Take advantage of the bounty this season

                        
What a fantastic time of the year for us folks who enjoy hunting and fishing. If hunting is your game, then you might be in the squirrel woods at first light, and spend your evenings in those chopped cornfields shooting some doves over your decoys. Maybe you prefer watching the sun rise or set from your tree stand, while bow hunting. The deer bag limits are very generous this year, depending on what counties you are doing your hunting in. Now is also the time to chase around some fall turkeys. A little heaven on earth can be experienced at daybreak on the marsh, when those greenheads and woodies come gliding into your dekes. Even the groundhog hunting is as good as it gets, while shooting those fat sows at long range in the harvested bean fields.
If you fish, the local ponds are alive with bluegill, and bass that are piling on weight before winter. Better yet, take a trip to Lake Erie for a limit of jumbo perch.
Unfortunately, since I got back from our bird hunt out west, I have been stuck doing that work stuff. The good news is that I am almost caught up, and will soon be back in the woods and on the water. The one good thing about this recession is that work is hard to come by, which leaves some extra time for goofing off.
If you haven't gotten out to do any hunting or fishing yet this fall, don't despair. Right now is the time to catch up on your work, and finish the honey-do list, because the good stuff is right around the corner.
All the supposed experts tell us the first week of November is that magical period known as the whitetail rut. Millions of words have been written about this mystical phenomenon. Fortunes have been made selling books and magazines about it. Hours of film footage have been watched on TV exploring this subject, and thousands of hunters waste time debating it. The truth is very simple. Does come in heat when the days shorten, and the temperature drops. The males of every species (including ours) become blithering idiots when the females are "in the mood." And that makes it easier to shoot a buck.
Hunters also will be enjoying the opening of this year's small game season on Nov. 6. This is not just rabbit season, it is also pheasant season. I know that there are very few wild birds left in Ohio, but the ODNR releases thousands of birds at wildlife refuges all over the state. Most of you have heard the horror stories about opening day at the wildlife refuges, and some of them are true. However, I hunt in the afternoon the day after a release, and have had very good success. There are always birds to be found in the areas away from the parking lot and in the heavy cover.
Hopefully, everyone will get an opportunity to take advantage of the plentiful bounty that surrounds us this hunting season. Remember when you are planning your hunt to include a youth for at least part of it. They are the future of the great hunting heritage we have in this country.
Catch you later,
Rick Hill


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