At a very early age, I had the great pleasure and privilege of hunting with my father. Dad was a man with passion and drive. He loved hunting with his kids and was a great teacher. As soon as the leaves started turning colors in the fall, we would clean the guns “again.” Dust didn’t belong on a gun at our house. Hunting was in my blood, and my dad and much older brothers had no chance of leaving me behind when I was in my fifth year. I would run home from school, shucking my school clothes as I busted through the door running past my mom to get to my hunting clothes that I had set out the night before. As I followed my father through the woods and fields, he would point out tracks and trails to teach me the subtle differences between game signs.
The Luck of the Hunter
One day, my brother asked our father why the dog always chased the rabbits to him. It always seemed like Dad was always where the game was when we hunted in a group of six. He laughed and told them it was because I was hunting with him and brought him luck. The truth was that he knew where to be to give himself the best chance of success.
Understanding the Edge
The edge of two types of cover usually offers game safety and food or an escape route to travel along. Edges are sometimes very subtle, and if you’re not familiar enough, you won’t recognize them. The most obvious example of an edge is hedge rows in a field. This works exactly the same in open forests. A change in the makeup of trees can be an edge, like hardwoods to pines, or even an area that thickens slightly with saplings. Contour changes are also edges. In hill country, they are more obvious, like benches, fingers, and ravines. In flat country and fields, vegetation plays a larger role. A few bushes can be just the right amount of cover for a few quail or a sneaky rabbit. A clump of buffalo grass is the perfect spot for a ringneck pheasant. Any change in grass species can cause an edge for game to travel and hide in.
A Memorable Hunt
One day while grouse hunting in southwest New York, we were walking a hillside along a bench. My brothers were walking in the open hardwoods above and below my father and me. As we walked along the thorn apple, brush, and blackberry pickers, we flushed a few grouse, woodcock, and a big eight-point buck. The area was only twenty or thirty yards wide and not all that thick, but it did offer more cover than the hardwoods.
The Circle of the Rabbit
When rabbit hunting, Dad always set up near some thick cover where our dog jumped a bunny. Rabbits always run a big circle and usually pass close to where they were when the dog started chasing them. They will try to follow edge cover so they have choices for escape routes. Darn it all, I thought it was because I was lucky!
When I was finally old enough to hunt, all the brothers said I got Dad's luck. What really happened was I got Dad's knowledge. Thank you, Dad, for teaching me how to walk on the edge!
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