Autumn Bounty

So today was the opening day of the 2008 Shotgun/Rifle Deer Season here in the Great North Woods which means I am on VACATION! This past week I completed my normal chores before heading out into the woods - ensuring all of my deer guns are still sighted in, a thorough cleaning of the guns, organizing all of my cold weather hunting gear, etc...

Both of my hunting buddies spent the day with me from sunrise to sunset. We were in the woods in time to watch the sun rise and the temperature drop this morning. It was one of the first cold days we have had in the area which meant the deer were moving.

During morning stand Seth and I sat back to back and were lucky to see 2 nice deer - not nice enough to come within the range of our shotguns - but it was still a treat to watch them as they made their way through the woods, and we all got an up close and personal look at one of the local fishers.

After 3 hours of sitting and waiting we were all trying to remember what our fingers and toes felt like so we hiked out of the woods and decided it was time for a nice warm late morning breakfast.

We all got a good laugh as we drove down the road and spotted a nice sized buck standing in the farmers field at the end of the street - it almost seemed as if he was mocking us by standing there in all his majestic beauty on a farm that we can't hunt on! All I can do is pray that he makes his way through the woods to my back yard - then we will see who has the last laugh!

After a filling breakfast we headed out to another piece of property and settled in for the afternoon. It wasn't very long until I saw a doe walking along the edge of the brook and around the same time my buddy Jayson had one walking past him - once again deer in the area but not close enough to take a responsible shot.

Just about the time my hands and feet started to lose feeling I noticed movement about 100 yards in front of me. To my delight there were 2 deer working their way towards me but every time they were about to enter my shooting lane they would veer off into the thickets. The area I have my stand was dry when I picked the spot for my stand but due to all the rain we had last week it is now back to its swamp form and all iced over. To my surprise they kept working the edge and after about 30 minutes one of them stepped out of the underbrush and presented me with a clean shot.

My trusty 35 cal. rang out and my shot was true. As I was thanking God for allowing me to provide my family with another seasons bounty of meat I realized that I never saw the second deer run away! I began to scan the area when I spotted it bedded down just behind the one I shot, as I was moving around in my stand I banged metal against metal and the second deer immediately stood up. As it came out of the thicket I took aim and once again my gun rang out into the silence of the woods. The deer ran towards me and I took a second shot which finished the deed.

I wish that everyone in my hunting party had harvested a deer today but I know that I have always been happy when a friend has a good day in the field so I will take comfort in the fact that today was my turn to fill the freezer first.

I look forward to many more relaxing days spent in the woods hunting but for tonight I am reflecting on the great day I had today and the fact that Rebecca won't have to worry about me being home in time for Thanksgiving Dinner!