So once again I got permission to go meandering in the woods. I no longer call it hunting due to me not seeing anything other than crows and hawks. I decided to head to the state land south of elbe. No dice. For some reason I can't find the right road into the land or its blocked off. Drove all the way to the National Forest entrance and backtracked. So I decided to try the spots closer to eatonville again. I drove in and didn't like the farthest stand I made so I turned around and found another clearing deeper in the woods. I got everything ready and started the hike. I got 10 feet off the road and I hear this weird squeak sound. I'm looking into an upturned tree root wondering if something's baby is mad and if I'm gonna get the brunt of it. As I'm standing as still as I can I realize the sound is coming from a tree about 5 feet from me. A squirrel at eye level peeps around the tree at me. Me and Self start talking. "Well, you're seeing something other than birds!" "True... is it legal to shoot him? He's starting to annoy me and I wanna shoot something." "I'm not sure, he has a red belly. I don't even know if they're in season. Not only that we don't know how to prep them and I doubt the wife will eat it." "True, but if this little bugger is still here when I come out and he starts talking this trash again I'm decapitating him with the glock!"
So I hike in towards my spot following a game trail. About every other step I have to avoid a huge pile of milk duds. I start wondering how hard it really is to find these guys if you just walk down game trails. I end up making my way to a sweet natural depression on the edge of a clearcut area. Sweet! I get to go prone! I start my setup. After a half hour I'm getting annoyed again, doing my best impression of something getting it's butt ripped off, when I hear a wolf howl. "Self! Did you hear that?!" "Yep, that retard is using the wrong call." So I decide after I hear two wolf howls to give a female coyote howl. I THOUGHT this would tip off the guy that he was in an area already being worked. Nope, just kept answering my calls with wolf howls so I left.
Moved on to a spot where I've seen tons of coyote sign. Walked in at the road barricade while some guy was setting up some big gun. I walked up the road and found a pretty sweet setup and decided to set up on the lower spot thinking anything that came in would come in from the opposite direction of the gunfire. I kept up that stand for about an hour. I may have heard something walking around to my right but my view was blocked by brush piles and small trees and ferns. It could have easily been the wind rubbing trees together up higher near their tops. I got bored and annoyed so I left. Walking back towards my gun I hear a really loud boom. Like dynamite loud. WTH?! I come around the barricade and see the black monster I had heard. Some guy was setting up his Barrett .50 cal. Just like on TV with the GIANT muzzle brake. I threw everything in my truck and got in it just before he fired another shot. Felt like someone punched my fender. Man that is one evil machine!
All in all I learned that I'm tired of being so close to people and I need to find somewhere other shooters aren't. I don't think anyone hunts that area. Seems like people are target shooting everywhere!
