Here's John Walker's latest "Fish Report."  I hope you're having as much fun reading his stuff as I am.  remember, his books are available online on Dan's Mall.  Just go to my website home page and you'll find a link.

Enjoy...

Fish Report: 10/19/04

Well, the carpet is all laid out in the woods and there are still enough leaves on the trees to make for a great walk in the woods. You may as well enjoy the weather and the color because if you are looking for pats I wish you luck. I will have to say that this has been one of the worst years I can recall for the number of pats I have seen, 0. In fact in areas where I at least hear a bird or two take off from behind a tree I have yet to hear one flush. But looking at the good side, the only way for my season to go is up.

Is it the fact that I am getting older or is it that time seems to be flying? It is hard to believe that October is fast running out and my "honey-do" jobs around the house are still there. There is no doubt the way this year has sped by firearm deer season will be here and gone before I am ready for it.

For the guy that hunts behind his famous blue tent, I saw a nice buck in your area Monday night on the way home from camp. It was about an 8-pointer and a nice size deer.

The deer have really moved since the cold snap, but there seems to be a good number of doe with no youngens following them around. I have talked to some other people that spend a lot of time out in the woods and they have observed the same thing. It could prove interesting as the fall progresses.

As we get into the full swing of hunting season make sure to check things before you use them. If you have a wooden ladder for your tree stand, check it out. If you hunt from a boat, make sure you have all the safety equipment the same as if you were going fishing. If you have a gas fridge, make sure it is vented good. Have a smoke alarm in your hunting camp the same as you would at home. Just take the time to check things out so we can all have a safe fall.

I have seen this myself and heard the same thing from other hunters where they have hunted the same area so long it seems like when they return in the fall to set things up and do a little baiting that here is their local doe waiting for them. Honest! There have been cases where it seems the old doe has watched a hunter come in and set up so long it is no longer worried about him being in the area. There have been cases where a deer will hear our hunter coming on his 4-wheeler and stand on the side of the trail waiting for the hunter to arrive. Then it will follow him around to see what he is up to.

Now don't get me wrong.  I have yet to see this same thing take place with a forty-point buck.

Dinosaur Tracks

I have to tell this story because all you grandpas out there will understand just what took place. You see grandpas have special rights when it comes to grandkids. What they do and what they say just makes sense to those little guys.

My grandson who lives in Florida and is in kindergarten is a dinosaur nut! This little guy knows the names of all the dinosaurs, which ones were meat eaters and the ones that were vegetarians. He has models and books of all these old timers.

When we were down there we went out to eat in the evening when our projects were done. Upon finishing our meal and returning home, Grandma and Grandpa took our two grandsons, the kindergartener and his cousin a year younger. As we were coming down the three miles of sand road towards my daughter's house these two little guys were sitting in the back seat talking about meat-eating dinosaurs. I mean there was some serious discussion going on.

All of a sudden Grandpa stopped the car and told the two little guys to get out of their seat belts because it looked like dinosaur tracks going down the road in front of us!

(Now you have to understand that when we went to town a few hours before we had passed some people riding horses in this area.)

The two little guys jumped up looked out the front window and sure enough there were tracks going down the road. And to top it off it looked like it may have been a mother with a little one tagging along behind! Of course grandpa was quick to point out this fact for them. We were really lucky because it seems these dinosaurs must have turned off before they got to their house, but in their mind there was no doubt what made the tracks!

The end of the story? Not really.

Monday evening my daughter called and said, "Thanks a lot, Dad!" It seems she was returning home after picking up the boy. They were going along this same sand road when all of a sudden the boy started yelling, "Roll up the windows, Mom! Quick, roll up the windows!"

She had no idea what was going on so she quickly rolled up the windows and asked Zack what it the world was wrong? He was quick to inform his Mom that there were more dinosaur tracks going right down the middle of the road!

Oh, the fun of being a grandpa.