FEBRUARY How to enjoy

At times, February is cold and hard. It is important to challenge ourselves to get outdoors. Move your body and mind. Seek to find beauty and joy even in the darkest, coldest days. What matters this month is not what you do to get outdoors but that you get outdoors. Most importantly, do not forget to have fun!

My favorite February thing to do is to sit around a campfire. I love watching the flames dance, the sparks float upward into the sky and the smell of wood smoke. It is even better if there is snow on the ground.

You can also get outdoors and listen to nature noises. Wind blowing through the trees, water flowing in a creek. Coyotes howling, owls hooting and crows calling. Use your smartphone to record the sounds you hear so you can enjoy them later.

When outdoors in the cold, take a moment to look up and take three deep breaths. In the cold, it is so easy to go, go, go without noticing the natural world around you.

Watch a February sunrise or sunset. Both are beautiful and especially so if they reflect on the snow. It is a time for taking lots of pictures with your smartphone. If snow is on the ground, take a snow hike on one of our many hiking trails.

Make or buy a bird feeder, fill it with bird seed and put it where you can watch the birds come in to feed. The birds need that extra source of energy you provide to help get them through February. You will also enjoy watching birds come into the feeder you made for them.

We usually have some mild days in February when you can even go fishing on area lakes and rivers. Take your binoculars to look for eagles out fishing or perched on a limb in all their majesty.

After doing all these things, you suddenly realize you made it through February and enjoyed it. Now, look forward to March and plan more adventures to nurture yourself in the great outdoors.

Winter Rainbows

Rainbow trout become lethargic in the cold, flowing water of winter. They will not be aggressive but will eat whatever comes near them. Get your baited hook or fly close and offer them something they just cannot resist. Try using a variety of spoons in deep pools or warm pockets of water where rainbows may be holding. Learning to read the water is very important during winter. Spinners emit a flash as they move through the water, but the vibration is different and can entice a sluggish rainbow into checking out your offering. Get the spinner close enough to entice them without scaring them away.

If you are fly fishing, nymphs and other wet flies are usually the best bet during winter. Lighter lines or leaders can also help during winter if you are fishing in clear water.

Fishing between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m. is best because the water warms some during these hours. Warmer water means less sluggish rainbows. Fishing may be slow, but dress warmly for the weather and enjoy a winter rainbow.

DID YOU KNOW THESE AMAZING FACTS?

Did you know the minnow family is made up of 1,600 species and is one of the largest on earth? Did you know sensory organs in the feet of bobwhite quail help detect vibrations in the ground from footsteps made by an approaching predator?

Did you know deer and other nocturnal animals have a thin membrane of tendon- like tissue at the rear of the eyeball that bounces light through the eye’s nerve layer twice? That enhances their ability to see in dim conditions. Anyone who drives in deer country has seen this at work as the eyes reflect the lights of a vehicle’s headlights in a pair of telltale, glowing green orbs.

Did you know fossil records from more than five million years ago show that salmon in the Pacific Ocean once grew to five feet long and weighed over 250 pounds? Can you imagine those guys migrating upriver?

A Lost Tradition

Hunting rabbits was a tradition when I was growing up. They were a training tool for young hunters. Deer, scarce back then, are now abundant and the most sought-after species. In some places, they now outnumber rabbits.

Add to this the lack of organized groups of sportsmen to champion the preservation of rabbit habitat and no popular rabbit-hunting TV shows, blogs or YouTube videos. As houses and shopping centers replace farms and fields and more people move to cities, rabbit hunting continues to decrease.

There are no rabbit hunting guides, no rabbit hunting lodges and no camo manufacturer or outdoor store promoting a new rabbithunting camo pattern.

Something To Think About

I used to try to decide which was the worst month of the year. In the winter, I would choose February. God made February short a few days because he knew that by the time people came to the end of February, they would die if they had to stand one more blasted day.

– Katherine Paterson

Not many farm kids depend on their shotgun and two shells to bring home the evening meal.

That is a shame because it is kind of sad to lose such a valuable tradition. It is a fun and challenging activity for young and old alike. There are rabbits still out there, and they are still fun to hunt and eat. It is up to you to continue the tradition. You have until February 15 to try rabbit hunting. After that, rabbit season is closed until October 1.

The Wisdom Of Old Boone

I heard some researchers have discovered that people who enjoy the outdoors are healthier and happier than those who do not. That was probably some government-funded study using our tax dollars. All of us who love the outdoors did not need any kind of research to tell us that. We already knew it.