Well, today was my last day in the Adirondacks for a bit. Unlike most years, I won’t be gone as long this year. I’m not sure why, but our schedules did’t line up the way they normally do. I’m looking forward to getting home to hunt, and I haven’t even left yet. We will be on the road tomorrow. I’m not sure what to expect, as the majority of my time will be spent in an area I’ve never laid eyes on. Hopefully, I can figure it out and give it my best shot.
I have a bum left leg right now. It’s the tendon that funs along my knee, and it’s getting hard to lift my leg over logs without quite a bit of pain. However, as I continue walking, the pain subsides and I all but forget about it until I have to step over things. I’m hoping it will improve when we are out west.
I expected to see a good one visit the scrape I sat on this morning, but once again, I didn’t make a good prediction. There was a heavy frost last night, and the temperature read 22 degrees when I rolled out of bed at 4:30. The woods were quiet until the frost began melting from the leaves and tree limbs. Then, the ground became wet and the falling droplets of water created a gentle music to my ears.
Before long, I knew I had to head out of the woods, as I didn’t have much time to waste today. I still had to work eight hours and pack my stuff for the trip. The temperature climbed quickly and reached 58 degrees by the time I got back to my truck at 11. Then, the wind picked up and the high for the day landed at 64.
Amazingly, I passed nine vehicles on my way back down the road after hunting. I couldn’t believe how many people were in the woods on a Friday. It reminded me of the old days in Southern Zone when I was a kid. I’m thinking that might be why I haven’t seen very much sign at all in the area I hunted today. I keep trying to convince myself that the sign will show up, but at this point, I realized on my walk out of the woods that sometimes things change and it’s hard to understand the reasons behind the change. Although I’ve racked my brain trying to figure it out, I haven’t come up with anything. However, Dad believes it might have something to do with EHD. EHD has pounded a few areas not too far from the house, and Dad said he has smelled a few dead things while wandering around the woods the last few weeks. Although he hasn’t located anything, he said it reminded him of the year we found all of the dead deer in Ohio after an EHD outbreak. We could smell dead animals all over the place, and we didn’t see many animals either. I”m not sure if that’s what is going on or if possibly all of the pressure is leading to the problem. Anyhow, it will be glad to get away for a bit and try my hand at a different style of hunting. I believe I might have access to Wi-fi, so I might try to update this as often as possible. I’m leaving the state of New York with one deer sighting in the last month, although I did see a few tails blasting through the woods after I kicked them up, but I don’t count them.