Feb. 25, 2006 Rabbit Hunt

Today, Mike M., Glen, Jeff and myself hunted a piece of property that is owned by a friend of Jeff's. It was in the mid 40's and sunny on this date, but the winds were pretty gusty at times. Today will also be our last rabbit hunt of 2006. We really put Pete to work and we were getting up numerous rabbits and even getting up sometimes two or three rabbits at a time. I was able to get the first rabbit of the day, Mike M. was able to land two and Jeff came in at three. The pressure was just too much for Glen and he came up empty handed. All in all today was a great way to end the rabbit season even thou the cows and one bull gave us some problems. I really believe that Glen started the stampede. In the picture from right to left we have Glen (standing and upset), Mike M. with Pete, Jeff and myself. Thanks to Jeff for arranging the hunt!

Feb. 18, 2006 Rabbit Hunt

Today Mike M., Jeff and myself hunted the 143 property. We had a bit of a cold spell with high winds and temps. in the mid teens. Even thou it was a bit chilly we were able to get up quite a few rabbits. Pete the beagle was able to track very well and Mike M. ended the day with three rabbits. I thought that I would try my skill at using my .22, but the rabbits were just too quick for me today. The picture above is one a took on my way home. Even thou the photo is of poor quality you can see some deer in the field. This field is the front of the property on which we hunted.

Feb. 12, 2006 Rabbit Hunt

Today's rabbit hunt took place at a small piece of property owned by Rick's mother. The temperature was in the lower 30's with heavy snow at times. We got up several rabbits but the hunting was difficult. Glen was the only one at the end of the day with a rabbit. Glen (Game Hog) just happened to take his gun away from Cam at that moment in time. In the picture above you see from left to right (Myself, Rick, Mike w/ Pete the Beagle, Glen (standing?) and Cam his son in front.

Nov. 28th, 2005 My 1st Buck

Here is a closer look my first buck! The deer was shot close to dusk from the ground over looking a corn field on the 143. After lunch it was pretty slow with no deer sightings. Toward the end of the day I saw a small doe moving across my sight at a good clip. Not too much time passed when I saw two other deer off in the distance. After putting my scope on them I noticed that I had two bucks moving slightly towards me. One was nine point and the other a ten. I decided I would take a crack at the larger ten and took time to position myself and my sights. I took a shot at 110 yards and was successful. The nine point ran not 40 yards from me and stopped after I shot. It was a neat sight to watch this other deer for the next 20 minutes or so. My deer pictured above scored 107 gross, but only had about 1 inch of deductions. Not bad for a first timer.

Nov. 28, 2005 Mike M's Buck

Here is a closer look at Mike M's buck. We scored it at 139, A deer is classified as an Ohio Big Buck at 140. We will wait for official results.
This was the first of three 10 points taken off the 143 property on the same day! This deer was taken from the stand we refer to as the Ole Whitey Stand.

Nov. 28th, 2005 Deer Hunt

Nov. 28th was the first day of gun season in Ohio. The Jolly Holla Hunt Club was out in full force. Three 10 point bucks were taken that day all with 12 gauge slug guns. In the middle of the picture Mike M. Got a nice 139 class buck (not officially scored yet). The deer was taken early morning around 8am. Mike told me that two large bucks came in and sparred in his view. Mike was able to get a great shot off. On the right Mike S. Took his 10 point out of a stand by calling the deer as soon as he got in the stand around 2pm. Good for Mike S. He can't sit in a stand long anyway. My deer (I am on the left) was taken from the ground around dusk in an open field at 110 yards.
P.S. We are so sorry Glen.

3rd day Spring Turkey, April 05

The 3rd day of Spring turkey started out slow. The weather was nice and clear, but with little to no turkey activity. I really heard no early morning gobblers and I did see 2 hens feeding in the am. Late morning I met back up with my friend Mike--(Mike scored a jake in the am). He had told me that he heard a gobble early in the morning and he thought he could locate the area. I was game since my morning was slow. With his lead we proceeded to track and sneak up on a tom through the woods to a opening in a field. When we came up on the edge on the woods Mike spotted the Tom 80 yards out and he was heading our way. He told me to get ready and I did. A standing shot was taking with my Mossberg 835 at 40 yards and the large 22lbs. bird was successfully hit. This bird had the best fan I have seen with a 10 inch beard and 1 1/4 inch spurs. One spur was slightly broken, most likely caused by sparring with another male. Thank you Mike! And as Mike would say, "Don't let anyone ever tell you that you can't sneak up on a turkey."

1st day Spring Turkey, April 05

This picture is of a Eastern tom turkey taken in Ohio on the first day of the season.
The turkey was taken from a ground blind using a hen decoy. The 15 yard shot was taken at
7 AM using a 12 gauge Mossberg 835. Conditions were warm and sunny with a lot
of turkey activity. The tom weighed 24lbs. The beard was 10 1/2 inches and the spurs
were 1 1/4 inch. One spur was slightly broken. Numerous hens were seen that morning.
An additional giant tom and three jakes.

Feb. 4, 2006 Rabbit Hunt

Today was a very bad day to be out in the woods. It was very cold in the lower 40's with gusty winds and cool rain blowing right at you. It did not take us very long to get totally soaked. Mike and myself would have place a bet that we were the only rabbit hunters in the woods that day.
Even though it was very cold and rainy we were able to get some rabbits moving. I was able to get a good shot at one and the other I missed a running shot. Even though we about froze it was still worth it. To the right is another picture of Pete the Beagle tracking away.

Jan. 28, 2006 Rabbit Hunt

today's weather was very nice for Late January in Ohio. Mid 50's with bright sun and no wind.
I hunted with my friend Mike his dog Pete, Jeff and his son Brock. We hunted the White Place since we figured we would have good luck getting up some rabbits. By the end of the day we were all successful. Pete ran the rabbits very well with some long tracks. I was able to bag two, Jeff was able to get one as well as Mike. Some jokes were going around that day about me being a rabbit hog since I jump shot the first one of the day. Above is a picture of the gang that day.

Jan. 21, 2006 Rabbit Hunt

Weather wise today seemed like it was going to be a good day. Once we got to our hunting spot the weather seemed to take a turn for the worse. It was very windy and the temperature seemed to drop. I am hunting with my friend Mike and his dog Pete the Beagle. Pete is about 13 years old and is a great rabbit tracking machine. Pete is shown in the picture to the left. My friend Mike is also the owner of the land we hunt on. To start out we hunted on a piece of property called The Cabin, which is about 48 acres. We got a couple of rabbits running. The first one Pete lost track of, but there was another dog that came on the property at that time. We also kicked another rabbit up that we had a hard time getting. It ran by me about three times before I could actually get a shot.

Later in the day we hunted a piece of property called the White Place. I am not sure of the size of this property, but it is fairly large. We got up about three or four rabbits, but Pete seemed to have a tough time. I am not sure if it is the weather or that he was distracted several times.
I ended up getting another rabbit before days end, but it was a tough one. Mike took a shot at the rabbit and missed, but I was able to pull off a good shot.