A light dusting of snow began to accumulate on a cold, windy day. Windy might not even be the word for it, blustery is a more accurate description. Homer was ready to jump out of the truck before we ever stopped next to the patch of woods that we planned on rabbit hunting that afternoon. After all, his anticipation had been building up since the last days of season last February and now all that stands between him and the rabbits is a tailgate and the swinging door on his dog box. Before I could get my Remington 1100 20 gauge out of the case, my hunting partner alerted me of some quail that he saw flying out of the bushes near the truck. Quail? In my area they are just not that common, you see a few now and then but usually not during the season. Most of the time, I would not even consider going after them but this was different. The covey was no less than 30 strong and this was the perfect opportunity to harvest some great bounty from the land. Now this was going to be detrimental to Homer's psyche because rabbits are his forte and he was going to have to wait in the truck until we were finished going after the quail.
Inching through the woods towards the spot the quail went down, I knew that I would be startled by the sound of a covey picking up any second. Just as the thought left my mind a sudden eruption of hard beating wings lit up my ears only a few feet in front of me. I had forgotten just how fast these birds get out of range and how hard it is to pick one out when they blow through the woods. Two shots later, I was no closer to a quail dinner than I was when I left the house. We managed to kick enough bushes in the small woodlot to harvest two beautiful quail for dinner. The sight of the quail resting peacefully on top of the snow is a sight that I will not soon forget.
Homer was happy to finally be released from the truck. He probably thought that we already kicked all of the good rabbit bushes from all of the shooting that he heard. Between the scent of the quail and the snow clogging his nose, it was slow moving for rabbits. We finally got on one and had us a nice rabbit to add to our quail. Homer was excited and we loaded up and headed to the next woodlot.
The frozen ground allowed us to drive across the field to access a spot that nobody had hunted much. The anticipation was high as we unloaded. I put on my Under Armour facemask to help shield the wind that was now nearly unbearable. There were quite a few places for rabbits to hide but the wind kept them underground in their warm burrows. Finally, we found something; a Styrofoam snow man nestled against the woods that blew across the field. We picked it up and made our final turn back towards the truck. We walked towards the north end of the woods and I decided to check out the west corner because it looked like a great spot for a rabbit to hide. As I stood there looking at the grove in that corner of the woods, a feeling suddenly came over me. I felt like this was going to be a good spot to find a deer shed. I looked through, over, and around all of the brush in my vicinity and decided nothing was there. I turned around and my eyes were staring directly at it. Not ten feet away lie a large antler nestled neatly in the snow. All of the life that the wind and cold had sucked out of me over the past few hours suddenly came back as I made my way towards the prize. The celebration of finding the shed was cut short by the dog, that we had forgotten was there, letting out a bark as a rabbit jumped out of a brush pile not thirty yards away. The rabbit showed me that quail aren't the only sporty things to swing a gun on. Two empty shells later, Homer was on the track to find the rabbit that I'd missed. The rabbit ran a wide circle all the way around the woods. Homer never gave up on the trail despite the snow and several minutes later my hunting partner scored on his first rabbit of the day. Not bad for a cold, windy, miserable day in January!
This time of year can be depressing for hunters. For most of the Midwest, the hunting seasons are coming to a close and we are a long way from the rut next November! Don't let the off-season get you down though, go look for some antler sheds, you might be in for a nice surprise. It doesn't always work out that way but you can't find any if you don't look. Packaging a squirrel or rabbit hunt in with your shed hunting always adds for some excitement as well. I will say that I recommend getting a good pair of pants to counter the brush that you will run into along the way. RedHead Upland Hunting Pants work great for me. Nothing sticks to them and I never have to worry about picking stickers out of my legs when I get home. They are also good early season squirrel hunting pants.
Inching through the woods towards the spot the quail went down, I knew that I would be startled by the sound of a covey picking up any second. Just as the thought left my mind a sudden eruption of hard beating wings lit up my ears only a few feet in front of me. I had forgotten just how fast these birds get out of range and how hard it is to pick one out when they blow through the woods. Two shots later, I was no closer to a quail dinner than I was when I left the house. We managed to kick enough bushes in the small woodlot to harvest two beautiful quail for dinner. The sight of the quail resting peacefully on top of the snow is a sight that I will not soon forget.
Homer was happy to finally be released from the truck. He probably thought that we already kicked all of the good rabbit bushes from all of the shooting that he heard. Between the scent of the quail and the snow clogging his nose, it was slow moving for rabbits. We finally got on one and had us a nice rabbit to add to our quail. Homer was excited and we loaded up and headed to the next woodlot.
The frozen ground allowed us to drive across the field to access a spot that nobody had hunted much. The anticipation was high as we unloaded. I put on my Under Armour facemask to help shield the wind that was now nearly unbearable. There were quite a few places for rabbits to hide but the wind kept them underground in their warm burrows. Finally, we found something; a Styrofoam snow man nestled against the woods that blew across the field. We picked it up and made our final turn back towards the truck. We walked towards the north end of the woods and I decided to check out the west corner because it looked like a great spot for a rabbit to hide. As I stood there looking at the grove in that corner of the woods, a feeling suddenly came over me. I felt like this was going to be a good spot to find a deer shed. I looked through, over, and around all of the brush in my vicinity and decided nothing was there. I turned around and my eyes were staring directly at it. Not ten feet away lie a large antler nestled neatly in the snow. All of the life that the wind and cold had sucked out of me over the past few hours suddenly came back as I made my way towards the prize. The celebration of finding the shed was cut short by the dog, that we had forgotten was there, letting out a bark as a rabbit jumped out of a brush pile not thirty yards away. The rabbit showed me that quail aren't the only sporty things to swing a gun on. Two empty shells later, Homer was on the track to find the rabbit that I'd missed. The rabbit ran a wide circle all the way around the woods. Homer never gave up on the trail despite the snow and several minutes later my hunting partner scored on his first rabbit of the day. Not bad for a cold, windy, miserable day in January!
This time of year can be depressing for hunters. For most of the Midwest, the hunting seasons are coming to a close and we are a long way from the rut next November! Don't let the off-season get you down though, go look for some antler sheds, you might be in for a nice surprise. It doesn't always work out that way but you can't find any if you don't look. Packaging a squirrel or rabbit hunt in with your shed hunting always adds for some excitement as well. I will say that I recommend getting a good pair of pants to counter the brush that you will run into along the way. RedHead Upland Hunting Pants work great for me. Nothing sticks to them and I never have to worry about picking stickers out of my legs when I get home. They are also good early season squirrel hunting pants.
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