Wisdom from the WOODS

Jan 21, 2015

With the closing of the Duck season in the Southern Zone there is not too much game left to pursue.  Rabbit and squirrel seasons continue until February 14.  That leaves the light goose season which runs until April 30.  Almost all those geese have left the area before that date.

One season that is not too popular is that of shedd hunting.  I have seen it listed with a single d but usually I use two d’s to distinguish it from woodshed activity.  Most youngsters don’t know what I am talking about but while I was growing up, you wanted to avoid what took place in the woodshed!

Searching for deer antlers that have been shed by bucks in late winter and early spring is a fine activity.  Besides looking for an antler that was dropped by a buck in the woods, you can get an idea of what the  population of the deer herd has been following the archery and firearms season

20150116_102248Be sure to get permission to search private property and don’t expect to find many antlers.  Most that I have found have been while rabbit hunting in the late season and only one side of the antler spread was dropped at those spots.

I have talked with a few hunters and they all have told me the same story, which is they rarely find a complete set at the same place.  Besides the knowledge you pick up about the deer population, getting out of the house for a while is one of the best cures for cabin fever.

What happened to the fur prices?  A lot of hunters and trappers are wondering about that after taking some of their hides to different buyers.  Personally, I had one raccoon skin.  It was a double xx male and it brought me $4.  I had one hide last year that measured the same and brought $10.

Usually I am in contact with a fur rancher in Wisconsin who keeps me up to the moment with what is going on in the fur market but at this time, I have information as to what happened.  Most of the countries that deal in the fur industry are plagued with the same economic problems that everyone faces; lack of money to buy luxury items such as fur coats.  A lot of skins that were harvested last season remain in warehouses in New York and Canada in the hold over storage.

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You can learn a lot from historical items such as cards and letters.  My wife was going through some things that were in my mother’s personal items that we never opened.  She found an old envelope with some of those things labeled Katie’s old letters and cards.

Aunt Kate was dad’s sister and in those things was her fishing license dated 1946.  Can you believe the price for that was $1.15?  The permit was $1 and the remaining 15 cents went to the person who issued the license.  That person was Eldon Palmer, County Clerk of Butler County.