[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Ground Hunnting #25092

Hey Smiley,

That’s awesome!

Tell us how it happened, specifically how you were able to draw so close to them without alerting the deer?

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Lost Season, Maybe Worse #23662

That’s rough Don. Best of luck with the healing!

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Garbaging for Bears #23646

grumpy wrote: Based on what I’m seeing in Wall Mart, baiting deer must be legal here. I don’t see why. Fields are full of left over corn, and the hay fields are still green. That’s where I will be tomorrow. Why spend the money at Wall Mart? On the other hand, am I hunting over bait when I sit at a stand where the deer come into the hay field? This isn’t a “natural” food source (neither are the apple orchards). When I got my license I paid the extra $5 for a bear tag, but doubt I will actually go looking for a bear. The one I saw last year ranges over three townships, where he is at any given point in time is anybody’s guess, and he is the only bear in those three townships. I don’t see how anyone could/would actually plan a hunt for a bear without considering a food source, and tend to think the food source is going to be gut piles from deer kills. Too frugal (not cheap frugal) to buy bait when it is all over the place anyway.

Hey Grumps,

I’ll be hunting in Mass next week, so I checked the regulations. Baiting for bear and deer is prohibited in Mass.

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Mushrooms #22209

Don, I’d add 2 items to your list: First, Hedgehog mushrooms are really easy to ID because they have spines underneath their cap instead of gills. Around here (NW CA), there isn’t anything to confuse them with, and they taste great!

Second, there are some inedible/poisonous Boletes, but all of them bruise blue when broken or squished. So watch out for Boletes that bruise blue, the rest are good.

I enjoy perusing the mushroom aisle at our Co-op grocery store. Whatever is fruiting in season and readily identifiable is sold there. So I’ll check out the mushrooms there to help learn a new one. I figure if they sell it in the grocery store to the general public it must be relatively safe. However, we cooked up a meal of Matsutakes and my body rejected them while my wife loved them. So everyone reacts differently to each mushroom. I even know a gal who cannot eat chanterelles. I like to try a small piece of a shroom for the first time.

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: The Running Woodsman #19982

Steve Graf wrote: I too have noticed this. I think it is due to temperature. Leaves tend to fall when the temps get below a certain point, and stop when it gets above.

As an extreme example: pecan trees loose all their leaves as soon as the temperature drops a few degrees below zero, but the sun has to hit them. So as soon as the sun rises on the first really cold morning the leaves start to fall. The tree will be bare by 11:00am.

When the leaves start to drop, I always feel like there is no other place to be, but in the woods. It is the best time!

Around here the pacific Madrone tree sheds its leaves in July! A new set is already growing so it is not bare in the summer. But then it sheds its old-red bark in winter, leaving the new green bark exposed, which has the ability to photosynthesize. I can’t think of any other North American tree which loses its leaves in summer…? Course, this is California- where you can have flowers and fruit on the same shrub AT the same time.

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: A Few Days in the Wilderness #18859

eidsvolling wrote: Excellent report, thanks for sharing.

Watch your footing when you come east, we have a monster acorn crop in New England this year.

Woohoo!

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Hunting Practice? #17853

I’m in total agreement with you Bruce. There should be more of a focus on the other skills than just shooting or physical fitness. I thought I had been practicing these other things, but after a couple stalks this season I realized I need to take my off season practice more serious. I’m going to work on moving as if I’m bow hunting and trying to stalk animals I see. Often outside of the season I’ll watch animals from however far I am when I see them. I think my goal this year will be to practice stalking more, get within 15 yards of elk, bear, and deer when I spot them, instead of watch them from afar.

But the hunting season is not over for me yet. Its still the real deal right now!

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: My Solo Moose Hunt and Tribute to Bart #16987

That’s a great looking animal! Awesome story of the hunt!

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: WY Grizzly encounter, bear spray etc #8809

Jim,

That’s a great article, thanks! Funny, that’s the same month/year I was born.

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: My First Traditional Kill #8798

Nice deer!

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Dream Hunts #7922

All these sound like dream hunts! And as said before hunting near home is a dream to others.

But, If I could do a hunt anywhere any animal: Bull Moose, in Alaska, and in Maine.

I’m checking off some dream hunts this year too:

1) 2nd year elk hunting. One day I’m gonna get an elk.

