OUTDOORS

WITH LUKE CLAYTON

I guess it’s human nature to look across the fence and think the grass might be a bit greener over there. I know a lot of my outdoor friends this time of year expound upon where they would like to move to get away from the heat we endure each summer here in Texas. Some say the Rocky Mountains, and others opt for the wild country of northern Canada. Others think the upper Midwest might be just the place. I, just like many of my friends, long for cooler summer weather, but if given the choice I definitely would not give up living in Texas year-round for any of the northern climes. I guess if I was wealthy, I would enjoy spending the summer months ‘up north’ but by about November much of that North Country that is a summer paradise becomes locked in with ice and snow. Hunting seasons are pretty much over by the end of the year with the exception of predator hunting, and if one wishes to go fishing, an ice auger and ice fishing equipment become basic gear.

For the past several years, I have made a summer pilgrimage to fish the remote lakes in northern Saskatchewan and often write about the experiences in this column. It’s great to be fishing in the middle of summer when a light jacket often feels good in the morning and occasionally throughout the day. Many times I’ve thrown lures into those cold waters up north to pike, walleye or lake trout with temperatures that we experience in late fall. But I also wonder what it would be like in the winter with 3 feet of ice on the lake and the landscape covered in snow. I have a good friend that owns a fishing camp on a remote lake in northern Saskatchewan

who has spent much of his life as a big game guide in the Northwest Territories. Each winter, he uses a snowmobile with sled to haul fuel to his camp across 25 miles of desolate ice and snow. When I ask him about being there in the dead of winter, he tells me I might enjoy it for a couple of days but soon I would probably be wishing for a winter hog hunt or fishing trip for catfish or stripers back home. He is probably right!

For several years, a good friend and I outfitted archery elk and bear hunts in the mountain country north of Steamboat Springs, Colorado. By the third week of September, we were out of this country. It was not uncommon to experience early sleet and snow on the mountain in September, but the daily high temperatures could also reach 85 degrees. My partner in this operation was raised in the Pacific Northwest and spend a lot of time in Idaho. I would quiz him about doing rifle hunts on the ranch we leased, and his reply was a definite NO. This section of Colorado is known for heavy snowfall and, by November, things usually get pretty icy! It’s common for that mountain country to be covered in several feet of snow.

Regardless where I have traveled in my quest for outdoor adventure, and that includes some bass fishing in Japan, I am often quizzed about living in Texas where hunting and fishing opportunities abound throughout the year. Even after the close of whitetail season, many of us continue hunting during the unofficial Texas ‘hog season’. After months of hitting corn feeders and being pretty much unmolested when many are in quest of a heavy antlered buck, hogs are corn fattened and hunting is very good in what we Texans call ‘cold’ weather. During our dead of winter, many sportsmen/women from ‘up north’ travel to Texas to catch trophy blue catfish or to hunt hogs or exotics. Not to say it doesn’t get cold here when a blue northern passed through, but nothing like the cold many northerners experience from December through March. I’ve hunted with guys from the upper Midwest here during deer season that go out in their shirtsleeves when I am bundled up like an Eskimo in what I think is cold weather. I guess it’s all a matter of what one gets used to. I have also had some of my northern friends here hunting hogs during this period of the summer when daytime temperatures are at or surpass one hundred degrees. These summer outings give them a whole different perspective of the Lone Star State. They quickly learn why we are on the water fishing at the break of day and usually back at the dock by 10 in the morning or why we wait until an hour or so before dark before heading out to hunt hogs. They quickly adapt to our plan of spending the heat of the day around one of the greatest inventions of mankind: the Air Conditioner!

While I do a bit of early morning fishing and late evening hog hunting this time of year, I also plan ahead for cooler weather and the official opening of hunting seasons in early October. After all, that’s only eight short weeks away! Now is the time to get rifles sighted in with the ammo we plan to hunt with and, after the sun sinks close to the horizon each evening, do a bit of target shooting with our bows. Archery is a sport that needs to be practiced on a regular basis to keep one’s skills honed. Dates on my calendar are already beginning to fill up with hunts I’m planning here in Texas and, yes, up north. I am making plans to hunt with a friend in the farm country of southern Saskatchewan in November. There are some mighty big whitetail up in that country, mature bucks weighing 250 to 275 pounds are not uncommon, and it’s a deer this size I have my sights planned for. Of course, I’ll pack my cold, COLD weather clothes but my friend will probably hunt wearing a light jacket if the weather is what he considers ‘only chilly’, say, 20 to 30 degrees Fahrenheit. It’s always nice to hunt where its cold and harvested game can simply be hung up in a tree or garage to chill.

Oh well, the sun is sinking now here in Texas. I think I’ll venture outside and get a little work done. It’s chilling down nicely, already down to 93 degrees!

Email outdoors writer Luke Clayton through his website www.catfishradio. org.