I enjoy a good movie now and then. I’ll sometimes even go to a concert like the one I attended a week ago when Tommy Emmanuel’s amazing guitar work made me want to head home and bust my guitar over a fence post. These events serve as an avenue of entertainment; we need such occasionally to get us out of our rut and offer a measure of change from the daily grind.
For sheer entertainment, though, I’ll take what Mother Nature has to offer any day. Sitting and observing the things that happen naturally in the Great Outdoors offers entertainment that money can’t buy. It’s free; it’s relaxing; it’s exciting and I can’t seem to get enough of sitting and watching nature do what nature does.
One of the most entertaining events I ever witnessed was provided by a bobcat. I was sitting in my stand among the hardwoods on a hill one day several years ago enjoying the peace and tranquility the setting offered.
It was obvious I had to have been hunting deer instead of squirrels because the woods seemed to be full of bushy-tails that morning; they never show up in such numbers when I have my shotgun loaded with #6s instead of the deer rifle I was packing that day.
In an instant, everything changed in the woods around me. Squirrels that had been leisurely scurrying around one moment all went on high alert the next. I watched at least half a dozen scoot up trees and start to chatter excitedly. I knew they had seen something I hadn’t detected yet. Scanning the woods, I saw movement of something brown and identified a bobcat walking slowly out in front of my stand.
I’ve never been one to let such opportunities go by without extending the excitement so I dug through my pack and found a predator call which sounds like a rabbit in distress and when a predator hears it, the natural instinct is to cash in on a quick and easy meal.
Here the bobcat came in response to the call, sneaking up and sitting down beneath my box stand. I enjoyed the show until he looked up, our eyes met and he knew he’d been hoodwinked. If a bobcat can look embarrassed, that one did as he slunk back into the thicket.
On a later hunt, I attended another of nature’s productions as I sat on my stand under clear skies and cool temperatures. Two young bucks, identical in size both sporting six inch spikes, entered my food plot to begin grazing on the grass I’d planted earlier. Our club rules prohibited the taking of spikes so I sat back to enjoy the show when I realized I’d been watching
them for over an hour, darkness was approaching and the spikes seemed perfectly content to
graze on the oats and clover.
I knew if I climbed down from my stand in full view of the deer, they’d see me and high-tail it into the brush and they’d key on my stand the next time they came to the plot.
Since it was almost dark and I needed to get off the stand and head home, I decided on a tactic that was sure to cause the two young spikes to bolt without identifying me. I pulled out my grunt call and rattle bag and began grunting and rattling horns like mature bucks fighting, expecting the two visitors I’d been watching for an hour to scoot.
Nothing doing. The aggressive sounds I made with the grunt tube and rattle bag only fired them up. Instead of dashing away in fright, they faced each other and I got to watch a serious head-butting, pushing and shoving match. Instead of turning them away, I apparently turned them on. Such is the entertainment Mother Nature offers every time you head outdoors.
FISHING REPORT
BLACK BAYOU – No report this week. Contact Honey Hole Tackle Shop 323-8707 for latest
information.
BUSSEY BRAKE – Crappie fishing has been fair to good on jigs or shiners. Bass have been fair around brush and structure. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole at 323-8707.
OUACHITA RIVER – The water is rising with current and fishing has been slow this week. No reports on crappie or bass. For latest information, contact the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE D’ARBONNE – Crappie fishing has been fair with best catches made on jigs or shiners fished just off the channel. Bass had been best fishing the points on crank baits. Catfish are biting cold worms fished off the banks; bream are slow. For latest information, call Anderson Sport Center at 368-9669 or Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE CLAIBORNE –Crappie fishing continues to be best with shiners having the edge over jigs this week. The fish are still fairly deep. No report this week on bass, bream, stripers or catfish.. For latest information, call Kel’s Cove at 927-2264 or Terzia Tackle at 278-4498.
CANEY LAKE –Jigging spoons and tail spinners are picking up a few bass and yellow bass bouncing these lures off the bottom in deep water. Soft plastics and deep diving crank baits have been producing some around humps just off the channels. Crappie fishing continues to be best fishing the deep tops on shiners or jigs. No report on bream or catfish.. For information contact Hooks Marina at 249-2347, Terzia Tackle at 278-4498 or the Honey Hole Tackle Shop at 323-8707.
LAKE POVERTY POINT – Crappie fishing has been good this week around the boat slips and on the south end on shiners or jigs with some bigger fish caught during the afternoons. Catfishing continues to be good. No report on bass or bream. For latest reports, call Poverty Point Marina at 318/878-0101.
LAKE YUCATAN – There is a slight rise in water levels this week. Windy stormy conditions have kept most fishermen off the lake this week. For information, call Surplus City Landing at 318/467-2259.
To report an issue or typo with this article – CLICK HERE
