Your senses and hunting--what do you think of?

[Virginiashadow]

When I think of hunting I have many happy and pleasant memories. But when it gets down to it, it boils down to my 3 main senses and how I view the essence of hunting:

visual memory: watching a beautiful sunrise and the mist from my breath

audial memory: hearing the immistakable sound of a buck crunching leaves beneath his hooves

olfactory memory: : smelling the fresh autumn leaves


So what about you all in regards to your senses, what memories or thoughts do you have when you are just daydreaming about hunting?

vashadow

[shonkster]

As you get older you seem to appreciate the things around you a lot more and a lot of those things are the natural things as you stated

[fabsroman]

Visual: geese flipping and ducks cupped as they are coming into the decoys. I think the best memory is of Nitro, my dog, cresting a hill with his first goose in his mouth, seeing me, and holding the goose up like "Look at what I have and what a good job I am doing." Don't think I will ever forget that retrieve.

Smell: Burnt gunpowder and a wet dog.

Audio: The honk of geese and quack of ducks.

If you can't tell yet, I love waterfowl hunting. The sunrises and sets are great, but I don't think there is a single one that I actually remember. They are great when I see them, but they are quickly forgotten.

[M.T. Pockets]

The sound of geese honking is the first memory I can recall.

The sound of mallard wings wispering over you before you see them is a favorite, or teal coming in like Leer jets.

The smell of elk in the timber.

Nothing quite like the sound of a bull elk bugling at close range.

The smell of coffee.

The site of your camp's fire in the distance when you're coming in from the field.

[fabsroman]

MT,

I do love the sound of whistling wings. I have had geese and mallards do that to me a bunch of times. When you hear the whistling wings, you know you are in trouble because you don't know where the birds are, you just know they are right on top of you.

I haven't had the chance to hunt elk yet, but would imagine that an elk bugle is pretty memorable.

[Slim-Zippy]

The smell of wet grass as dew burns off in the morning sun.

Doves putting on the after burners and doing manuevers that would make a fighter pilot proud and an old wing shooter laugh at his misses.

The sound of the insects starting their symphony at sunset declaring that the night has started.

[Valigator]

Hearing the frogs in the glades,

distant roar of other airboats,


snorting of gators all around you...they sound like hogs...

crickets really making a racket....

[Nulle]

The smile on a young kids face when they get their first fish or game.

[Steverino]

Well...like some other folks here have stated, the olfactory sense of those wonderful autumn earthy scents, really get me thinking about hunting (even the earth-smelling wafers and camo detergents!)

I have such vivid, wonderful memories of sitting on stand on any given cold Wisconsin morning of gun season and having large flakes of snow fall in the pines around me. Experiencing these sights first-hand make Currier and Ives lame.

The last couple of bowseasons have been really nice too, sitting on stand and watching golden rays of sunlight penetrate through orange, red, and brown leaf canopies of gently swaying tree limbs as gentle winds scatter leaves loudly and announce the approach of colder days ahead.

Aaaahhhh. All good stuff. Makes me wonder if this will be the year that we see Cabelas or BPS offer the RealTree hammock for nap hunting!

[fabsroman]

Great post Steverino. I could pretty much small and see what you were describing.

I cannot wait to be done with this townhouse which will give me the opportunity to be on the water, in the field, or at the range. I think I am down to about another two weeks of work and then I am done. Oh yeah, forgot about tax season. After April 15th I will be in good shape.

[Virginiashadow]

You all have added so much to this thread, man thanks. I really like to hear what others think about when they are out in the field or at home when hunting comes up.

Fabro, there is something to the smell of gunpowder that gets my senses going as well.

vashadow

[gspsonny03]

Nothing gets me going more than the scream of a bull elk in dark timber, less than 30 yards away and you can't see him, or the cackle of a rooster pheasant as he flushes under your feet, or the heartpounding flush of a covey of quail when you least expect them. I haven't experienced that one in a while, but I still remember that from when I was a kid just starting to hunt. How about waking up at two in the morning, with your hunting partner hollering about someone trying to suffocate him, only to find out that it had snowed the night before and the tent had collapsed on him. That will leave a lasting memory. As Bob Hope use to say, Thanks for the memories.

