Saturday December 6, 2014

Only one day left. Today was probably the most miserable day of the hunting season. It started off with a light rain on my walk in and before long it was pouring. Once the rain let up a little it started snowing and then turned to freezing rain.

I didn’t stick to my original plan because of the weather. Along the way I climbed into a blowdown for cover and hid out there in hopes of the weather turning the corner. Unfortunately that never happened. Nestled in the blowdown I didn’t expect to see any type of living critter, but I got lucky.

A pine marten dashed down the hill past me and kept on going. I fumbled through my pockets to get my camera out, but he was gone before I found it. His behavior seemed odd to me. I couldn’t figure out why he would be running that fast. He also kept stopping and looking back up the hill like a doe does when she’s being pursued by a buck.

After it disappeared I found the source of the excitement. Another hunter was slowly making his way across the hill above me. Since it caught me off guard I quietly sat in the make-shift blind and let him walk by. Normally I would have said something, but my spirits had been dampened and I surely wasn’t in a talkative mood for a number of reasons.

I was in no hurry to move, so I decided to sit there for a while. I was well protected by the cover the blowdown  offered and found no need to get out of it to expose myself to the elements. A few hours later I could see the hunter making his way back across the hill following his own tracks. Once again I didn’t say a word or make my presence known.

I know I’ve walked by a lot of people in the woods and sometimes it’s scary if you think about it. If you’re not looking for something there’s not much chance of seeing it when it’s really well camouflaged and that was the situation here.

If I know someone is in an area that I’m hunting I will usually find a new place to explore. I never want to infringe on someone whether they’re there or not. I respect each hunter’s personal space, even in the big woods. Some people are comfortable in places and I don’t like to disturb the place or the people.

Overall I just feel better when I’m in my own little world and I like it that way. Everyone is different I guess. When I finally got up I found an old signpost rub on my way back to the road. It was in a place I didn’t expect to find a signpost, but all the same it was there and it was old. It hasn’t been used in a few years. Here’s a photo.

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