HARDCORE

y David W. Kaprocki
A midnight float on a lazy river can yield
prime pelts for the stealthy hunter. Float
along with the author and his son as they
take us on a winter night's hunt.
he temperature
hovered at a mLs- Tera
We 27 degrees.
It was late IXxemlx-r in
PennsytvaIlia, definitety
not your typical weather
for canoeing. Not only
that, Ixit we were c.uxv
ing down a small creek,
at night, in an attempt to
hunt coons and fox.
Furthermore, a major
snowstorm was forecast
to hit »is sonx-tinx- after
midnight with up to 10
inches of snow. Ik> we
know I tow to luve fun or
what?
My son and I eased tlxcanoe
oil the Ixink from
our launching point. ami
soon we spotted tlx- eyes
of tlx- first coon ol' tlxnight
MX) yards alx-ad.
Justin was positioixxl in
tlx- Ixiw. He steadied the
22 rille as I steered the
canoe in the racxocxi's
direction. As tlx- current
ixislx-d us downstream. I
kept tlx- packBe in tlxwater
to ensure the eatxx.stayed
|xisitionc\l ixdjxtly
so Justin could get a
she*. We drifted until we
were 20 yards n ran up
tlx- Ixank atxl exit of sight.
A ck*an inlsv' It was
already sluping up to lxa
successful night as far
as we were eoncenx-iL'
We had Ixx-n planning
this trip for over a week
and were ck-tcnniix-d to
compk-te the 7-ltour float
just alx-ad of tlx- storm.
Our logic was llul tlxanimals
woukl lx- exit
feeding Ix-avily before tlxsnow
Hit. With my wifedriving
a second vehkle.
we dropped my tnick at
tlx- take-CHit ramp 9 miles
downstream from wlx-nwe'd
put tlx- canoe in.
Six- then drove us up to
tlx- lx~.idw.uers and
dropjxxl us off with tlxcanoe
and our gear. We
wcxikl lloat downstream
to where the tnxk was
parked. This way ix> one
neeckxl to lx- tlx-re to
pxk us up. An understanding
wife makes this
entire process much easier.
I didn't expect to see
many coons moving this
late in the year, especially
with temps in ilx- 20s. Ixit
this type of trip is a real
adventure Ixvausc you
never know what you'll
sex- each night, farther
downstream Justin spotted
something on tlx-
Ixink. As we quietly drifted
closer, we ick-niified it
as a Ix-aver. It saw us at
10 yank, but didn't know
what we were so it swam
to within fcxir feet of
Justin and then smacked
its tail on tlx- water giving
us a stem warning. It was
an awesome experience.
We saw four beavers tlut
night.
'Hut Ls what makes a
float hum so enjoyalile.
lots of ganx- nxwing
about. We are always
ama/ed at all the deer we
sex- each trip. Most arcjust
milling around the
stream or Ix-dck-d on tlx-
Ixtnk. In one area near a
weed field we spotted
three ckx-r txikkxl on ilx-
Ixink. So just for fun. I
quietly packBed the Ixxit
over to tlx-m. I sing rxilv
our red-filtered Ix-adliglns.
I was able to |x>siiHxi the
eaixx- so Justin was only
3 feet from a i-point
Ixuk. It was incredMe!
We find llul ckx-r rarely
spook from a quiet. floating
object.
At one point, unlx-knownst
lo us. a flock of
turkeys were rxxxsted in
ilx- trees hanging exit
over the creek. As we
dnfted uwk-r them, tlx-y
all spooked, dropping
|xx)|vlxHiihs arrxitxl us in
the water as tlx-y flew oil".
It stankxl us so much ilut
I think I left a "bomb" of
my own! bring extra
clothes for such occasions.
With snow atxl skx-t
moving in. we knew ii
was going Co get iumv, so
we continued on our
adventure...
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