Monthly Archives: September 2012

After another great night of sleep under the stars, morning came too soon.  Waking up as light slowly broke over the mountain, I pulled on my boots and headed to the truck.  I made the short drive up the mountain and took off down the logging road again.  This time I made sure to take my time and look over every spot.  All I was seeing was squirrels.  It was a beautiful morning on top of the mountain anyways.  Coming back down the mountain, I once again encountered the turkeys.  They must be hating me by this point.  They have been chased down the road by the Trailblazer for three straight days.  I get back to camp to find Casey awake.  We mix together what is left in the cooler, put cheese over it and call it breakfast.  It actually tasted good, but then again, we are camping.  This meal isn’t going into the rotation of a normal kitchen.  We sneak back down the creek and attempt to stir up the fish again.  Once again they are immune to our passes.  We move down the creek a little further but find no new fish.  We decide to take a little time and practice with the bows before we head home.  We take an empty gallon water jug and fill it with water from the creek and place it at 30 yards.  Two shots later we each have a hole in the jug.  We shoot for about half an hour emptying the water through the abundance of holes that we have put through it.  We decide it is probably time to return to the real world.  We begin to break down camp.  Casey is beginning to show some experience and camp comes down in a hurry.  The trucks load up quickly and organized.  We take few minutes to enjoy the beauty of the mountains while finishing off the final Pepsi for me and Coke for Casey that we had in our cooler.  This was our que.  Time to go home.  We took our time driving out of the mountains to avoid disaster on the one lane gravel road.  We hit the main road and part ways.  It was definitely a windows down music up kind of day, but without the same enthusiasm that I had entered the mountains with three days earlier.  I arrived at the house and unloaded the truck and put the seats back up.  It is almost time for my first child to enter the world so I got the car seat ready to put in the truck.  Don’t worry though…the tree stand and the bow are still in the back of the truck just in case…

Well the night got a little chilly.  The temps dropped into the low 30s and the breeze made the night even cooler.  I got up a little after 6 am and got into my camo.  Stepping out of the tent was actually colder than I thought.  Putting a log on the fire and then got in the truck to go back up the mountain.  Daylight was breaking over the trees when I headed into the woods. Somehow it felt warmer at the top of the mountain.  I moved down the same trail as the night before.  I took my time and moved carefully.  About a 1/2 mile down the trail, I found some very fresh scat.  Knowing that there was a bear in this area the night before, I proceeded cautiously.  I spent the next hour picking my way over the trail looking for more sign.  Finding nothing, I decided it was time for breakfast and headed down the mountain.  We fixed breakfast and decided to go look for fish.  Driving the gravel roads, we found some turkeys in the road.  They moved quickly to avoid the truck.  We parked in several different spots and moved up and down the creek looking for fish.  We found a few, but they showed no interest.  Crossing the creek several times with the truck, we found a better campsite.  Casey and I decided to move camp.  We drove back and broke down camp, loaded up, and reset in an hour.  For Casey, driving his Dodge through the creek was a highlight of the trip.  Casey was impressed with the speed we had used to set camp.  I told him that experience pays off in the woods.  We headed back down into the creek.  A small pool was holding about a dozen small mouth bass and trout.  Changing lures several times proved unsuccessful.  We decided to explore the creek.  We began moving up-stream jumping from rock to rock.  About 500 yards up the stream we found a waterfall that came down into a large pool.  This area quickly became a photo shoot and we got some great pictures of a hidden treasure in the foothills of the Appalachians.   We managed to work our way back down stream without falling in the creek or dropping our cameras.  At this point it was time to get ready to head back up the mountain.  With our new campsite there was a big washed out hill to the one side.  We set up a make shift archery range and took several practice shots.  Proving ready, we headed back to the spot I had already been to twice.  After parking and grabbing our gear, we headed down the logging road.  This was my third trip down the road in two days.  We crossed under the closed gate and headed up hill.  I had the lead and was moving slowly.  Not more than a 1/4 mile down the road, I noticed something out of place.  Stepping to the side, Casey whispered, “What?”  I pulled up my binoculars and scanned the bushes.  I knew I was seeing a dark shape, but was struggling to figure it out.  Then the shape had a head and the head was moving around.  I quickly whispered, “BEAR!”  Casey could see him over my shoulder and I quietly but excitedly asked if it was over 75 lbs.  When the bear stepped into the road, that doubt was quickly erased.  This was a big bear.  Very big in fact.  The bear slowly moved to the left and then quartered towards us from about 45 yards away.  I had a large tree lined up with the bear so I was able to get the bow ready.  Trying to stay still was difficult with the adrenaline that was running for both of us.  After about two minutes Casey could see the bear about 75 yards below us and crossing the gravel road.  Once there, I told Casey that we would not stalk.  The other side of that gravel road, the world drops off.  It is almost vertical and I declared the bear the victor.  We walked the remainder of the road and then headed back.  Casey threw a few casts towards dark as I prepared dinner.  Once again, the fish won.  The evening was beautiful.  We continued to pile wood on the campfire and tell stories.  Shortly after midnight we decided to call it a night.  The temps were dropping but not like the night before.  We knew that we only had a half day left, but what a great Day 2.

