It is hard to believe that in just a few weeks the early fall hunting seasons come in. Sept. 1 marks the opening day of squirrel, goose, some of the ducks, Michigan grouse, and my favorite, dove season. This summer has just flown by. I remember back in April I made a promise to myself to cut back on dog trialing so I could spend some time at the activities that used to be so important to me.
I used to consider it an unsuccessful summer if I didnt kill at least 150 ground hogs. This summer I killed one, and that was in my backyard. Last summer I spent 27 days on Lake Erie, perch fishing. This year I was up one afternoon, and I didnt even wet a line. I just took Bert Bos boat up, and then came back home.
To be fair I did start a new hobby, and have been devoting most of my free time to that. This Cowboy Mounted Shooting thing has been a blast. I guess that has kind of been a pattern for me my whole life. I find something I like to do, and then I jump in with complete abandon for a while, then move on to something else.
When it started out I really thought I was going to use some moderation in the mounted shooting game. I was only planning on attending one shoot a month at the Wayne County Fairgrounds. Now I am planning to attend seven weekend events in the next eight weekends. I felt I really needed to throw at least one dog trial in there. My wife thinks I am once again being obsessed with a hobby. I think its because the season ends in October here in the north, and I want to take advantage of these remaining opportunities. The future will tell if she is right. Especially if I spend the winter hanging out with my horse in Texas and Oklahoma.
I am not too concerned with getting my share of dove hunting in. That seems to take care of itself every September. Probably because its just so easy to do. It starts off with a short drive, so it doesnt require much planning. It usually only takes about 15 minutes to set up the decoys, and in a few hours you either have a limit, or you picked the wrong spot. Either way its time to go do something else.
Getting up to Michigan for some grouse hunting turned out to be a much bigger challenge last season. It was like a conspiracy, every time I planned a trip, something got in the way. Hopefully I will get at least a couple of trips in this year. There are few things that compare with hunting wild birds. With only a five-hour drive, and thousands of acres of public ground to hunt, this is truly an opportunity that should be taken advantage of.
I would like to think I will take a few hours and do some squirrel hunting this year. All I have to do is walk back to my woods and find a seat. We have an abundance of squirrels, and they make a pretty tasty meal. They are also one of the most relaxing species we have to hunt. You can tune into the trees and birds. Soon you are immersed in your surroundings. Then when a squirrel comes around he will make enough racket to get your attention.
Off to Indiana this weekend for a mounted shoot.
Catch you later, Rick
