Rainy Day Tree Rat Big Branch 10 16 19

Wanted to hit favorite Big Branch stretch of fine woods early this am but ole Mother Nature had other plans and after debating,decided stalking tree rats in light mist not such a bad idea!!Hit favorite stretch of piney woods,mixed in with some fine oaks and dropped tree rat,only to not be able to locate him!!!Kept at it,slowly and deliberately stalking and heard some splashing and figured it was a hog but small doe was apparently spooked either by me or predator.Makes that three-for-three that I have spotted deer on 3 consecutive tree rat hunts!!Finally,while slowly stalking,heard noise that had to be squirrel and stopped dead in my tracks and spotted de culprit and was shocked when I raised ole camo Beretta and this musta been not the sharpest tool in de shed as this tree rat just froze and blasted him,he got stuck and had to fire another round but was DOA!!!Spotted poisonous snake,not a snake expert but this looks like copperhead and that makes it two-for-two that I have spotted venomous snakes on last two tree rat hunts!Headed to what we hope to be redfish-laden shorelines tomorrow,gonna have both Bomber Spinner baits(possibly best lure on planet for reds)and nice and new MirroDines for possibly some shallow water lunker specks that are gorging on minnows(match de hatch as my freshwater brethren would swear to)and hope the expected NNE and NE winds work in our favor,along with nice in-coming tide!!!Went to private deer lease,swapped out SD card on Browning game cam and lo and behold,have some healthy does,grazing in broad daylight and thick-bodied 6 pt coming out at night!!!Might just have to hit ole deer stand next Wed/Th!!

Mandevillian

Gonna go with that being the cottonmouth variety of no-shoulders.

Blue Shamu,Think dat exactly de case and probably gonna see a few more dem no-shoulders fellows on next few Big Branch tree rat hunts!!Thought about blasting him but hate shooting something I aint gonna eat!!

Mandevillian

Mandevillian

any kind of etiquette expected from deer hunters when on a tree ninja/cotton tail hunt?

Not exactly sure if deer hunters up in climbing stands have to have hunter orange at base of tree they are in but that would make perfect sense.I have run into very few deer hunters(none this squirrel season)and I always wave/whistle so they see me and typically slowly stalk so I may be assisting them.Try mid-week hunts as pressure non-existent and ya probably will NOT run into deer hunters mid-week,typically.Good luck,fair population of tree rats,zero rabbits and few venomous snakes!!

Mandevillian

i read orange only required when on the ground in deer season except duck hunters. i'll keep my eyes peeled.

Think squirrel hunters required to wear orange cap when dog season for squirrels is open.Not sure if I read about having orange at base of tree or someone who hunts deer a lot mentioned it but it definitely would alert a squirrel hunter that there is someone up in tree above the orange vest,definitely is something I think I would do if I were in climbing deer stand and there were squirrel hunters ambling about.Good luck out there,Honey Island Swamp is yet another place well worth exploring,mid-week,and before general gun season for deer.

Mandevillian