Bright Idea Outdoors Weblog

You Know You're in the City When... or, No Tink's? That Stinks!

If you're wondering why I haven't been writing about hunting right in the middle of the best part of deer season, it's because I haven't been hunting.  The new job is keeping me out of the woods.  I have to work on Saturdays, and, just in case you forgot, it's agains the law to hunt on Sunday in Virginia.

The general firearms deer season starts tomorrow, and I may have a chance to hunt in the afternoon.  So, just in case, I figured I'd pick up some Tink's # 69 today.

My job took me to Alexandria today, and there just happens to be a Wal-Mart in the Kingstowne area, just outside the Beltway.  Once I'd completed my "stops" for the day, I popped into the mega-retailer and headed straight for the sporting goods section.

Only the city version of the sporting goods section at Wal-Mart wasn't quite what I'm used to.  They didn't have any Tink's, but it wasn't because they were out like most other Wal-Marts in the country are the day before deer season starts.  They were out because they don't sell it; they don't sell any hunting stuff!

No hunting section in a Wal-mart; no guns either.  They did have a few boxes of shotgun shells and a sling or two; but no scents or anti-scents and not a stitch of blaze orange or camo.  I jumped in my truck and headed back toward Leesburg.  My town may no longer be the rural outpost I grew up in, but you can at least pick up some hunting stuff in the Wal-Mart.

The ironic thing is that there's some great deer hunting territory right around Kingstowne.  It's illegal to hunt with a gun in Fairfax County, but a bow hunter could have a field day; if he had permission. . . and some Tink's.

First Freeze?

Looks like we may have temperatures around the freezing mark tomorrow night; what a good morning to go hunting Wednesday will be!

Unfortunately, errhh fortunately, I've got a job now and won't be able to partake.  The next two-three weeks will likely be the best part of hunting season around here.  Take advantage of it if you can!

Persistence

For an excellent story about an outdoorsman and artist who never gave up, check out John Kellys article "Keeping His Dreams Afloat" in today's Washington Post.

Muzzleloader Season Starts This Weekend

Virginia's muzzleloader deer season gets off to an early start this year, with Opening Day falling on October 31.  This is the first time I can remember the blackpowder season starting in October, and I'm particularly excited about black powder season this year.

That's because I just got permission to hunt with my Knight inline muzzleloading rifle on a property where I've been bow hunting for a couple years.  Many of the biggest bucks harvested in Virginia each fall are taken during the early November muzzleloader season.

I haven't fired my Knight since taking a big deer with it last December, so I guess I'd better get that thing sighted in. . .

First Week on the Job Comes to a Close

Wow; here I am at the end of the first week on my new job.  I think that's the case anyway; not sure if I'm supposed to work Saturday my first week or not.

Looks like we've got another rainy weekend ahead of us.  Of course, I'm hoping to get some hunting in, but I'd also like to spend some time in front of this computer if it's raining too hard to hunt.  If that's the case, I'll write an update on what I'm doing and what my new job actually is.  I'll also work on some new pages for this site that I've dreamed up this week.

Good luck to all who are hunting this weekend.  Stay safe and be patient; if the bucks aren't already on the move in your area, they will be soon.

Good luck also to anyone who will be engaged in a sport other than hunting.  My son's football team has its first playoff game tomorrow, and we're hoping the rain holds off for that.  He's still a young kid playing "C League," but, no matter what level you're at, have fun and play hard!

Evening Hunting Report

My son and I were able to sneak out for a late afternoon hunt after work and school today; got to the stand we call the "Captain's Condo" at around 5 p.m. with very little wind and temperatures in the high 60's.

At nearly 9 years old, he's getting a lot better about sitting still and being quiet, yet I think he still gets bored a little faster than he would if he actually had a chance of shooting something himself (it's still bow season, and he's a strong kid but not strong enough to bow hunt yet.)  So, by 6 p.m. he had talked me into getting down to do a "walk and stalk."

We moved to the area near stand Number One, where the Captain and I have both shot does within the last two weeks, and, sure enough, the area is still a hot spot.  From where we hid in a clump of tall grass we spotted five does, all in the 50-70 yards away range.  At that distance, and with thick cover between us and the deer, taking a shot was impossible.  Still, it's great to know the does are still coming into that area every evening and that the bucks will probably start following them there within a week or two.

