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This Week in the Outdoors: A cold winter's night
Photo Courtesy of Luke Clayton - Few places afford the solitude of the winter woods. Spending a few hours alone with nature is a rewarding experience.
By Luke Clayton, Special to the Courier-Gazette
My guest for the evening was a newfound hunting buddy named Rick, a young dentist from Wyoming who had his heart set on hunting hogs in Texas.
Rick's visit to the Lone Star State was centered on work.
Secretly though, and I believe Rick will agree, the highlight of his visit was the opportunity to spend a few hours hunting hogs.
Rick had one evening to hunt and I had a couple feeders that hogs had been hitting with regularity. With a couple of corn fed, well-lighted stands to hunt over and a Hawg Lite mounted on Rick's .270, the stage was set for an exciting wait in the cold winters woods.
A trail camera I had on one of the stands evidenced the hogs arrival, three of the past five evenings between 9-11 p.m. Rick got into his ground blind around 5:30 p.m. with intentions to stay until 11 p.m. ... or until he shot a hog.
I had a rifle with me, but was not really hunting. I just wanted to be close in case I heard Rick's rifle crack.
The weather man had predicted the arrival of a strong Arctic front the evening of our hunt. With the woods already wet from a recent rain, I knew if the front hit while we were hunting, we were in for a cold evening in the woods. Cold fronts this time of year are always a bit colder when they arrive after the ground is wet. Or at least they feel colder.
After Rick settled into his hunting area, I moved to a different section of the woods and baited a trail that had plenty of fresh hog sign; this might be a good spot to do a little stalking with the night light and rifle later in the evening.
The passage of the front was still a few hours away and the woods were still.
So still that sound was greatly magnified. I leaned against a tree on the edge of a little clearing that afforded a good view of the early evening sky. Leaning against the tree, in the most tranquil of settings, my mind began to shift to an introspective mode. One of the greatest benefits of spending time in the outdoors is the opportunity for solitude. And, in today's busy world, solitude is in very short supply. I watched what I thought was a very bright satellite appear and tracked it across the inky black sky. Suddenly it began to gradually grow dim and I finally lost sight of it. If it were in orbit, wouldn't I have been able to watch it until it reached the horizon?
Lots to think about when you're in the woods by yourself on a cold winter's night.
I was suddenly jarred back to reality when a male coyote opened up with his winter's love song. It's mating season for coyotes and he was sounding off in hopes of a response from his lady love. Sure enough, very faintly in the distance, I heard the answer he was waiting for. The female coyote has a bit faster and higher pitched howl than the male. A few minutes later, I heard both the song dogs sound off again. They were closing the distance to carry out a yearly ritual that has no doubt been going on for eons.
Then my cell phone lit up, indicating I had received a text from my Wyoming buddy.
It read something like this, "The forest is alive tonight with sounds; I've heard everything from owls to coyotes to hogs." I responded, "See any hogs?" "Had three walk by within 10 yards, but they kept going and didn't offer a shot. I'm having the time of my life."
I never thought of the little patch of woods where I hunt hogs as a forest, we just call them woods, but my friend was right as he was hunting in a bottomland forest replete with oaks, cottonwoods, black locust, hackberry, pecan and box elder. On the higher, more open parts of the area were small patches of a tree strange to my friend from the Rockies. He's heard about the mesquite tree, but saw his first early this afternoon while walking back to his hog stand.
Remember, our planned time for departure was 11 p.m.
Around 9:30 p.m., the northern arrived in full force. I was dressed well for the occasion, but instantly felt the chilly air through several layers.
My phone flashed another text, "Didn't know it gets this cold here in north Texas. It feels colder here than back in Wyoming. The woods are quiet, nothing moving now. I've had a blast, but I'm with you on when we leave." "I'll be there at 10:30 p.m., I replied. Then we will do some stalking around a trail that I baited with corn earlier this evening."
A bit of walking would do us both good to help shake the chill.
At the newly appointed time, I drove my Intimidator electric vehicle back to meet Rick. He was extremely impressed with the vehicle's ability to negotiate the rutted, muddy roads through the bottoms. When he learned it was made in North Texas by Ken Blackstock, who owns Plano Golf Carts, he commented, "Leave it to Texans to build a better, more efficient mouse trap."
Hunting with a gentleman such as Rick is a sheer delight.
Although young in years, he has learned to savor the moment. He thoroughly enjoyed his evening sit in this remote Texas bottomland. He had heard and seen hogs and that was enough. He'd hunted the mountains and plains of his home state enough to know that harvesting game is a small portion of a successful hunt.
Hunting, like most things in life, requires the proper mindset in order to be enjoyed to the fullest.
On our drive back out of the bottoms, we parked the Intimidator on the side of the road and quietly stalked within a few yards of the trail I had baited. When the green beam of our Hawg Lights illuminated the trail, the only critter visible was a Boone and Crockett-class armadillo.
Rick mistook it for a possum; not many armadillos in Wyoming. Probably not many possums, either.
We both had a good laugh.
I kidded Rick that when I come to his home state to hunt antelope, he shouldn't be surprised when he learns I can't tell the difference between a Fools Hen and a Sharps Tail Grouse.
Cabela's King Kat coming to Lake Tawakoni
The Cabela's King Kat Tournament Trail hits the waters of Lake Tawakoni March 10.
Local catfish anglers can compete for cash, prizes and a chance to advance to the Cabela's King Kat Classic. For more details, go to: kingkatusa.com or call: 270-395-6774.
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