11-22-2009, 08:55 AM
Headed into the stateland after work today , 200 yds. in there's another hunter on the edge of the swamp telling me his buddy is 150 yds ahead , so I just back out and head threw the woods to the N.E. edge of the swamp and travel west from there .
I found a nice area about 600 yds. in and then spot a nice blow down area off to the N.W. , off I go and yep , nice sign everywhere . I sit and wait , see a few huge does and some button bucks but from the scrapes and rubs around I can tell there is a big boy in there somewhere . I wait , transition dusk comes and then as I start out the flashlight dies .
Man I really , really hate when that happens , it isn't my first time , I'm sure it won't be my last .
I know there is a overgrown 2-track somewhere to the east but if I miss that or I loose direction I would be out all night .It's got to be 20 or 30 miles of wilderness to Houghton Lake , 5 miles of heavy brush to M-18 to the west and just a mile to the 2-track .
Swamp , thick woods and cool air = fog , so much for keeping the moon over my right sholder , it's now pitch black as the sun dips behind the horizon . In this heavy brush getting a fix on the moon despite the fog is nearly impossible , yea , I did it again I think to myself .
Did I mention I'm in black bear country ? We have a dozen or so in the area and I'm hoping that two largest seen this year the 350 and 600 lb. bears aren't out looking for a evening snack . I have three rounds in the 270 I received from my love of my life on my 48th birthday, any shot at a bear would be at point blank range and that would still be a messy situation .I don't even want to think about the cougars .... [#3b5998][size 1]Read More[/size][/#3b5998][/url]
After what seems like 20 minutes of blindly plowing threw the brush I decide it's time to sit and take stock of my situation and think my way out of the area , I should have already hit that 2-track by now if I didn't already cross it or went the wrong way .
No visible landmarks or stars , no streams to follow , no wind for direction , I sit and listen for sounds of civilisation .
I hear small animals in the brush , what I hope are deer moving a dozen yards away ( not forgetting the bears ) .
Several groups of coyotes start to yip and howl from different directions near and far and a owl starts to hoot nearby .
I laugh , this is what I wanted when I moved here , no noisy neighbors .
I have a compass in my pocket but no longer do I have a light to see it with , a whistle , a knife and some rope .This close to home I really don't need to carry anything more on me , or so I thought .
The vegetation is damp but I can build a fire with the ammo ,some birch bark and the pine branches and I almost consider doing just that . The flames would give me just enough light to make the glow-paint on the compass visible for a few minutes . I remembered that trick from a Boy Scouts handbook that my Godfather Uncle Richard gifted me along with a pen knife on my eleventh birthday . I still possess the knife and the knowledge from that book remains with me to this day .
The birch trees reflect what light my eyes have become acclimated to seeing in this wooded maze and I get an idea .
I get a piece of the bark off a fallen birch and lay my compass on it , surprisingly enough it works and I can just faintly make out the compass markings from the reflective light the bark gathers .
I had been going north , north-east and would have if on that steady corse hit a highway in a minimum of a mile and a half. I however thought I was traveling due east all that time and more than likley was traversing the darkened woods in circles .... [#3b5998][size 1]Read More[/size][/#3b5998][/url]
I set my compass for a south-east direction and check my bearings every 5 to 10 minutes , within an hour I find a trail a quad had made during last weekends hunt . That trail led to the overgrown two track and then the road where my adventure began from . I drew a breath of relief that I was not going to be on the news as another lost hunter that had to be rescued just a short distance from his home .
You know , someone would think I would learn something from this being that this isn't the first time I have been temporarily turned around in that area . My last time was during a blizzard last black powder season and prior to that was during a couple walkabouts during the late summer scouting deer and bear to hunt .
There is a big buck in those woods and I left a glove somewhere out there while hunting , I plan on bringing both of them home with me soon .
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I found a nice area about 600 yds. in and then spot a nice blow down area off to the N.W. , off I go and yep , nice sign everywhere . I sit and wait , see a few huge does and some button bucks but from the scrapes and rubs around I can tell there is a big boy in there somewhere . I wait , transition dusk comes and then as I start out the flashlight dies .
Man I really , really hate when that happens , it isn't my first time , I'm sure it won't be my last .
I know there is a overgrown 2-track somewhere to the east but if I miss that or I loose direction I would be out all night .It's got to be 20 or 30 miles of wilderness to Houghton Lake , 5 miles of heavy brush to M-18 to the west and just a mile to the 2-track .
Swamp , thick woods and cool air = fog , so much for keeping the moon over my right sholder , it's now pitch black as the sun dips behind the horizon . In this heavy brush getting a fix on the moon despite the fog is nearly impossible , yea , I did it again I think to myself .
Did I mention I'm in black bear country ? We have a dozen or so in the area and I'm hoping that two largest seen this year the 350 and 600 lb. bears aren't out looking for a evening snack . I have three rounds in the 270 I received from my love of my life on my 48th birthday, any shot at a bear would be at point blank range and that would still be a messy situation .I don't even want to think about the cougars .... [#3b5998][size 1]Read More[/size][/#3b5998][/url]
After what seems like 20 minutes of blindly plowing threw the brush I decide it's time to sit and take stock of my situation and think my way out of the area , I should have already hit that 2-track by now if I didn't already cross it or went the wrong way .
No visible landmarks or stars , no streams to follow , no wind for direction , I sit and listen for sounds of civilisation .
I hear small animals in the brush , what I hope are deer moving a dozen yards away ( not forgetting the bears ) .
Several groups of coyotes start to yip and howl from different directions near and far and a owl starts to hoot nearby .
I laugh , this is what I wanted when I moved here , no noisy neighbors .
I have a compass in my pocket but no longer do I have a light to see it with , a whistle , a knife and some rope .This close to home I really don't need to carry anything more on me , or so I thought .
The vegetation is damp but I can build a fire with the ammo ,some birch bark and the pine branches and I almost consider doing just that . The flames would give me just enough light to make the glow-paint on the compass visible for a few minutes . I remembered that trick from a Boy Scouts handbook that my Godfather Uncle Richard gifted me along with a pen knife on my eleventh birthday . I still possess the knife and the knowledge from that book remains with me to this day .
The birch trees reflect what light my eyes have become acclimated to seeing in this wooded maze and I get an idea .
I get a piece of the bark off a fallen birch and lay my compass on it , surprisingly enough it works and I can just faintly make out the compass markings from the reflective light the bark gathers .
I had been going north , north-east and would have if on that steady corse hit a highway in a minimum of a mile and a half. I however thought I was traveling due east all that time and more than likley was traversing the darkened woods in circles .... [#3b5998][size 1]Read More[/size][/#3b5998][/url]
I set my compass for a south-east direction and check my bearings every 5 to 10 minutes , within an hour I find a trail a quad had made during last weekends hunt . That trail led to the overgrown two track and then the road where my adventure began from . I drew a breath of relief that I was not going to be on the news as another lost hunter that had to be rescued just a short distance from his home .
You know , someone would think I would learn something from this being that this isn't the first time I have been temporarily turned around in that area . My last time was during a blizzard last black powder season and prior to that was during a couple walkabouts during the late summer scouting deer and bear to hunt .
There is a big buck in those woods and I left a glove somewhere out there while hunting , I plan on bringing both of them home with me soon .
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