March Madness in the Great Outdoors

I didn't really feel like going scouting today. In fact, I was set to take a bath, grab some dinner and retire for the evening. But, my girlfriend had other notions: "Get out, it is still light outside!" So, I (slightly begrudgingly) got myself together and strapped on the wheelgun for a 2 hr. trip. What a trip did it prove to be! Late March means two things to me: turkey hunting and mushrooms. I've been prepping for the April turkey season for a while by sorting my kit, practicing calls, and patterning my shotgun. Mushrooms aren't even an option now. It literally snowed here yesterday. Needless to say, my main interest was going to be looking for turkey sign.

Twenty minutes later I'm pulling into public land and I can't help but think that this was a good decision. The fields of milo stubble with a lake in the background was just what I needed to end the workday. I am less than twenty yards down the agricultural road when I see a wild turkey wing feather. Things are looking up. As I am examining the feather I suddenly hear the frantic scattering of leaves and the nervous chirps of bobwhite quail. I've lived in Kansas for two years and I have seen exactly one bobwhite prior to this. This covey knows something is up and is quickly making it's way through the dense underbrush on the right hand side of the road. Nonetheless, I count at least five birds and by the ruckus I judge there to be at least ten in the covey. Maybe I will just have place to bird hunt next year.

Now I am proceeding slowly down the road, measuring each step and watching the inevitable stragglers from the covey scurry away. Two more steps and I hear rustling but don't see anything. I wait and once again I am tickled by what I see. A big cottontail has heard the quail and makes a couple quick hops into an opening about twelve yards away. Before I know it I've got my revolver out of my holster and have the tritium front sight trained on the brown blob that is so effortless blending into the leaf litter. Boom! I see a flash of white fur and I know that I have made a good shot. As it turns out, the ball went right through the shoulder---not bad for basic sights on a small target.



At this point, I quickly skin and dress the rabbit. The temperate is hovering around 40 degrees and I don't want the meat to ruin (which is very possible if you don't work quickly on rabbits). After a short cleaning session I am ambling down the trail once more--happy as a lark. Another forty yards and I have quite a pep in my step. I take a quick respite where the field edge meets another finger of timber when I see something pushing through the tall grass on the trail-side. A hen turkey bounds twice, hits the packed dirt, and then takes awkward flight towards the lake. The whole time I am fumbling with my camera trying to get a picture, but only manage to capture the trail ahead.

As the sun begins to set I circumscribe the field edge and watch as two does and three fawns sneak across the stubble into a wood about 250 yards away. I'm so happy that I am about to burst and in my revery I nearly go into cardiac arrest when yet another cottontail explodes from a briar-patch just a few feet away from me. Have you ever tried to draw a revolver one-handed from concealment and aim at a running rabbit while holding another skinned rabbit in your off hand? I have. I imagine it was quite a sight to see.

Extraordinary can only begin to describe the scouting trip that I had. It is amongst the best in my hunting lifetime and I saw more game today than in the past five rambles that I have went on. I'm cooking brier rabbit for dinner tonight and have quite a story to tell. No doubt I will regret saying this for a while, but I am undoubtedly thankful that I listened to my girlfriend...   :)

P.S. Since squirrel season doesn't start in Kansas until June 1st I am considering this completion of Spring Goal #4.