[Steverino]

I'm wondering if we should start a thread called "Hantings or Spookings" In addition to all of the wonderful posts above, (the sound of rushing wind under waterfowl coming into a blind really is cool, ain't it?) how about the senses of things when they don't go, oh...how should one say, exactly right???

I cannot recount the number of times that I have been out pheasant hunting with friends and family and have had the beegeezus scared out of me from a flushing bird because I wasn't paying attention and was too busy BSing with someone walking next to me in the field. As folks are busting a gut when my bird flies off to safety, I'm defending my poor gun mount to the fact that I was getting over my recent heart attack.

And I have to (somewhat sheepishly ) admit that although I love the sunrise and being out before dawn to hunt deer, I am spooked walking in the darkness a couple of hours before first light. Some property that I bowhunt out West, last year, I swear no matter which routes that I took-upwind, downwind-to and from bedding or feeding areas, whatever..I'd stumble up on a deer that would hiss, grunt, or whistle. For those that know that sound, your skin will get instantly prickly with goosebumps as the hair stands up on your neck. It's gonne happen- it's just unnerving is all. I do think though, at least from my own experiences, that deer are alot more curious than most give them credit for. I have had many deer follow me and approach me at different times of the season.

Anyhoo, when I relay these stories to my family, they just shake their heads and call me insane.

One night a couple of years ago, I hiked into an area and climbed up a high ridge area to the opening of some woods (some of you may recall my telling this story when I inquired about the buck grunt, snort, wheeze thing) When I slowly made my way through the woods, I stopped at the edge of the treeline looking out across a small meadow that emptied into another woodline. I heard movement and saw a fuzzy outline of what appeared to be a buck's antlers about 60 yards away. As I remained silent a few minutes, the deer turned and I saw that it was a good buck that appeared standing under a huge oak tree in some tall grass. I took one step and my foot fell into a small sinkhole that wrenched my ankle good. As I was flying towards the ground, I saw this same "good buck RISE to it's feet! The thing was bedded and this dang deer was enormous as it made the most shrill whistle grunt sign that I had ever heard. I should've stayed down I know but this was the largest deer that I had ever laid eyes on! So...like an idiot, I rose to my feet, the deer looked at me (now that my outline was completely out of the treeline behind me) and bounded off in the bright fullness of a crisp autumn morning. It was truly one of the most beautiful sights that I ever saw. I mean, this image would have made the cover on one of those hunting calanders that you see. I fely very blessed to have seen this magnificent animal. I've never seen this buck on this property again.

And Fabs, you'll be glad when your townhome is done to yourself and new wife's liking. There's a time and season for everything. We as hunters know this fact well.

[Virginiashadow]

Good story Steve.....bounding off into the sunset....ahhhh!

vashadow

[skeeter@ccia.com]

Each hunting season has it's own sounds,sights and smells that make a memory for a lifetime.

spring turkey: sound of the first bird in the morning...the whipper-whill (spell) smell of the fresh buds on the honeysuckle bushes and the sight of one of my first time hunters gun jumping around like a jackhammer while trying to hold a steady bead on their first gobbling turkey.

ground hogs: sound of the farmers tractors
smell of fresh cut hay or the manure wagon (ahhh that good ole country air)
sight of the first whistle pig of the season
then back to the football punt sound of the first connecting long range shot.

deer season: sound of the alarm clock at 3a.m.
smell of the fresh coffee
sight of the first deer you let walk past just because you enjoy looking at them while they don't even know you are there.

and nothing beats the sounds and sights of your kids first time smelling their first attempt at field dressing ....make a memory..


born to be outdoors....thanks dad