As darkness fell, and we rounded the pond on the way back to the house, my son thanked me for taking him hunting.

"It's always good when you shoot something," he said.  "But I don't think we've ever not seen anything."

It seems to me that we must have hunted together at least once or twice without seeing anything, but it's nice that he has that positive perception.  Deer or no deer, the hunts with my kids are always the best ones of the season.

Hunting Haiku Contest

Need something to keep you occupied while you're sitting in a tree stand this week?  Or, if you're not a bowhunter, do you need something to keep you from going crazy waiting for muzzleloader and/or rifle season to start?  And how'd you like a chance to win some gear in the process?

I may have just the thing.

Wednesday afternoon, as I sat in a stand in the rain, I had the idea of composing a hunting haiku.  My most recent post was the result.

A haiku is a poem with five syllables in the first line, seven in the second line and five in the third and final line.  This style of poetry originated in Japan, and you can read more about it here.  If you really want to the scoop on haiku, you'll have to get in touch with the person who wrote the haunting lines in this post.

The rules of my contest are simple: 

1. To participate, you have to have a blog; you have to post the haiku on your blog, and the post must contain a link to my blog.
2. To officially become a contestant, you must leave a comment on this post, letting me know that you've written your haiku.
3. Since I've always thought of haiku as a spooky kind of poetry, I'd like to get this done before Halloween; the deadline will be 8 p.m. EST on Wednesday October 28; all entries will be reproduced in single post here on Friday Oct. 30; each poem will, of course, credit the author and link to his or her blog.
4. I'm not going to be real strict on haiku form; just do your best to get the number of syllables right, and make sure it has something to do with the outdoors; if you're not a hunter, something about the fall season would be good.
5. If I get at least five entries, the winner will receive a Bright Idea Outdoors hat or visor; if I get 10 entries, I'll award the hat to two lucky winners; If I get 20 or more entries, the first place winner will get, in addition to the hat, a $25 gift card to the outdoor retailer of his or her choice (i.e. Cabela's, Bass Pro, Gander Mountain, Wal-Mart, etc.)
6. The winner will be selected by a three-judge panel consisting of myself, frequent commenter and haiku author JEC and the Leesburg area's leading photographer; if we don't have agreement between at least two of us, the winner will be selected at random from among our three favorites.

Obviously, the more entries I get the better the prize will be, so spread the word about this contest and start counting your syllables!

Evening Hunt Haiku

Daylight fades a shot,

Presents itself you take it,

When should you get down?

Tick Tock, Tick Tock

Here it is mid-October.  The weather is as cold as it's been yet, and we're supposed to get rain the next several days.  Guess I should have gone hunting this morning, but I've got to much to do and too much on my mind.

The clock is ticking down to the start date for my new job.  Hopefully, I'll be able to get at least one good hunt in between now and then.  I'd also really like to take some time and chronicle everything that's happened to me since late July.  It's been a real roller coaster ride, and I think I could offer some insight to others who have lost or may soon lose their jobs.

Yeah, I'd like to do that; I'd also like to fix the shelf in my closet, fix the drywall in my garage, clean my carpets, change my oil. . .  The list goes on-and-on, and time keeps ticking away.

Whitetail Down: Off to a Pretty Good Start

A good week came to a great end yesterday when the Captain arrowed his first deer of the season.  I knew the deer was going down when my son and I jumped it on our way to the two-man ladder stand known as the "Captains Condo."

The Captain was in a climber not far from the spot where I'd shot a doe Monday evening, and J. and I came in about 30 minutes behind him.  The deer was actually right behind the ladder stand when we first spotted it.  As we approached, the deer trotted off, right in the direction of our fellow hunter's location.

We settled in, and I 'd almost forgotten about the deer we'd jumped when I saw the Captain crossing a fence a couple of pastures away.  There was still nearly an hour of daylight left, so I knew he must have brown on the ground. . .

To make a long story short, the deer is hanging in our skinning shed.  A week into the season, the Bright Idea Outdoors Hunt Club has two down, and, the Captain and I are each eligible to tag two bucks under our county's Earn A Buck regulations, having both harvested antlerless deer.

As far as the other reasons this past week was such a good one, I'll have more on that later. . .