Larry A. Smail's Blog

Silvery frost on everything.

Granted I don’t become too enthralled with harvesting a black bear. I, however, do go through some of the motions of a bear hunter and that is I have a license and I have a rifle. Having taken bear before I now realize the work removing the animal from the forest can be a chore. I am a solitary hunter for the most part. I enjoy getting out into the woods to take photos and see wildlife and taking a bear is less on my priority.                                    

The landowners are friends of mine. He has had some bear issues over the summer with his bee hives. I thought, maybe, I could help. Three events caused me pause with hunting. One was the lack of acorns in this area. The second was that all the neighboring corn fields had just been harvested and third was the cold weather we have been having. I felt, at least, some of the sows may have been denning up due to these activities. A solitary hunter has decreased chances with such events during these times.

Note flash in deer’s eyes!

This morning, I walked from the jeep into single digit temperatures. The eastern skyline was pink and the western skyline was yielding to a cloud bank. Freezing rain and rain were being forecasted and warming temperatures. The leaves were crunchy, A slight trace of snow was present on the hemlock-laden northern slope I was hunting. There was  not enough to effectively track, but just enough to aid in visibility in places.                                                                                                              

I slowly walked down hill and was fortunate to hear a few turkeys on the roost. Later, I would hear another flock yelping and cutting and gobbling. I heard a raven flying over the hollow as well. These birds seem to be increasing in our area.

I saw a lot of deer including several buck. I managed some photos in the gloom. I still-hunted most of the morning only stopping to set ,occasionally,  for twenty minutes or so. The cold was going deep into my old bones!

Old beaver sign

Mid morning began yielding to light rain. The rains picked up at times. Distant shooting was heard off and on all morning. Most of the shots were far north of where I was hunting.                                  

Approximately 1:00, or later, I was on a steep slope and found myself slipping. The falling rain was freezing on the surface.  I elected to move out. The landowner’s wife told me of friends on Route 28 coming from Pittsburgh were having road icing issues.

I checked the temperature to find 31 degrees. Five minutes later the temperature had dropped to 29 degrees. Although, I felt like staying out more I decided to call it a day for concerns of falling.