12:15am and I wake up by the all familiar "ding-dong". The infra red heat sensor has picked up something warm by the bait. I 'm thinking to myself it's too early for the coons to visit. It's probably a cat or maybe I 'll be treated by the sight of a possom.
I go to the adjacent room and look out the window but don't see anything. I 'm ready to go back to bed but something didn't look right next to the turkey leftovers and dry cat food I had placed 23 yards out. I 'm thinking it's probably my imagination. I go back to the bedroom but something told me to grab the binoculars to take a closer look. I walk back to the window and now I saw a shadow or like something moving by one of the dishes. I quickly look through the lens and can make out a good size skunk!
After a couple of minutes of contemplating what to do, I thought to myself: "Don't do this, you 're going to regret it..". I get the Condor and zoom in to 8X trying to find its head. It's all black and can't make it out too well. Can't see an eye or ear or anything. Zoon in to 10X, same thing.. Eventually after a couple of minutes I make out the outline of its head by the motion up & down digging into the Turkey skins and some dark meat I had placed out there, and its relation to the blue plastic plate. I aim about 3/4" high almost at the top of its head (gun is zeroed at 30yds so I have to hold over the target a little) and let the 21gr Kodiak fly. I hear a "thwak" and the skunk goes on its side. It kicked 3, maybe 4 times, and then stopped moving after a couple of secs. I 'm thinking maybe I got lucky and it didn't spray.. but not more than 3-4 secs go by after that and I smell that aweful secretion! I shut the window quickly and pace up & down thinking I have to get rid of this critter quickly. I put on an older sweat jacket, grab 2 garbage bags and run downstairs with a small towel wrapped around my nose and mouth. It didn't help. The smell is worse than I thought. My nostrils start burning like you shoved garlic and onions up to my nose.
I take only 2 pics very quickly where it fell and took the courage to pick it up by the very tip of the tail wearing a plastic disposable glove that my wife uses sometimes when she does gardening. I double bag him, throw him in the trunk of my car and drive about a mile away and dispose of it in the woods by the reservoir. I can still smell it on the drive back. It's lingering in my nose! I go home, throw my clothes in the laundry and take a shower. I can still smell it everywhere. My wife is now awake and says she can't really smell anything in the house. It must be still in my nasal pasages. Dang, I 'm not shooting another skunk again. I can still smell it as I 'm typing this and it's very annoying. Anyone know how long this is going to last? :( Would the smell outside be gone in the morning? I wonder how much he dumped on my lawn and if any of it got on the sensor that was 4ft away.
Dang never again!! :-) Oh well on the other hand, I got my first skunk, or I should say I got skunked! :-) Oh and that Kodiak must have went through its head and broken the plate too.. oh well, live and learn. I 'm going to throw some water up my nose now. Maybe I need to smell some cologne or something nice. I think I will light up some of those aromatic apple spice candles my wife bought today at 5am while out shopping (with all the other people at the crack of dawn.. I don't get that..).