I said in a previous post that nothing was better than experience…well I got that this week and shared some more.  I headed up into the Smoky Mountains on Monday afternoon.  After setting up camp along the creek, I went to high ground to look for bears.  Parking the truck on the side of the mountain with the ebrake on, I decided to travel down an old logging road.  Walking in about a mile, I found a spot I liked.  The thick brush behind me was very steep, but down below me was more open forest of hardwoods.  Stopped on the logging road, I could see up hill for about 40 yards and downhill for about 125 yards.  Several hunters had suggested vanilla extract as a cover scent?  Skeptical, but that quickly vanished.  I poured out a small amount on a dead tree in front of me and barely had time to get my bow back in my hand before I heard crashing coming from uphill.  Quickly reaching for the quiver, disappointment instantly set in…during all the preparation for this hunt I had missed a crucial step.  All of the arrows still had field points and no broadheads.  I stood there shocked at my mistake.  Even rookies remember to switch back their arrows.  Had I really done this?  While all these evil thoughts of myself crossed my mind, the crashing continued.  All of sudden, a smaller bear, but big enough appeared on the logging road.  Without seeing a lot of bears, I assumed him to be about 100-125 pounds.  Standing broadside at 27 yards, I was left with nothing to do but stare.  He stayed in the road for 30 seconds before heading down the hill and out of sight.  Retreating to the truck and cussing myself the entire way, I switched back the arrowheads.  After exploring the area a little more and making plans for the morning, dark was closing in quickly so I headed back to the truck.  Arriving back at camp, I realized that Casey hadn’t made it yet.  Warning him not to try those roads by himself in the dark, I went into town to meet him.  We returned to camp about an hour later.  After some creative fire building and heating up the soup, it was story time.  I told Casey about the adventures of the afternoon and promised an exciting Day 2.

In the morning, I am headed to the mountains for three days.  This is a trip that has been in the making since I moved to Georgia in 2005.  I had read about the Chattahoochee National Forest before moving to Georgia.  I knew that there were opportunities for grouse, bear, and deer in the mountains.  I have had no success with grouse in GA other than flushing one when I was hiking in Black Rock Mountain several years ago.  This trip is about bears and stream fishing.  About a month ago, I decided to lock in this trip for this year.  I am not sure that my very understanding wife will be so understanding once the baby comes next month.  I know that I will be able to hunt, but I don’t think a 3 day trip to the mountains will come with a smile next fall.  The plan is to camp along the stream and bear hunt in the mornings and evenings and stream fish during the day.

Coming with me is my friend, Casey.  He is trying to improve his outdoor standing.  Last year, we got him involved in fishing.  Now he is constantly looking for an excuse to go fishing.  When he heard about this trip, he was in.  Not only is he going fishing, but he bought a bow today so he can start learning the hunting side of the outdoors.  He got a great deal and the set is perfect for a motivated beginner.  We will get him some practice shots in this week…

Stream fishing is something that I did in KY for small-mouth bass, but trout will be a new experience.  I have done my homework, but I know from everything else, nothing is better than experience…

Saying I have spent my entire life in the outdoors might be an understatement.  When I was 9 months old, my dad had me in one of those backpack carriers knee-deep in a creek small-mouth fishing.  Apparently a snake came swimming by and I came over his shoulder trying to get to it.  I don’t care for snakes as much today, but I do everything I can to be outdoors.  I even found a job that I get to be outside on a fairly regular basis.  I was afforded many great opportunities over the years and I have found the more hours you spend outdoors the more opportunities you would get.  I have seen some of the most beautiful sites that people indoors only see on pictures with fancy quotes in doctor’s offices that are meant to make you feel better.  Fortunately for me, I have gotten to live many of these pictures.  My wife and I moved to North Georgia in 2005.  After growing up hunting, fishing, and hiking in the Midwest, moving to the Deep South was a culture shock.  I found Georgia to be a completely different experience.  I have never sat in a tree stand in Kentucky in late November in a t-shirt and wishing I was in shorts which is what I have found often happens in Georgia.  Battling an extreme overtime job and somehow being blessed with an overly understanding wife, I have finally started to have success outdoors in Georgia.  This blog is going to tell the stories of friends and family’s current adventures in Georgia and beyond along with stories of the past in Kentucky, Indiana, Wisconsin, and more…