Hunting Journal

Today I decided to head to my childhood stomping grounds to take a look at things. Surprisingly, the woods were incredibly dry, which made seeing any fresh sign all but impossible. Considering all of the rain we’ve received lately, I was surprised to see the woods so dry. As I wandered through the woods, I wasn’t impressed with the sign I saw. I covered about three miles in some good deer habitat and never found an oak tree that was dropping nuts. I’m thinking the secret to that area is finding a tree that is dropping and I will find the deer. Unfortunately, I didn’t find that place tonight. I may give it another shot in a few days. I believe I’m heading to another area tomorrow night.

The weather has been ideal for early season bowhunting this week. I wish I could find some activity somewhere to focus on, but I guess I’m getting what I deserve for not getting after it until a month ago. This summer was just too busy with all of the archery travel.

As I made my way across a shelf on the mountain, I could hear a chainsaw in the distance. It brought me back to my early teen years when my dad used to bring me to this area before I could drive. We would rush into the woods after school and hunt until dark. I would occasionally hear people using chainsaws, and geese could almost always be heard in the sky above me. The noises notified me that deer would begin their annual rutting activity, and there would be many happy hunters in the woods.

Tonight was refreshing. I never saw a deer, but I enjoyed my own company. I sat on a rock where I killed a really good deer, and I took in all the sights, sounds, and memories that came rushing back into my mind. Then, I wandered farther down the hill and found a huge pine tree that I had rested my back upon many times. I killed a handful of deer in that spot. I smiled when I walked by the tree and thought about all of the great memories that were created when I sat there.

Today was the first of many successful hunts I will have this season. I look forward to more of them.

Well, the new season is upon us, and I’m not nearly ready. I’ve had too many things going in this year to put the proper pre-season time in this year. However, I felt confident when I headed to the woods this morning. I decided to go to a new area with my buddy Jim. We scouted an area about a week ago, and it looked like a good spot to go bow hunting.

Although the area was loaded with oak trees, there were very few trees that had dropped nuts, so the feed was minimal. The sign still looked decent, so we decided to give it a whirl. We got an early start and left the house about 4:45. It didn’t get light enough to shoot until about 6:45. As we unloaded our gear out of Jim’s truck, I felt a sense of nostalgia overwhelm me. Instead of me being the young guy, I was suddenly the old guy.

My father and I have crossed many bodies of water in our time, and we stopped doing it due to a number of scary experiences. When I secured myself in the kayak and dipped the paddle into the water, anxiety quickly raced down my throat and found its way into my belly. Yes, I was nervous. Within seconds, we were gliding across the placid water. There wasn’t a ripple to be found on the surface, and the calmness enveloped us as we paddled. Jim was in the lead in his canoe, and I followed in his wake in the kayak. The water flowed down each end of the paddle and dripped onto my hands. We paddled into the fog rising off the water and made out the other side of it before gliding to shore and dragging the.boats into the woods away from the water.

Although Jim knew where he was going, I aimlessly wandered through the woods in the darkness. Finally, I found the area I had looked at a few days earlier and decided to set up in a place where deer would have no choice but to go past me if they were in the area. It was a pinch between a cliff and a blowdown, and the major runway running through it was impressive.

As the minutes turned into hours, my patience became limited. After climbing down the tree and wandering around for a bit, I was satisfied when I located a few places that would most likely prove to be more fruitful in the future. With Jim having to be home early, I picked him up on the way out of the woods, and we discussed the morning. He had a nice 6-pointer under him at six yards, but he couldn’t get a shot at it. Unfortunately, there was a coyote lurking through the forest, and it put the deer on edge. Although the deer was at six yards, it was trotting when it went by.

My arms felt the journey on our way out, but I felt comfortable on the water. Many years of memories came crashing back into my melon, and I enjoyed most of them. However, a few found their way into my head, and I wanted to avoid thinking back on those instances. After loading the boats into the truck and heading home, I was thankful that I was able to spend the morning in the woods with Jim. It doesn’t seem possible that I’m 25 years older than him. When we are together, I feel that we are the same age. I would do anything to go back to that time period in my life and have the life experience that I currently have. Since I can’t, I’ll keep plugging along and make new memories as I go.