bowhuntinmaniac said:
Now Marshall, I know you have done yer homework and have had 3 dry seasons for javelina. If I could talk you into a different unit, I will give you a spot.
The other thing about giving information is, sooner or later you will be burned for your generosity. I have "secretly" given spots to friends and within 2 years, they have had their whole family hunting there.
I have even been told they will follow me to my spots to find them.
That's crap! No, I'm not trying to say I don't believe your story, but rather that someone would take your information and use it that way :evil: As DesertRat says, it's probably because we don't have all that much knowledge to share. That will change for me soon.
I was blessed by growing up in North Central Washington state, about 80 miles south of the Canadian border.
I started hunting as soon as I went through hunter's safety (about 10 years old or so) until I left for the Army after graduating high school. My dad was not a great hunter, but thankfully he took the time to introduce me to the outdoors. Unfortunately, he no longer hunts; he stopped hunting for reasons known only to him when I was about 14 or so.
I was lucky enough to live in a place where I could literally be hunting in 5 minutes. I used to walk from my house, through the alfalfa fields of the ranch we rented space on, and be in the foothills. We were very poor, and my equipment consisted of my dad's hunting knife, my trusty 30-30 Savage bolt action rifle, and a canteen which was nothing more than a glass quart-sized mason jar which held my water secured by an old T shirt and an extra belt.
After Dad stopped hunting, I spent a LOT of time in the woods after school and on the weekends when we weren't falling trees (yes, I'm serious) to use for building a log house on the 20 acres Dad had bought years before. Maybe I'll relate that story another time….
I learned where the deer were at different times through the day, where they watered, fed, slept, and travel zones. I also learned which aspen groves held a few whitetail deer (mulies were the norm where I lived), blue or ruffled grouse, and which high mesas held chukar or Hungarian partridge.
We had a creek (Chiliwist Creek) that ran through the ranch that I fished all the time and quickly learned where the native trout liked to be, along with all the quail that liked to drink from its water.
I finally bagged my first mule deer buck when I was 15 years old. It was by no means a trophy, although it sure tasted like one. It was cool enough in late October that I was able to let it hang in the barn for about a week and a half, and I did my own processing on the kitchen table. Mom had an old hand crank meat grinder that I used to make burger with out of the scrap. I didn't have a meat saw, so I boned everything out. I still feel to this day that this is the best way. For some reason, cutting the bone with a saw leaves a stronger tasting meat (to me, anyway).
Anyhow, I never failed to get a deer every season after that (tags were available over the counter (we used to by ours at a "local" True Value store 18 miles away). My friends at the time would always try to get me to take them where they could get a deer, and I never really did. I would simply give them an area, and figured if they really wanted to, they would take the time to figure things out like I had. To me, getting to know the area held just as much satisfaction as bagging a deer, if not more. Once you really know an area, it's like an old friend to whom you're anxious to go back to and ensure he's okay.
I guess what I'm trying to say here BowhuntingFanatic, I understand where you're coming from. Thanks for kicking me in the arse in a kind way. It's time for me to go make a new old friend.
Ron
Stubborn is admirable, but I'm tired of getting skunked
