Fat Guy + 100 Degrees = Long Day
Saturday was the day before the last day of archery in unit D15. I wanted to get out and try to hunt, but there were plenty of factors that rose against me. First, the moon wasn’t quite a full moon, but it was close at about 90% full. Then the heat factor of 100+ degrees kicked in, but like most of you know, I am stubborn. I called Eric and asked him if he wanted to go do some hunting. I certainly owe him a few cold ones after the heat we dealt with.
We first decided to move my treestand as we found another area with a much better chance of getting a bear and it’ll be a bit easier on my car. The general bear season doesn’t pick back up until October 9 and I am hoping to go when the weather cools a bit. It’s only supped to be in the mid-to-lower 80’s that weekend. Too friggin hot for me still, but I’ll be out there. I think we both went through more than a gallon of water each out there. I am just glad we packed in enough!
Here are the new claw marks we found on the base of the tree before we moved the stand.
When we got back from moving the stand, we sat down for a quick refreshing beverage. After an hour of cooling off, Eric took me to a great new spot to see if we could glass up a buck. It was late by the time we got there and only had about an hour to glass. It left us little time, but we both knew the moon wasn’t right and it was just too damn hot. We still sat up there and glassed until dusk. Eric had his Swaro’s on his tripod (I highly recommend this style of glassing) and was sporting his Cactu-flage. Even though it was hot and the moon wasn’t in alignment for a good hunt, we still had fun. We were out there doing what we love to do. Being the last weekend of archery I needed to be out there to have a chance at a buck. While we were packing up, we did see a nice coyote from about 500 yards off. He checked us out for a few minutes and then took off. That sighting made the walk back to the truck that much more exciting.
Now I just have to wait for almost two weeks and try my hand at bear hunting again. I’ve been spending a bit more time scouting and hunting this year than I have in the past. I realize how difficult SoCal hunting can be and how I am looking forward to arrowing my first SoCal animal. It’ll be worth the sore muscles, extra water being packed in and long hours spent planning and executing our plans. I love it all!
Looks like you had a beautiful sunset on the tops of those mountains in the distance!…and that tree looks very promising!Look forward to hearing how your bear hunt unfolds!… sure hope you get the kind of bear activity my Dad and I had when we were elk and deer hunting!