It seems like everything snuck up on me this fall. I dutifully went through fall chores, check-marking the to-do list shorter and shorter week by week. But deer hunting was all of a sudden – here. I guess things are in a good enough situation, but there are still things I need to get done this year. My truck is desperate for tires, and I need to get them before the trip to South Carolina which isn’t all that far away. I haven’t done near enough target shooting recently. As I age I try to keep up on health appointments, but I'm overdue for one.
Life can be exhausting. Even on the best days it just keeps going tomorrow and tomorrow and tomorrow...
Which is a good reason why I need to step back and sit in a tree for a few days.
A sudden and brutal cold snap a week before Indiana’s deer gun season had me rethinking my sanity. It came with snow which stuck around longer than it usually does in November. But overall it was short lived and forecast for the first few days of the season are blessedly warm.
I buzzed out to Mikes Friday after work to put up my stand. I don't like the extra intrusion right before hunting, but it makes opening day so much easier. Mike was working on his lawn mower; after putting my stand up, I helped him get the mower belt back on. Mike said that was good payment on 10 more years of hunting - best job I ever had!
Opening day came with an early morning. I was up early enough to watch TV with the dogs. My older girl was so happy to be snoozing under a blanket next to me. But then it was time for a quick shower and head out the door right at 5:45. I grabbed a Snickers bar as I headed out for if (when?) I got a deer.
I was in my stand with plenty of dark left. I had lots of time to sit there in the magical darkness. I thought back over the last year; it's so easy to get tied up in the everyday business, to relive errors and inelegant moments. Sitting in the dark in a treestand is like a salve for the soul.
Forecast was for warm temperatures and potentially high winds. A racoon sidled right past me while still in the dark. It was followed a few minutes later by a deer; it was too dark to see what it was other than a deer. This had me thinking it could be a good day.
Daylight slowly came since it was quite cloudy. Two more racoons came and made their homes in trees right near me. For quite some time, one of the racoons spent much of its time watching me.
The morning progressed and I saw several deer through the day. There was one buck in the mix, but he hightailed it into the ravine. As usually happens, I had a deer go behind me as well.
I thought back to my South Carolina deer hunt. I've been increasingly kicking myself for not shooting the buck that I could have. As the afternoon progressed, I was kicking myself even more since all deer movement seemed to stop. I kept my spirits up until the last couple of hours. All day sits in the stand are hard. The wind wasn't making it any easier. The wind makes hearing deer almost impossible. And with leaves blowing and everything moving, even seeing deer can sometimes be challenging. The only thing helping was it was a south wind - bringing temperatures to near 70F.
Right near dark, I saw a deer silhouetted at the far south end - some day I'm going to hunt down there (yeah, right...). That was the only deer I saw in the afternoon.
As darkness fell, I was looking forward to moving again. I climbed out of the tree and my legs felt swollen. I'm used to being very active so sitting all day is painful.
Driving home I looked down at the Snickers Bar I had on the console and said out loud, "Denny's is for winners."* The candy bar would not get eaten until (and if) I got a deer.
*This is a reference to the TV Show Community. I fully admit this reference is a bit obtuse, but sitting in a treestand for 12 hours does both wonderful and terrible things to the mind.
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Sunday came and I again watched some TV with the girls before heading out. Weather was tolerable with sun and a bit cooler than Saturday, but still windy. I again had some blessed time in the dark to sit and just be.
Lightness came earlier since the sky was cloudless. Right at legal shooting light, a buck walked past me. It was still a bit dark, so I was looking through the scope at it and it just ... vanished. It was the oddest thing. I would have heard it run if it was spooked. It was just gone. I've had deer sneak in and almost appear out of nowhere, but never one vanish before. I spent an inordinate amount of time staring where the deer was and the area around there. As I write this, I can't help but wonder what happened (hopefully not a mental episode)?
Most of the deer I saw on Sunday were bucks. I had one come from behind me; I don't mind being a contortionist to get the shot, but it does take time. He was OK, but I let him walk.
Another deer walked the far south end of the property - again just a silhouette in the morning light.
I saw a real nice buck across the ravine. A short time later I heard the neighbor shoot - couldn't help but wonder if he is gone?
Another deer came up behind me. I contorted myself and saw he was at least pretty nice, but was already too far away - with brush between him and me. I watched him anyways as he made his way south. Right about where I would lose sight of him, he turned and started walking east, then northeast. He was headed back towards me. As he got closer, I thought, "This might actually still happen." But I was worried the wind would push my stink to him and cause him to bolt. He was behind me to my right, but I was confident I could make the offhand shot work. He was, oddly, within 20 yards of where I shot my biggest deer ever several years previous. There was a bit of brush in the way, but it was now or never. Bang-Flop - good as it gets. He was on the ground.
I watched him for a bit and he was still moving - I never want to make an animal suffer, but he was behind a deadfall. I watched for a short time before deciding I had to finish this. I was quite nervous that he could get his feet under him and run - so I did struggle to wait a few minutes. I climbed down and walked up to him, giving him the coup de gras. I hate having to shoot twice, and deer generally can't take a bullet (like wild hogs can), but this one did.
He was brute of a deer - a very respectable 8-point with very good width (outside spread of 19"), good mass. Maybe a bit short, but still a deer I'm honored to be able to take. I am very very very fortunate.
I packed out my stuff and hoofed back to field dress him. Then the real work started. Every year the drag gets harder and this boy was so big that it took over two hours to drag him out. He was big enough that he looked ridiculous in my small plastic sled. The last hill took an hour alone (and even getting it into the truck after that was painful).
I talked with Mike and Mary for a bit before heading home.
As I pulled out of the driveway, I started eating my Snickers.
