Hunting Journal

I can remember waiting next to the telephone on Halloween night when I was a kid. I always wanted to find out if my dad had had any luck while bowhunting in the Southern Zone of New York. He would always go to Oneonta with our neighbor Don Wood, and they would hunt for about four days before returning home. I loved listening to my father’s stories. The stories began when he was hunting with a recurve and continued after he switched to a compound. One year he was having bad luck until he met a man at Dandee Donut Shop on Main Street, and the man invited him to come hunt near his home in Stamford, N.Y. Don and Dad took him up on his offer and couldn’t believe the sign. Those were the days. I was a starry-eyed kid and had no idea which direction my life would take when I became a teenager.

Looking back on it, I must’ve known I wanted to be like my dad and share the same adventures. Eventually, we began having our own Halloween adventures in the woods, and we took some dandies on 10/31 of different years. Halloween was and always will be a magic day in the woods. The statistics I’ve compiled proof this to be true. I killed a 180-plus pounder a few years back on Halloween, and I felt proud to know I had finally outsmarted the mountain monarch.

Well, today’s Halloween hunt didn’t end the same as that one, but I still had a good time. Brian and I hunted together, and we waited on the edge of our seats. We both figured today was the day. I had 80% confidence that one of us — or maybe both of us — would put a good one on the ground. As the minutes crept into hours, my hopes faded away with the daylight. It just didn’t happen this year. I guess we will have to use it and learn from it. Statistics don’t always play out in our favor.

I’m headed to the Midwest at the end of the week. The forecast is calling for solid 75-85 degree temps the entire time. The low temps forecasted are for 71 on Wednesday. I’m not looking forward to this trip, but I’ll go enjoy my time in the woods, even if I’ll be a sweaty mess the entire time. We only get so many seasons to hunt. We have to make the most of the weather. We can’t change it, so we have to accept it and move forward. Maybe we’ll get lucky and a few will on their feet and moving in the high heat.

I hunted with my buddy Jim today. We had a plan from the get go and stuck to it. I had a lot of data in my favor and used it in hopes of connecting on something. It was 27 degrees when we got into the truck and began driving down the road. Once again, there was minimal movement throughout the day in the area we hunted. Jim saw a nice buck in the thick cover, but things didn’t pan out the way he would’ve liked. Once again, the temps rose quickly and reached the 70-degree mark. The mornings have been fantastic, but the afternoons are taking the fun out of it. Forty-five degree temperature swings every day don’t make for very much fun. It’s hard to figure out how to dress.

At the end of the day, Brian, Dad and I notched a zero for deer sightings once again. Jim was the only one lucky enough to see anything. There must’ve been some deer moving today, though. I did hear five shots throughout the day. I heard a single shots and two bursts of two shots each. It always makes me wonder what the people were shooting at and if they got what they shot at. It’s a mystery that very rarely gets solved. It’s fun to imagine.

I’m off again tomorrow, so I’ll give it once last whirl before calling it good until I return from the Midwest.

This morning was ideal for sitting. I hopped in the truck and looked at the thermometer. I was content when I saw 25 degrees staring at me from the dashboard. I felt like today could be the day. I didn’t waste any time getting to where I wanted to sit. Instead of loafing through the woods, I put the hammer down and got there as quickly as I could.

Arriving about 40 minutes before daylight, I rested my head against a tree and closed my eyes. The leaves were dry enough and frost covered to give me notice of any approaching animal. However, I didn’t doze very long. I was alert and ready for action when the woods became gray. Five hours later, I called it a day. I hadn’t seen or heard one living creature, not even a bird. I’m still stumped why nothing moved in the area I chose to hunt. Highly disappointed, I still-hunted a loop and sat in another area until dark.

When the sun finally set, I joined Brian and Dad at camp. Nobody had seen a deer. The afternoon temps climbed to 70 degrees. Tomorrow morning is supposed to be similar to today, so I’m hoping that will get some deer moving. Only time will tell. It has been slow.