Virginia Grays from the weekend.

[Bluesman]

I drove up to Virginia to visit with my uncle and do some night calling last weekend.  I paid the $86.00 for the non-res license then we went on our merry way.  I plan to go back obviously.Here's a couple of grays we downed on Friday after Thanksgiving.  We called 'em in at night in the central part of the state.  We dropped two more on Saturday night but I didn't take photos - they all look alike.   Two coyotes also showed themselves briefly but never gave us a shot.  They seem to be so light shy here in the east.  Of course we had about three more foxes respond to the call than we were able to bag but it was still a great time.  I'm not sure there's any hunting more fun than calling at night.  One of these we dropped with the shotgun, the other with the .22 hornet.  The rifle shot was 83 yards....I promise.  The rascal barked at us from the bushes for about ten minutes as we used different calls to keep her interested.  All we could see would be an eye here or an eye there from time to time.  She finally appeared nervously down an open lane.  I took my time and aimed at the fox that was at the normal "sure-miss" distance for night time.  I shot and my uncle said he heard the impact of the round on the fox.  I didn't have so much confidence.  We walked down the logging road to find the fox drilled right through the head - in one ear and out the other.  Don't ask me to do it again because I've certainly missed a truckload of 'em from a lot closer.     This story is for my old pal centerfire223 - who, by the way, has finally got a real job.

[CCP]

Good to see you again Bluesman, Love the story and pics sounds and looks like you guys had a blast.

[possumal]

Great pictures and story. Thanks for sharing. 

[FinsnFur]

I always did like the pelts on those grays. Nice job by the way.

Hey, what is Ronnies real job now?

[Bluesman]

Jim,
Ronnie is self-employed now in the contracting business.  He's busier than he's been in years.  The big hit is in his hunting schedule.  He works just about everyday in some capacity so he doesn't get to hunt 3 or 4 times/week.  In his previous line of work he had a schedule that was ideal for hunting but he sacrificed in many other ways; i.e. night shift, 12 hour days, etc.  I couldn't have done it.  Now he's his own boss, except for when the Mrs is nearby. 
I know he's happy to be free from the big corporate conglomerate he was working for. They treated him good but doesn't everyone want to have more control over their own lives? 

JB

[FinsnFur]

Not really 
I was self employeed for 15 years and as much as I liked to take a day to do what I wanted, I'm much more worry free working for the man and punching his clock today.

But I'm glad he's happy, and that's 90% of it.