River Gypsy

My good friend Wayne Snyder asked me some time ago to write a foreword to a book he had in the works about the rivers of Appalachia.  I’ve fished the Smoky Mountains, been to the Laurel Highlands in Pennsylvania, and recently won a Trout Unlimited essay contest for my depiction of a tributary in the Highlands.  It should have been a no brainer right, an easy foreword to write?  It wasn’t and I’m teetering on the precipice of calling the stretch of time between when he gave me the deadline and I turned in the piece my worst case of writer’s block.  I was paralyzed and couldn’t get anywhere.  In the end though It worked out well, I think Wayne was pleased with it and I hope the folks that decide to pick up the book; River Gypsy Volume 2 The Rivers of Appalachia will enjoy it. 

 

 

This is my second go round writing a foreword for Wayne.  In 2010 I wrote a note for his seminal work, The Golden Age Fly Fishing in Michigan 2^nd Edition.  Wayne has a great touch with the history of fly fishing.  The people and places that make it special to so many people.  You’ll be educated and entertained all at once no matter which Wayne Snyder book you pick up.  I don’t advocate wasting money.  So don’t go out and get the book just for the foreword, get it for the people and places that Wayne is so good at describing.  After you read either of these book you’ll want to take a trip across the big mitten or visit those tall hills and hollows.    

 

 

Wayne has wrapped up his trip through the Appalachian’s and is waiting out what is left of winter in sunny Florida.  The last couple of weeks here in the Great Lakes can only be described as that, what’s left of winter.  We danced with spring in February, touching 70 on more than one occasion during a two-week stretch.  But a trough in the jet stream brought us back to reality and it’s been hanging tough ever since.  The weather is about to break though, and tomorrow we’ll flirt with 70 again.  You can feel the excitement, at least in fishing circles.  I’m ready for the bass to start bedding and some small stream trout action.

 

 

Staying Grounded

I recently read an article about hunting pressured deer where the author pointed out that you have to get high in the tree if you want to ambush these critters.  He went on to say that a lot of hunters are afraid of heights and won’t admit it.  So, they hunt low in the trees and get busted by the deer before they even have a chance.  

Well, I’m afraid of heights.  In the old days I could romp around in the trees with the best of them.  I’m older now and my sense of balance just ain’t what it used to be.  Not to mention I have a family who depends on me and a broken neck from a tree stand fall wouldn’t be fair to them or me.  I like to stay on the ground now and here’s how I like to do it: a spring steel pop up blind. 

Compact is king.  The spring steel blinds fold down into a circle that fits into a backpack bag.  I’ve tried the hub style blinds, and while they offer more room you often have to muscle an awkward bag on one shoulder through the brush to get them to your hunting location.  The backpack is much easier. 

Backpacks rule.  The backpack bag has padded shoulder straps and a zipper pocket that can hold ropes, stakes, and other gear.  There is usually enough room to stuff a tripod stool in with the blind as well.  So, there is extra room there for your knife, your grunt call, scents, and some of the other possibles you might carry to the woods.  

Warm and Dry is the ticket.  One great advantage is that the pop up blind also keeps the weather off of me.  I’m warm and dry in there when tree stand hunters might be forced out of the woods by high wind, rain, snow, or cold.  On extremely cold days I can run my heater buddy and hunt in comfort.  The side-walls can also help keep the wind off of you which keeps you warmer and can help cut down on the amount of human scent dispersed in the area.  

The element of surprise is the golden rule.  How many times have you hunted a new stand site for the first time and found success?  I can break down the spring steel blind quickly and move to a new spot if I see the opportunity.   In addition when I’m inside the blind my silhouette is non-existent and I can get away with a certain amount of movement; all things that contribute to the element of surprise. 

Things to watch out for 

Practice putting the blind up and taking it down.  There is a trick to getting the springs to fold up into the circle to fit into the back pack.  It involves the placement of your hands on the steel springs and pressure.  There are some good videos on Youtube that will help you get it just right and make packing up in the dark much easier. 

Get a seat with a back.  I’ve been using a three leg tripod with no back and it can get a little uncomfortable.  They make a three legged stool with a back and I will be upgrading soon. 

