Nov 3, 2019 4 min read

Not already!

That’s what goes through my mind as I watch the leaves fall to the ground. Of course, I am writing this a few days before it will see the light of day in the form you are reading. It was warm and colorful, just what seems like yesterday, and just as quickly as it began the trees have changed from red and gold to a dreary barren brown. After all, I realize it is November and that is the month of the hunter.

There is no question about it, when one says hunt it is not rabbits or squirrels that the majority of hunters are seeking. Rather, it is the bagging of what we call big game. It may be in a distant state or just here at home, but either way it is big game that dominates the hunter’s thoughts. There are those that do it with consistent success and those just as consistent with their failures. Why is this so?

Actually, the difference in success and failure is the result of many tiny but important things the successful hunter does. Not to be ignored is a big factor – the access to a place to hunt. This can be nothing more than going out the backdoor and walking to the back forty or it could mean stopping and asking the landowner. Here at home, in Washington County, the acquisition of a hunting spot can be difficult, to say the least. When asking for permission to hunt, if a person is turned down I would hope he has the common sense to respond with a thank you anyway. Courtesy never hurts, and keep in mind the landowner is just that and he pays the taxes on the land.

Never assume that because you hunted in a spot three years ago with permission it gives you the right to trespass or to show up with others. If you plan to hunt with others, always make that clear to the landowner. If the hunter acquires permission to hunt, then he or she needs to ask the property owner about his property lines and a good spot to take a stand. Not only should the person check for likely deer paths, but hills and saddles or thickets. One cannot overrate the importance of knowing the ground when they are after deer. We hunters also have our little eccentricities. I, for one, believe if I find a growth of Osage orange trees I will find deer.

While many will be hunting near home there will still be those who travel to their hunting grounds. I have done both. When travelling I make a list of things I will need, or at least think I need, for a couple of days hunting. This is also the time when some hunters will be heading out of state in pursuit of a trophy buck. Actually, there is little difference in my out-of-state and in-state list.

It starts with that important combination: the rifle and the correct ammo. This was demonstrated to me on two different occasions. The first was when a friend and hunting partner showed up at camp with his trusty .264 magnum and his equally trusty 30-06 ammo. We had to visit every store in Roulette and Coudersport that evening as we hunted for a box of 264s. Another time a friend found his reloads wouldn’t fit the magazine of his rifle. They were too long. All fall he had shot the gun by feeding it single shot and hadn’t tried to load the magazine. Since that time, I always try every round that I carry while hunting through the magazine and the chamber. The tight ones are set aside for future shooting at the range.

Optics would be the next thing on my list. I wouldn’t be without them for safety reasons and counting points. They are invaluable. Unfortunately, when travelling one has to compromise between gathering ability, power and size. A good pair of binoculars is a lifetime investment and well worth it. Junk binoculars are just junk.

More on my list next week. But these items are, of course, the most important. So, now as I look out that window at those barren trees I feel excitement building at the thought of what is to come. It’s November and its time to hunt.