Today was opening day of muzzleloader season, and the morning greeted us with a light frost. It felt good to walk out the door and get that fall feeling. I knew where I was headed and didn’t waste any time getting there. Unfortunately, I got a little later start than I would’ve liked, and I was behind the 8-ball from the get go. There were quite a few trucks along the road as I made my way to where I wanted to park. When I pulled off the road, there were three guys gathering their gear to head into the woods. I quickly asked them which direction they were headed in, and I made sure I could avoid them before entering the woods. We all made sure we would not interfere with each other and made quick work of our discussion. Although it’s public land, it’s good to check with guys and give them space when they’re hunting the same general area. I wish more people could be that respectful. Instead, people tend to think it’s always better hunting where someone hunts who has success. It cracks me up. It’s all about the hours upon hours that go into it that nobody sees. The success is not related to seeing someone’s vehicle in the same spot every weekend. Unfortunately, there are a few people who don’t understand that often overlooked fact.
When I got to where I wanted to go, I settled my back against a tree and waited to see what the morning hours would bring my way. Within a few minutes, I could hear deer walking toward me. Then, I spotted a huge doe and a fawn. They walked within five yards of me and never winded me or saw me. my heart beat fast while the mother ate some mushrooms off the log near the end of my legs. After a few minutes, she and her little one continued their journey and quickly disappeared.
An hour later, I spotted another deer, but I couldn’t get a good look at it. With all of the leaves on, all I could see where the legs and the belly of the deer. It never stopped walking and disappeared from my line of vision in a few seconds.
I spent the rest of the day still-hunting. I saw a few more does and that was about it. I never found an open scrape, but I did find a few fresh rubs here and there along the way. The leaves were coming down in bundles after the sun came up, but they stopped falling by late morning. I’m thinking the coming week should take care of most of the top leaves. The bottom ones still have a ways to go. They are mostly green.
I was the only one in our group who saw a deer today. Everyone else came back with nothing to report. None of us saw any type of promising sign, but the falling leaves quickly cover a lot of sign up, so it makes it almost impossible to discern anything at this time of year each fall.