Excuses: We all need ’em and use ’em
I was hunting groundhogs last week with Mike Weber and Burt, and I had just missed a shot at about 300 yards. Both guys were wearing grins almost from ear to ear and I just had to say something. After all, the wind was blowing a bit and I was using a rifle that was chambered for the .22-250 pushing a 50-grain bullet at 3,700 feet per second – a flat shooting load but one that is affected by the wind. “Probably the wind” I muttered. Mike immediately responded, “You missed you old goat. No excuses, you just plain missed.” No mercy coming from that side of the trio.
Don’t we all find excuses when we miss? I once was with a friend when he missed a nice whitetail buck standing on the far side of a clearing. As we hopefully searched the ground for even a drop of blood he said softly, “The bullet must have hit something and deflected.” I laughed so hard I ended up with tears running down my cheeks. There wasn’t a thing in that opening except grass and it was only 3 inches high “No, Don, you just missed.” I replied when I could speak again. “Better you would have clubbed the deer with the end of the barrel.” After all, he was close enough he could have done that. There are times we all need an excuse.
I believe that there are two reasons for most misses when hunting groundhogs. First, the shooter misjudges the distance to the target. All bullets travel in a parabolic arc. Gravity pulls them down and none of them defy gravity regardless of what your firearms expert uncle says. The rifle sighted in at 100 yards will hit many inches low depending on the cartridge at 300 yards, which results in a miss. The second reason for missing is jerking the trigger. But the shooter has to pass the blame to something beyond his control. Something grew up right in front of him resulting in a deflection. The animal ducked and the bullet flew over the top of it. Excuses, excuses, excuses, we all use them.
- What is happening now at Pymatuming Lake and will it bounce back as Pennsylvania’s premier Walleye water? Not very long ago one could drive north to this large body of water and with certainty that he or she would catch 10 or 20 Walleye simply by fishing from shore. The major problem facing us then was were they of a legal size? About five years ago, the population of Walleye began to decline. At least I will admit this idea was based on the catch more than scientific data. People were just not catching fish, particularly Walleye. It was normal for the lake to shut down somewhere in June and the catch would be sparse in the heat of summer. Now the catch has become sparse all year.
Most of my information comes from my friend Jim Roberts of Prosperity and Joe Smith of Smith’s Bait Shop near Eighty Four. Jim has a camp at Stockers Island and he fishes all year around there, primarily for Walleye. Joe gets most of his fishing reports from customers and is a good and reliable source of information.
He says the fishing there the last few years has been bad, but he has seen a slight improvement this year. Most of his fishing is done at night and he has picked up a few Walleye jigging along the edge of some underwater structures. He has even seen limits brought in to the dock this year by a few anglers. But things still are not back to where they were in the glory days of fishing this popular Walleye water.
I am not saying that a trip to Pymatuming is a waste of time for it still holds a variety of fish. It’s a place where in the past I have landed Crappie, Walleye, Chanel Cat, Bluegill, White Bass and big Carp all in one day. That’s a variety of fish and I doubt if such a day could be had in any other lake in Pennsylvania.