Less than 12 hours after returning from the game I was back in my car again, this time driving three-plus hours north to my Fortress of Solitude. Upon arrival I spent four hours walking the edges of food plots looking for deer entry/exit paths. Every one of the 5,000 people from last night were absent, replaced by roughly 37,000 mosquitoes and deer flies. Had a great time.
It's funny how our experiences can take such drastic swings in such short amounts of time. Many times I feel like I'm two completely different people (kinda like "Independent George" and "Relationship George" for you Seinfeld fans) living two completely different lives based solely on location. Is this common? Do we all have these different versions of ourselves that are revealed at various times and locales? Deep thoughts brought forth by an hour-long session of deer therapy....
Scouting for deer sign (trails, tracks, droppings, rubs, scrapes, trail cam pictures) is fine and effective, but nothing beats gathering deer data by watching them on the hoof live and in person....not to mention it's really fun! After supper tonight I grabbed the binoculars and headed west on foot, intent on getting a first-hand look at what kinds of deer were starting to devour our food plots. Though it's not (legal) hunting season yet a deer walk like this one is a good way to practice walking and moving like a hunter, so all-in-all there's probably not a more valuable way to spend an hour of life.
Six deer on the eastern half of the north hayfield, all does and fawns. One of the six was very grey...not quite a winter coat but close. Didn't take them long to spot me; I wore my royal Mustang blue pullover....a deer's eyes see blue better than any color. It's good to know my critical hunting errors occur in all seasons, not just November. Four deer on the Hilltop food plot, again does and fawns and again one grey coat in the bunch....and again they scattered like snot in a sneeze the instant I stepped into the open. Six more deer on the Sand Flat food plot - one buck whose coat was grey, the other five were does and fawns. This group of deer was quite a distance away from me so I was able to watch them for several minutes before they got spooked by my mosquito-swat dance.
So yeah, the description on the screen doesn't exactly scream "good times!". A deer walk, deer therapy, has to be experienced to be savored. No noise. An orange sunset under purple clouds. No time constraints. Immersed in nature and one with nature (except for the blue). Watching my favorite animal. After a stressful evening of traffic and hassles - which were well worth it, by the way, to attend an activity that's a family favorite - it's such a relief to be able to switch personas and slide into the quiet side of life for a couple of days. I like it here.
It's funny how our experiences can take such drastic swings in such short amounts of time. Many times I feel like I'm two completely different people (kinda like "Independent George" and "Relationship George" for you Seinfeld fans) living two completely different lives based solely on location. Is this common? Do we all have these different versions of ourselves that are revealed at various times and locales? Deep thoughts brought forth by an hour-long session of deer therapy....
Scouting for deer sign (trails, tracks, droppings, rubs, scrapes, trail cam pictures) is fine and effective, but nothing beats gathering deer data by watching them on the hoof live and in person....not to mention it's really fun! After supper tonight I grabbed the binoculars and headed west on foot, intent on getting a first-hand look at what kinds of deer were starting to devour our food plots. Though it's not (legal) hunting season yet a deer walk like this one is a good way to practice walking and moving like a hunter, so all-in-all there's probably not a more valuable way to spend an hour of life.
Six deer on the eastern half of the north hayfield, all does and fawns. One of the six was very grey...not quite a winter coat but close. Didn't take them long to spot me; I wore my royal Mustang blue pullover....a deer's eyes see blue better than any color. It's good to know my critical hunting errors occur in all seasons, not just November. Four deer on the Hilltop food plot, again does and fawns and again one grey coat in the bunch....and again they scattered like snot in a sneeze the instant I stepped into the open. Six more deer on the Sand Flat food plot - one buck whose coat was grey, the other five were does and fawns. This group of deer was quite a distance away from me so I was able to watch them for several minutes before they got spooked by my mosquito-swat dance.
So yeah, the description on the screen doesn't exactly scream "good times!". A deer walk, deer therapy, has to be experienced to be savored. No noise. An orange sunset under purple clouds. No time constraints. Immersed in nature and one with nature (except for the blue). Watching my favorite animal. After a stressful evening of traffic and hassles - which were well worth it, by the way, to attend an activity that's a family favorite - it's such a relief to be able to switch personas and slide into the quiet side of life for a couple of days. I like it here.
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