A hook helps out a lot.  For archery hunting a hook that you can attach to the roof’s tent poles is helpful in keeping your bow at the ready.  It helps to keep your bow up off the ground and movement to a minimum when the moment of truth presents itself. 

Don’t let the blind rot.  I take my blind in and out with me each time I use it.  I will also pop it up outside or in the basement if I have hunted in rain or snow.  Don’t store your blind wet for extended periods.    

Boats for Bucks

In the old days we hunted almost exclusively on public land.  That means high hunter pressure and skittish deer unless you were able to out walk the competition into some of the most god forsaken tangles in the woods.  The trouble with that is most public hunting areas don’t allow motorized vehicles, at all, so you might have out walked the other guys but getting your game out and back to the vehicle was a whole other story.  To put is concisely, I’ve been a part of some long drags.  

Sometimes you don’t have any land or maybe you don’t have a lot of time off for hunting and have to hunt close to home.  Highly pressured public land doesn’t mean you’re just SOL and have to live with a hunter in every tree; ever consider a boat? 

I’ve been studying a 4,000 acre public hunting area near my home that has a navigable river running right through the middle of it.  Most hunters stay on one side of the river where the road and parking lots are and the only way I can figure to get away from others and into the deer is a boat. 

Deer like water.  Every living thing needs water to survive and deer are no different.  In fact on our small tract of land we’ve placed water troughs and noticed that the first thing the deer do before they take a bite out of the food plots is get a drink.  They also use the waters of rivers and creeks and the associated thicker under-story for travel corridors and escape and bedding cover.   In short, rivers are deer magnets.

Boats can haul a lot of cargo.  Imagine instead of hiking for two miles back in and having to cross the river with all of your gear on your back that you just put in your kayak or canoe and float on down to your hunting spot.  The kayak holds the advantage here for getting back out as they are easier to paddle upstream.  The canoe holds the advantage when it comes to the amount of gear and game you can haul.  Now imagine that after you tag out you just make a short drag to the boat, load up the animal, and float or paddle it out to the launch.  From there it’s just a matter of pulling the vehicle around and loading your game and your boat. 

The boats of Salmon Camp.

Hunters thin out on the water.  In all my years of hunting I’ve only taken note of a handful of hunters who hunt by floating or use boats to get in and out of their hunting area.  As long as you’ve confirmed that there are no trails or parking lots close to your chosen area you should be virtually alone. 

It’s more work using a boat.  But you have got to ask yourself a question, “Are you in this cause its easy?”.  The guys taking the easy way are sitting it stands 100 yards from each other and you have a whole hunting area to yourself.  Yeah, you might have to load and unload the boat but once it’s in the water you have an easy walk in and once you fill that tag you have got a way to get that animal out that doesn’t involve a three mile drag.  Think about that long drag and that boat work doesn’t seem all that bad. 

Don't Hate Young Hunters

We just ended our annual youth hunt here in Michigan.  There is a neat site that invites photo submissions of the youngsters with their deer and posts them on the internets and social media.  Just yesterday I saw a posting from the moderators of the site asking people to please refrain from posting disparaging comments about the young hunters.  

I think I am getting older, because a lot of stuff I’ve seen lately has literally made me want to cry.  To sit right down where ever I am, put my face in my hands and cry.  It’s no way to treat a youngster participating in a perfectly legal activity.  In fact, let me tell you why you should welcome the youth hunt.  Because these kids are learning skills that will make them excellent adults, partners, spouses, friends, citizens, and employees. 

Safety

There is nothing more dangerous on the planet than a loaded firearm.  They are learning that hunting is a privilege and involves something that is potentially very dangerous and that safety comes first in everything.  They understand that if they abuse the privilege they lose it.  You probably won’t see these kids flying down your neighborhood street in their car cause they’ve been hunting and they understand that sometimes activities involve dangerous things and there are consequences for their actions.  The best hunters are safe hunters. 

