It’s hard to believe that school has started and summer is almost over. When I look back at this summer all I can think about is rain. July consisted of precipitation constantly falling and it’s continued into August so far.
The garden hasn’t needed to be watered very much as nature has taken care of that. It did fair this year and hopefully the potatoes don’t rot like they have in the past when there’s been too much rain. I’ve been enjoying the cooler weather that came with all the rain as I’m not a fan of the summer heat at all.
All of the rain has kept the rivers running full and I haven’t been fishing as much as I’d like to be. I’m hoping to catch a break soon as I miss the peaceful hours spent on the river. I’ll have to take Kelsey down to the pond and catch some bluegills and bass if nothing else to get some casting lessons in.
With the last week of August coming to an end, my thoughts will turn to thinking about the whitetail deer and trying to figure out where a big buck is hanging out. I already saw a nice 10 point that I hope to cross paths with in a couple of months. The extra moisture has caused the clover to grow lush and green and for now the deer and other wildlife are enjoying it on a daily basis.
That will change once fall rolls around and the mast starts to drop. It’s not a bad idea to take a pair of binoculars along and look up into the treetops to see what trees have nuts and how many are on them. In my area the white oak trees are loaded with acorns this year.
Past experiences tell me that when the white oak hits heavy, the wildlife will be on the other side of the road where the white oak is plentiful. I plan to concentrate my efforts over there once the acorns start dropping. I’ve also found it slow going during the first part of archery season with an abundant food source of white oak acorns falling to the ground. The deer and other wildlife won’t have to move very far to find food and they become somewhat lazy.
It pays to be observant to where the food sources are going to be ahead of time so once hunting season comes in you’ll know where to start. The bears are really hitting the black cherries right now. Just the other day I was riding around an old strip mine for work when I noticed several limbs blocking the road.
I stopped and looked up and a bear had snapped almost the whole treetop out of a decent size cherry tree. The bark and trunk were shredded with claw marks. Those bears are impatient and destructive animals. They could have waited for the cherries to drop like the other wildlife but nope they decided to destroy the tree and get them first.
There is still a month of summer and mowing grass left before the cool crisp mornings of fall return. Squirrel season opens on September 8 followed by the much anticipated deer archery season on September 29 this year.
Hunters should be reminded that Sunday hunting is now legal on public lands throughout West Virginia. The dates for the second segment of the antlerless deer season have changed and will run from Dec. 6-9 for 2018 which is a Thursday to Sunday. The muzzleloader season will take place the week after and run from Dec. 10-16 which is a Monday to Sunday. There have been a few other changes to the regulations this year so be sure to check them before venturing out.
