Catch You Later
It’s been several years since I have written an outdoor column, but I am pretty excited about the opportunity to do it again. I spend a lot of time in the outdoors hunting and fishing. (Some would say an excessive amount of time.) Right now most of my weekends are taken up with bird dog trials, but there will also be time for plenty of fall fishing and hunting.If you are an avid hunter, you already know that Sept. 1 was the opening of squirrel, goose, teal, and dove season, with white-tail archery season following on Sept. 26. I am not fond of fighting with bugs and mosquitoes, so I hold off my woods hunting until after the leaves have fallen.
Dove hunting is a completely different subject. I start anticipating the new season long before it opens, touching up and repairing decoys, scouting several counties for wheat fields and getting permission to hunt from the landowners. Dove hunting is truly one of my greatest pleasures. Yeah, I know they are the bird of love, and that they mate for life. The reality for me is that they provide some of the best wing shooting around, and they are pretty tasty.
This year’s dove season started out strong. Our hunting parties limited out every morning the first week, then it slowed a bit. We are still harvesting some doves. The migration should start soon and really kick things up.
If you like to perch fish then it is time to head up to Lake Erie. The jumbo perch are coming in from Davis Bessey to Geauga. My favorite spots are from Shefield over to Rocky River. Check with the local bait stores to find out the depth they are hanging out in, or just head out to one of the huge group of boats that are always present when the fish are biting.
If you are one of the thousands of bow hunters who take to the woods every fall, then you have probably spent quite a bit of time in the last two months tuning up your bow skills. If you shoot a recurve or compound, a couple of 10-minute sessions a week can go a long way in increasing your odds of a clean kill and successful hunt. While you are preparing for this fall’s outings, take a little time to go over your tree stand and make sure it is in good enough condition to use safely. Every year hunters are hurt, paralyzed, or killed falling out of a tree while hunting. This is a great tragedy because all these accidents could be avoided if the hunters wore a safety harness. If you hunt out of a tree stand, a good quality safety harness that fits you properly is absolutely essential.
As I finish this column, my thoughts are focused on packing my gear in preparation for a trip out west. We will leave early Tuesday for our annual early Iowa bird hunt. I have been making this trip with family and friends for eight years now. Sometimes it is very warm out there this time of year, but the forecast is for low 60s all week. My dogs are in good shape, and I am looking forward to a fantastic hunt. I will tell you about it when I get back.
Catch you later, Rick.