Preparation 

Their mentors have been teaching them how important it is to prepare, from planting the food plots to setting the stands and checking the cameras.  They are practicing with their weapon of choice and spending time in the field scouting and learning their quarries tendencies and behaviors.  They are prepping their hunting gear and planning ahead to avoid conflicts with school and other obligations. 

Execution 

While on stand they are learning to play the wind and stay quiet.  They are learning to be patient while they wait for the game and the perfect, ethical shot opportunity.  They are applying what they know about the animal and how it behaves.  They are learning that success happens when preparation meets opportunity. 

Humility 

They are learning to overcome obstacles.  The weather conditions, the wind, no shot opportunity, animals that are not there or using the area, smart animals, the whitetails sixth sense, a misfire or just simply a missed shot.  They will be humbled and they will have to deal with it, learning that if they want to succeed sometimes they will just have to persevere and get back on the horse even though it just bucked you off. 

These young people are developing a sense of place in God’s natural world and learning about where food actually comes from.  They’ll learn about conservation when they pass on a smaller buck or doe and management when they opt to take an older deer or a doe to balance the herd.

 

They’re learning all of these things and more and are being shaped into some of our finest human beings.  People that you would want your daughter or son to date or marry, people that you want involved in your community, people you would want in your life as a trusted and devoted friend, and people that you’d want working with and for your business.  

So please don’t disparage the development of some of our finest.

Tributary Youghiogheny

I was checking out MidCurrent news one day during February 2015 and saw a call for writers for a Trout Unlimited essay contest.  The essay had to be on one of their Ten Special Places, a list that they developed of ten special places in the US that needed to be preserved.  

So I decided to write about a trip I’d made to the Laurel Mountains in Pennsylvania a few years back.  It really is beautiful country out there and I’ve since had time to explore it a little more.  In all honestly it took be about forty five minutes to write this piece, with revisions, and for it I received a Scott fly rod, a Lamson Reel, and a by line in TROUT magazine.  

It took them a little while to get it published, but it recently showed up in the summer issue of TROUT with a beautiful shot of rising brookie.  

Tributary Youghiogheny

The water bubbles out from the limestone shale between two trees and falls away down the mountain, a true spring creek.  In the summer, when it’s hot, you can ride to the top of the mountain and drink the cool, clear water right at its source.  The water’s cold when it comes out of the ground and the shade of the thick hardwoods helps keep it that way, all the way down the mountain.  I imagine there are some brookies up this high but the water is narrow and too tight for the fly rod.  It doesn’t matter.  It will get wide enough at some point.  I can tell this place, these Laurel Mountains are trouty. 

You can see it in the layers of the yellow limestone.  There is a constant dampness, like a creek or river is always waiting to bust out and flow downhill toward the Youghiogheny River.  And indeed there is at least a small trickle in every hollow.  If you get enough of them together at the bottom of the mountain you’ve got a river.

You can’t see the stream from the road or the driveway even though it’s right in front of the house.  It takes being halfway up the mountain and on the way down to notice it.  It makes a hairpin bend and flows through a giant culvert to the other side of the road.  It’s still tight but more than fishable even with its tree lined banks.  I smile a fisherman’s smirk knowing that there is a river in the front yard and my fly rod is but a skip away.

I walk the edges, flipping over pieces of limestone that were probably there when George Washington rode in and put down the whiskey rebellion.  The nymphs are there, and where there is food and cold water there are bound to be trout.  I study the bushes and the tops of the trees but there’s no hatch here.  It’s getting too hot too quick this time of year and a beaded pheasant tail will have to do.   

Cover is sparse.  The grade rushes the water past and scours the bottom leaving only rocky hides for the fish.  There are deeper holes, color lines, current seams, bubble lines, and boulders to fish.  I try my best but today the luck is on their side and the trout gods have ignored my plight. 

I can see the mountain rising straight up behind the house as I crest the bank.  Downstream, the hills and mountains keep rolling away.  I get a whiff of honeysuckle and it mixes with the sweet smell of the river.  He was having a good day when he made this place.  I catch a taunting, splashy rise out of the corner of my eye and smile.  They have eluded me today but I’ll be back to this place with its old mountains and cold creeks, this place that was made for trout and those who pursue them.