Predators also work during deer season
Hunting season is in full swing and the opportunities to see wildlife are greatly increased.
Some of my greatest memories of viewing unusual animals came about when I was hunting for small game, turkeys or deer.
Once while hunting with friends in the northern woods of Pennsylvania, I was given the rare treat of viewing a fisher working a log pile for squirrels and chipmunks. It was the first time I had seen the reclusive mammal and I wasn't sure what I was seeing until I researched it a bit more.
I've seen black bears, bobcats, elk, bald eagles and coyotes, along with the usual creatures, in my treks. The predators always are on a adrenaline rush as they fiercely stare you down in a defiant manner when you dare to interrupt their hunting patterns.
Recently, I was given the opportunity to spend quite an arduous week deer hunting with friends and relatives. I had cousins come in from Michigan, Virginia and Harrisburg to hunt Game Lands 95 in Butler County.
With more than 8,000 acres available, there is plenty of room to explore some fairly wild country. The key is to leave the roads behind and walk until you are in so deep that you think you are on your way out again.
Unfortunately, age does play a part in what we all can and can't do. Its one thing to down a buck deep in the back country and another to get it safely out for transport home. Many hunters have discovered this with sore muscles or worse after hours of hard work.
I admit that I'm a rambler when it comes to hunting, which is that I'd just as soon do some walk-and-stalk hunting. In this style, you cover many miles of wildlife trails, walking quietly in the hope that you cross paths with a game animal and spot them before they spot you.
Wildlife doesn't move unless it is for food, water, mating, safety or resting cover. Hunters are aware of this and plan their hunts accordingly. You will find many deer taken in the early part of the season because hunters have patterned their daily behavior routines.
As the season progresses, the deer have thrown all the patterns to the wind and hunters must go to the most remote and thick cover to bring home the venison.
I was out with the goal to get off the beaten path when I scheduled my 4 a.m. wake-up call each morning. As I was leaving my driveway, I stopped to see a great horned owl finishing his meal of a cottontail rabbit.
This owl was a superior and fierce predator, and the remains of many of his victims could be seen under some trees where he feasted regularly.
I continued on my way and decided to hunt along the North Country Trail as it wended its way through the northern part of the county. That's when I ran into several deer and could have harvested a doe, but we were still hunting for bucks and I just couldn't put four points to any side of the deer that I saw.
One of the unusual characteristics of deer season is that coyotes also are fair game. Coyotes are more abundant in our area than most people think, and they prey on deer, turkeys and small pets.
It was close to quitting time and a far-off deer drive could be faintly heard and it caused me to settle in an area and wait out the final hour. I was off the deer trail at a vantage point where I could observe a power line right of way as well as the trail.
This is a crossroads of sorts for wildlife and a good place to see animal movement. In a few minutes, I heard a faint rustle of leaves that sounded like running, not the wind.
On the hillside I was surprised to see a large coyote moving along the deer trail. Whether he was hunting or escaping hunters I am not sure but he was coming my way.
He burst out of the woods looked up the hill and then down toward me as I made my shot.
The coyote was a nearly 50-pound male with a pale-colored pelt and was given to a friend.
It made me think that the most significant predators are humans because we hunt predators as well as game.
Jay E. Hewitt is an outdoors columnist for the Butler Eagle.
