Saturday, November 19, 2011
On the First Day of Deer Camp...
We have just enough land to hunt on. J thinks about hunting all year round.
...from the time we plant...
..."the deer might eat our corn and get used to coming here"
to the time we had downed trees...
..."hopefully, it won't spook the deer"
to our nature walks...
..."there's lots of places where it looks like a deer might sleep"
to the lack of water in the pond...
..."maybe the deer will get their water someplace else"
Today was the 1st day of the gun deer season. Two days ago, he started to gather his things together. He found his blaze orange, collected his gun, and got his safety harness for the deer stand all ready to go. The deer stand had already been up for 6 weeks, waiting.
This morning, J snuck out of the front door of our house, and started to follow a predetermined path around the edge of our property; down by the pond, through the forest, and towards the deer stand. Last year, he'd spooked a pair of does, and didn't get a shot off. This year, well, he was going to be prepared.
I, of course, climbed back into bed after he left, and was already well into unconsciousness when I heard two sharp snaps. I opened an eye to peer at the sleeping cat next to me, and wait for more, but didn't hear more. I thought, "Well, he either missed or he'll be running in to tell me he got one."
Well, after he joined me about 2 hours later, I found out that he was proceeding through the very dry forest leaves, *CRUNCH*, *CRUNCH*, *CRUNCH*, when he stopped to listen. He heard other things crunching and then saw a deer's head from behind a bush look at him. And then it took off running, with another one following it. He was pleased he was able to get a shot off, and was excited to see more.
There was another hunter in a nearby field who took what J thought were poorly chosen shots at another group of deer that were too far out of J's range and not on our property.
As J climbed the deer stand and waited for another pair of deer too dumb to sit down and wait out the hunters, a chickadee approached, and hopped on his gun barrel. It squawked, then jumped on his gun strap, then on his HEAD, then onto a nearby tree, chirping its warning all the while. Talk about being close with nature!
After he came in, he saw the bird feeders were completely empty. Maybe that's what the chickadee wanted to tell him! "Feed me, human!"
So no deer on the first day of deer camp...but there's always tonight and on the next 9 days... ¶ 10:44 AM
We have just enough land to hunt on. J thinks about hunting all year round....from the time we plant...
..."the deer might eat our corn and get used to coming here"
to the time we had downed trees...
..."hopefully, it won't spook the deer"
to our nature walks...
..."there's lots of places where it looks like a deer might sleep"
to the lack of water in the pond...
..."maybe the deer will get their water someplace else"
Today was the 1st day of the gun deer season. Two days ago, he started to gather his things together. He found his blaze orange, collected his gun, and got his safety harness for the deer stand all ready to go. The deer stand had already been up for 6 weeks, waiting.
This morning, J snuck out of the front door of our house, and started to follow a predetermined path around the edge of our property; down by the pond, through the forest, and towards the deer stand. Last year, he'd spooked a pair of does, and didn't get a shot off. This year, well, he was going to be prepared.
I, of course, climbed back into bed after he left, and was already well into unconsciousness when I heard two sharp snaps. I opened an eye to peer at the sleeping cat next to me, and wait for more, but didn't hear more. I thought, "Well, he either missed or he'll be running in to tell me he got one."
Well, after he joined me about 2 hours later, I found out that he was proceeding through the very dry forest leaves, *CRUNCH*, *CRUNCH*, *CRUNCH*, when he stopped to listen. He heard other things crunching and then saw a deer's head from behind a bush look at him. And then it took off running, with another one following it. He was pleased he was able to get a shot off, and was excited to see more.
There was another hunter in a nearby field who took what J thought were poorly chosen shots at another group of deer that were too far out of J's range and not on our property.As J climbed the deer stand and waited for another pair of deer too dumb to sit down and wait out the hunters, a chickadee approached, and hopped on his gun barrel. It squawked, then jumped on his gun strap, then on his HEAD, then onto a nearby tree, chirping its warning all the while. Talk about being close with nature!
After he came in, he saw the bird feeders were completely empty. Maybe that's what the chickadee wanted to tell him! "Feed me, human!"
So no deer on the first day of deer camp...but there's always tonight and on the next 9 days... ¶ 10:44 AM
