I saw two deer. Unfortunately, they were bedded down and took flight as I approached my tree stand.
The wind picked up after half an hour and I was slightly underdressed. The cushion in the tree stand was not there so I was sitting on steel mesh.
It occurred to me that I get clumsier and stupider when I am cold. Exiting a confined tree-stand with a narrow ladder at dark when stupid-cold is not smart. I left the tree stand and moved to a ground blind.
I sat for two hours beneath a spruce tree. It was much warmer (35 F by the thermometer) out of the wind. Many birds. Cattle grazing behind me in the next field. Crunchy sounds in the dry leaves off to the side but no deer sighted so I am going to assume rabbits or squirrels.
The location of the tree stand is laced with deer trails. The trails are beaten to mud due to the heavy traffic. The difficulty is getting TOO the tree stand without driving out the deer.
It was a good evening to sit. I enjoyed myself.
Even without a kill, a deer hunt is rarely wasted. What value do you place time spent contemplating in the woods ?
ReplyDeleteDoing a Walden in the woods is nice. I don't hunt per say. I have a wildlife buffet AKA Garden and harvest a nice fat deer whenever my freezer looks low.
ReplyDeleteBut I have been known to go fishing with a book and NO HOOK as not to disturb my peace and keep fellow fishermen happy.
"I get clumsier and stupider when I am cold"
ReplyDeleteForget where I read the statistics about tree stand accidents.....
Be careful