For my Birthday, I was given the sacred opportunity to go into the woods during deer hunting season.
I never knew all that was involved! Here is what I learned and experienced:
You must wake up hours before the sun rises.
You bath with Anti-Human Scent soap.
Extreme care is taken to launder Camouflage clothing.
When Camo is put on, you must then spray your whole being with Anti-Scent spray .
to eliminate any possible foreign odors.
You must creep quietly into the woods.
Try to avoid stepping on sticks that will crack,
mud that will make you slip and fall,
and branches from hitting you in the face.
This is very tricky when you can barely see!
Walking up hills in mud, rain, & darkness is very hard work when
you have multiple layers of hunting clothing on. Keep in mind, that when
you are sitting in a tree stand 20+ feet in the air for hours on end...
trying to NOT move a muscle..it gets very cold. It is not for the faint
of heart.
I climbed up the ladder to the top of the stand and realized that as I
have gotten older, I have become uneasy about heights! I tried to overcome
my fear by wrapping my feet around the poles used for climbing. There
were no railings, no harnesses, just....DANGER. I brought my camera,
as the point was to watch the woods come to life and capture what came
my way. Hopefully, some huge buck. After sitting for 20 minutes or so, letting
my ears be my eyes, I heard leaves crunching. It sounded like a deer! I very carefully
(making very slow movements to avoid startling an animal) raised my camera to my
eye. There, literally right below me, was a small buck walking by. As I pushed the
shutter button and clicked away, the noise startled him, and he ran back a ways.
I could still see him, but he could not see me. He began to stop his foot on the ground
repeatedly, trying to startle me to move. It was a great experience! Not too much
longer after that, a group of three deer went by. These were further down the hill and
pretty well hidden behind the trees. I could tell that one was a really nice buck (nice meaning
shoot-able for the rack size). They passed by, then along came 2 doe. Then two more deer..
It was so neat! After sitting in the tree for 3 hours, I needed to stretch my legs. I struggled
with leaving, as I knew I could miss something great. I took some pictures of the
nature surrounding me. It was so beautiful. There was a light rain, and I was
enjoying the sound of it on the fallen leaves. Then I heard another sound. This was not
the sound of a deer. It was a flock of turkeys! Only one seemed to hear me, and
that is the photo of the head out to the side. I saw many black and gray squirrels.
Quite a wonderful experience, and I hope to go back again soon. This was a
very big deal because Phil was in the woods with his bow, hoping to shoot a buck.
He was up the hill further. But anyone who hunts knows that to have someone
in the woods when you're hunting is very risky. They may scare off all the wildlife!
I was grateful that he trusted me and loved me enough to share this experience with
me, even if it meant him missing out.
