tinges the leaves along maple ridges. I'll check close to find how tight to some wild grape arbors the grouse are holding at different times of day. I know of several wild grape arbors (ah, ah, ah, don't ask), and periodically during the summer, I'd bust an old biddie and her young ones from the area. I've left them be, but it's important to know what time they move to the different arbors. All are within a two-mile area.

My bird-finding excursions are simple but based on a hunting method I learned many years ago. One of two hunters (or someone who is not carrying a firearm) shuffles in a zigag, stop-and-go manner toward one piece of cover that is totally different from the surrounding habitat. A cut-over maple ridge with a grape arbor near the bottom of the hill is a good example.

Try my one- or two-man “shuffle” for ruffed grouse.

I begin by taking 10-15 steps to the left of a center line to the arbor. I travel at a 45-degree angle with one or two short pauses, shuffle back across that centerline with one or two pauses on another 45-degree angle in the other direction, stop, and head back to the left. The trick is to stop in an area where, if hunting season was open, you'd have room for a clear shot.

Once you near the grape arbor, position yourself properly, and rapidly tap your foot two or three times like the sound of a cat or fox darting in for the kill, and more often than you'd believe, a grouse will flush. Note the time of day, how many birds, and the direction they fly. Most often, if a hen has her brood with her, there will be a thunder of wings exploding from the thick cover.

There are a number of things to do to prepare for the fall hunting seasons. I know I'll keep myself busy while staying off the roadways. Like the old gent told me: holidays are for those who can't do it any other time.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors