Jogeephus
Well-known member
With hunting season on us, I'm sure you all have some good tales from the field. So maybe we can use this as a campfire bull session to spin a few yarns.
I'll start one off about deer hunting and trespassing.
I look after a fair amount of acreage, some of this land we allow hunting on and some of it we don't. One particular place has been closed to hunting since 1961 after a hunter was caught cutting a fence to drag his deer out. This is a large tract of land and only has two points of access. Both are blocked by heavy steel gates. For nearly 30 years the age structure of the deer on this block of land was able to increase well above average for the county. With that came very large antlered deer with little to no hunting pressure. But as the antlers grew in size so did the tales. People pressured for permission to hunt the land but the answer was NO.
Anyhow, the aspect of killing a monster buck was just too much for one fella (I'll call him Crockett, since he is a respected businessman and does not know I know the truth of how - well I'll get to that later) Anyhow, Crockett talked his wife into dropping him off on the road and he could then hike into the forest. They did this several weekends and he soon had a big buck patterned and erected a ladder stand in the woods.
Opening day arrived, and Crockett and his wife set out in the wee hours of the morning. Plan was to drop him off then pick him up by a tree with his trophy at 2:00pm. He struck off in the woods as her tail lights disappeared in the dust from the dirt road. He found his stand with little trouble and grabbed a rung of the ladder when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. Shining the flashlight towards his feet he saw the six foot diamondback that just bit him. (Oh, I forgot to mention, we call the hill he was hunting "Diamondback Ridge", its also the place where we plowed the fire line around the pack house and burned the building down cause there was a den of rattlesnakes under it)
Anyhow, with no cell phone, no transportation, what was an "experienced woodsman" to do? Well, if you ever watched the Daniel Boone series you'd know. Quite simple actually. You take out your knife and cut a big hole in your leg. You then bite the lead off the tops of three cartridges and pour the gun powder in the hole and ignite it with a match. This, as you know from watching Daniel Boone on TV, will kill the poison and you can go on about your business.
I'm sure you are wondering, as was my friend who the story was told in the strictest confidence by Crockett, "What happened then?" His reply was simple, "There was a blinding light, searing pain and then I commenced to dying!"
Anyhow, the snake pumped him good but not real good, but being an "exerienced woodsman", he knew he could shave some time off his trip to the paved road by employing his keen orienteering skills and taking a short cut to the paved road. Well I'm sure the ladies guessed it first but you are all right! He went the wrong way and got lost. Finally he made it to the paved road around 7:00 a.m at which time he was crawling on all fours and wrything in pain on the pavement. My understanding is that several people passed him on their way to work but figured he was just some drunk who was too inebriated to walk. Eventually someone recognized him and took him to the hospital where he eventually recovered.
The hospital never really got a good explanation as to how he got such a severe burn on his leg nor do I think he fully understands why the gunpowder didn't work. Maybe there is just too big of difference between smokeless powder and black powder. Or maybe it must be poured out of a powder horn. :lol:
Though he probably thinks I'm a simpleton by my demeanor around him but I just can't keep a straight face when I see him. :lol: He still doesn't know I know and I really see no point in telling him any different. I figure he may have even learned something. ;-) :lol:
I'll start one off about deer hunting and trespassing.
I look after a fair amount of acreage, some of this land we allow hunting on and some of it we don't. One particular place has been closed to hunting since 1961 after a hunter was caught cutting a fence to drag his deer out. This is a large tract of land and only has two points of access. Both are blocked by heavy steel gates. For nearly 30 years the age structure of the deer on this block of land was able to increase well above average for the county. With that came very large antlered deer with little to no hunting pressure. But as the antlers grew in size so did the tales. People pressured for permission to hunt the land but the answer was NO.
Anyhow, the aspect of killing a monster buck was just too much for one fella (I'll call him Crockett, since he is a respected businessman and does not know I know the truth of how - well I'll get to that later) Anyhow, Crockett talked his wife into dropping him off on the road and he could then hike into the forest. They did this several weekends and he soon had a big buck patterned and erected a ladder stand in the woods.
Opening day arrived, and Crockett and his wife set out in the wee hours of the morning. Plan was to drop him off then pick him up by a tree with his trophy at 2:00pm. He struck off in the woods as her tail lights disappeared in the dust from the dirt road. He found his stand with little trouble and grabbed a rung of the ladder when he felt a sharp pain in his leg. Shining the flashlight towards his feet he saw the six foot diamondback that just bit him. (Oh, I forgot to mention, we call the hill he was hunting "Diamondback Ridge", its also the place where we plowed the fire line around the pack house and burned the building down cause there was a den of rattlesnakes under it)
Anyhow, with no cell phone, no transportation, what was an "experienced woodsman" to do? Well, if you ever watched the Daniel Boone series you'd know. Quite simple actually. You take out your knife and cut a big hole in your leg. You then bite the lead off the tops of three cartridges and pour the gun powder in the hole and ignite it with a match. This, as you know from watching Daniel Boone on TV, will kill the poison and you can go on about your business.
I'm sure you are wondering, as was my friend who the story was told in the strictest confidence by Crockett, "What happened then?" His reply was simple, "There was a blinding light, searing pain and then I commenced to dying!"
Anyhow, the snake pumped him good but not real good, but being an "exerienced woodsman", he knew he could shave some time off his trip to the paved road by employing his keen orienteering skills and taking a short cut to the paved road. Well I'm sure the ladies guessed it first but you are all right! He went the wrong way and got lost. Finally he made it to the paved road around 7:00 a.m at which time he was crawling on all fours and wrything in pain on the pavement. My understanding is that several people passed him on their way to work but figured he was just some drunk who was too inebriated to walk. Eventually someone recognized him and took him to the hospital where he eventually recovered.
The hospital never really got a good explanation as to how he got such a severe burn on his leg nor do I think he fully understands why the gunpowder didn't work. Maybe there is just too big of difference between smokeless powder and black powder. Or maybe it must be poured out of a powder horn. :lol:
Though he probably thinks I'm a simpleton by my demeanor around him but I just can't keep a straight face when I see him. :lol: He still doesn't know I know and I really see no point in telling him any different. I figure he may have even learned something. ;-) :lol:
Which she does and i tell her to be quite thinking it is only a matter of moments before it runs or flys off.
Every one in town knows where I hunt and who I hunt with.
:lol:
