I know in our quest to take Mr Booner with our bows we sometimes forget to stop, look and listen. As I was sitting in my treestand tonight and not seeing a darned thing I happen to look where the sun went down and saw the beauty in the iridescent red, yellow and blue sky. I took a pic with my cell phone and sent it to several in my contact list. The responses I got were wonderful as well. As the texts were coming in the geese were over head singing their music. Again, I smiled. :D There are times we forget to soak it all in. Take this morning before I got down. I heard the crunch, crunch of leaves knowing it wasn't a squirrel. As it neared I saw a grey/tigered house cat. As it stalked under my stand I ppssst at it and it looked up. I whispered BOO and it turned inside out to leave the area. I just sat there giggling to myself. I've got to see my 3 legged bear numerous times. The cubs and their antics have made me smile more than once. I've successfully filled doe tags and one 3 legged doe that will forever be a part of my memories. I've hunted with good friends and shared the woods along with smiles. I am blessed. I know Germ get's it with his humorous post about seeing sex, cats, atv's, kayakers, hell what doesn't happen to Germ? :p bloodcrik gets it, he texted me tonight asking me to call him crazy because he was in a tree with bow in hand coyote hunting. I said, " Not crazy, awesome. ". I'm weary, I'm tired and yes a little frustrated. I've taken deer this last week before and I may again but I'm not going to lose track of what it's really about and I've had a very fulfilling season. Good luck to those still hard at it but don't forget to stop and look around.
I do these things all the time Rob I love the outdoors, and often just look at the trees when they are turning colors and thank God for letting me be apart of seeing such beauty I stress this to me kids, that hunting is not just about the kill but everything that surround them as well and being able to unwind with out all the pressures in life out side of the woods. good post bro, and loved the sunset pic you sent me.
Great post Rob and I agree wholeheartedly. Nothing like it. I have done the 4AM thing quite a bit here lately. I do not have near the deer/buck traffic as some others, but the treestand has way more to offer than deer. I bask in it every sit. (Germ is just weird like that:D)
its the reason i hunt man!!! the deer are bonus....hmm maybe thats why i dont kill huge things lmao. i am like a ADD kid in a toys-r-us
I don't know if I'm lucky, or its my curse, but making my living in the hunting and fishing industry has deadened some of these feelings to me. I guess I get so used to seeing the amazing sunrises, sunsets and wildlife around me all the time that I take it for granted. I remember a time when I would stop, look, listen and for a moment a sense of calm would come over me and I felt as if I was part of nature, not just experiencing it. I long for those days again and hope they one day return. I envy you.
There are very few things I enjoy more then being out in the field. I can't wait to get out tomorrow and the next time, etc. I haven't seen a deer for a month but I still love it.
This is what I find I miss the most this season after filling my tag early. The walks out to the stand where the air is crystal clear, and the ground crunches under your feet. The crawling into your stand an hour before light and hearing grunting bucks passing by, or even better hearing them breathe as the go crunching by. Having a flock of chickadees move in around your stand and flit around you trying to figure out what you are (had a couple land on my arrow last year) Eating a ham/cheese/bun sandwich and it is the best thing you have ever tasted after sitting there in the outdoors for the last 5 hours. Smelling a rutting buck in the area but never seeing him. The rising sun light the woods up, filtering in through the trees casting golden rays of light in areas that never see that light later in the day. The feeling that the 'booner' will show up in 5 minutes, then in another 5 minutes then another, finally the day is over and you know you can go out and do it all over again the next day, yet the disappointment in not seeing him does not override the satisfaction of a day in the woods. and the list could go on and on........
Nice post, Rob. I got to see a red-tailed hawk go after two squirrels the other day. He missed but those squirrels raised all kinds of hell. Then, as he took off towards the east a flock of about 15 crows flew over heading NW. Good thing they didn't see him. Hunting has many, many rewards.
I try to soak it in... but to be honest... it is tough in my primary hunting spot. The woods are stunning, nothing like watching the sun come up over the corn field and shining off the frost covering the forest floor.... until the breakfeast announcement rings out at the maximum security prison which sends the neighboring landowners 50 million little yippy dogs off on a barking spree that will literally hours for hours at a time... followed by the sound of helicoptors and airplanes starting up down at the airport... or the guys outside at the local gas company that are smashing pipes together.... or maybe the sounds of tractor trailers driving down route 286 and 119.:p Nothing beats sitting at my buddies family farm, there are no cars, no dogs, no planes, no helicoptors, no lawnmowers, no prison announcements, no college bands, no high school football announcers, ect. The only thing you have to deal with is the occasional rooster crowing!
AMEN BM, main main spot is right outside Atlanta, and I get to hear all that crap. Never hear a deer approching in most spots. I love my trips to S Alabama where I can just sit and hear...well nothing at all. My chances for a good buck go way down, but I really don't care and actually would prefer to go there everytime.
You are right Rob...I sat 11 hours the other day on stand and did not see a single deer. I was tired and exhausted after two all day hunts, yet somehow I felt alot of satisfacton on the walk out of the woods. I also re-examined why I hang around certain people. My one buddy is getting up at sun-up on a Sunday to help me track a deer with his dog. My other buddy processed an entire doe for me tonight because I was so exhausted from the last three days. I mean he cut the thing up like a professional. You are right, hunting has many rewards Bruce.....those rewards come out in many different ways...physical, mental, spiritual.
I hear ya... whats worse is trying to turkey hunt this property. The turkey are there, I swear the group that came into my set-up this morning had to be pushing 100 birds... but they just aren't vocal. I can only think that its because of the extreme background noise.
Coincidentally I did this same thing for BPBowhunter. He shot a doe, called me and asked if I had a place to hang one. I hung his doe, skinned it, quartered it, deboned it and had it in his cooler in a heart beat. We all hunt for different reasons but at the same time, we're all out there together.
Rob, I know you are a modest guy, but I still have to say that you are what a true sportsman is all about! Your willingness to help a fellow hunter out is awsome and even though it is a ceral... KUDO'S :D
What's funny is I sent a txt like this one to a buddy hunting with me today. Today was B E A utiful! We are truly lucky to be able to experience these freedoms.