2) Going whitetail hunting during the rut with longbow this November. Back east in New England. Super psyched to watch some rutting whitetails!

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: 2014 Hunting #63029

Went out yesterday morning. Even with 2 rainstorms, the woods are back to snap-crackle-pop when I walk. Finally saw a legal buck but he was heading away from me and fast.

Unlike some of you guys, the acorn mast here failed. 3 years ago it was a larder, 2 years past half the trees had fruit, last year 1/4, now not a single white, black, or canyon oak has fruit and only a few tan oaks have some. Seems like the bears have all gone in search for food and left the areas I hunt.

Next week I’m heading into the wilderness with a friend. Looks like its going to rain for a day+. Really excited to get back out there!

Preston

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: Mushrooms #61847

Dan, how do you cook chicken of the woods? I have tried it twice and didn’t enjoy it very much. But lots of folks eat it, and I see it on the trees once in a while.

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: WY Grizzly encounter, bear spray etc #61845

donthomas wrote: 1. Handguns are a very poor means of self-defense against brown/grizzly bears for all the reasons mentioned. The Alaska Department of Fish and Game agrees, based on history and penetration tests. Don

Don,

That’s interesting, what does the department say about handgun penetration?

Preston

[Ptaylor]

in reply to: WY Grizzly encounter, bear spray etc #57355

I like what Bruce said.

Brennan- Were you using the pepper spray intended for people? Cause I believe the bear pepper spray is a much higher concentration. Too bad it didn’t work on dogs.

I’ll weigh in cause I spend some time around bears. However, where I live there are only Black Bears. I’ve lived near grizzlies, but its been a few years and I never hunted around them. Blacks and grizzlies are both bears, but they do behave differently, so take what I say with a grain of salt, I know you were interested in grizz, Jim.

Spring and summer I spend time watching black bears in the Redwood National park; no guns in the park. I used to carry bear spray but got tired of it hanging on my belt. Following bears around here often means crawling along their tunnels through the thick undergrowth. I gave up carrying a pack or anything which could snag (like a can of bear spray on my belt). Now I just carry a big walking stick. This summer I saw 8 bears, 6 inside 20 yards. One encounter was about 20 yards from a big boar courting a sow, another I got to 12 yards from a sow in her bed, and in none of these encounters was there any aggression from the bear. I probably spend more time during spring/summer outside of hunting season, crawling around the park after bears, and never have a problem.

During hunting season I carry bear spray in my pack on wilderness hunts, or day hunts if there are lots of bears around. When I’m stalking a bear with my bow with the intention of killing it, I don’t really consider personal risk. Likely if I started worrying about that I’d mess up the shot. But I’ve had a bunch of encounters with aggressive (really defensive) BLACK bears. A sow with cubs lunged at me, small bears will puff themselves up and walk/trot straight at me but have always stopped, they huff and make a lot of noise, and one little guy even ran towards me but just kept on going past. I never had my bear spray out and ready for any of those situations. Most of the time, I had an arrow nocked and my arms were shaking so bad I couldn’t aim.

Even just being close to a bear that doesn’t know I’m there gets me shaking. I’ve watched a totally calm person miss a target from 10 yards with a handgun. No way regular people can shoot accurately enough to kill a bear under high stress situations. Bear spray doesn’t really have to be aimed.

Also, what I really like about bear spray, is the bear lives and learns. No sense in killing an animal for our blundering mistake in the woods (which most grizzly attacks are- us intruding on their kill or cubs or bed; while most black bear attacks are actual predation in which case you won’t see the bear until its on you.)

This also got me thinking about folk in Africa that do the eco-tourism guiding. They regularly bring tourists on foot to view dangerous game. They don’t carry handguns. They carry bolt action rifles with iron sights. More accurate. Obviously we can’t carry around rifles during bow season even if for our safety. I’m not really a fan of allowing handguns during archery season, but I haven’t hunted big wilderness like Alaska. I could understand why someone would want a camp gun in that situation. I think folks just feel safer and tougher with a handgun on their hip. I worry about their eagerness to use it.

One more thang- Jim. Our bear situation is akin to your crocodiles. I mean, how many folks go swimming in crocodile waters every year? and what kind of precautions do you take? If I came down your way, I’d probably be thinking there are crocs waiting to pull me under in every ripple of water! But you know their behavior and habitat and are safer operating in their terrain than I ever would be walking around with a gun for safety.

[Author]

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