I'm Out Of My Tree - For Now

Today closes out another deer season for me. It doesn't officially end for a few days yet, but, like the bank sign down the street, it's a matter of time & temperature. I don't have time this week and the temperature is going to start dropping tonight and most of the week will be in the teens, even down to the big goose egg. So this was my last morning in the woods - at least until the spring turkey season arrives in late April. It was cold this morning, but with little wind, it was not uncomfortable. I got to play peek-a-boo with eight does, who came in wired like a cocaine addict in withdrawal. With nothing to hide behind, even twenty feet up in a tree, it's incredibly difficult to pull one over on a spooky mama doe. I had a little spike buck walk by fifteen yards away, but I don't need venison that badly. It's amazing how having two hundred pounds of elk in the freezer takes pressure off of "needing" to take a deer. It was a gut-buster trip out as I carried my very full backpack, bow, tree stand, and Rapid Rail climbing sections. I'll feel it in the morning. It's always a successful day when you get to go to Mel's Riverside Restaurant and have a huge breakfast afterwards. I'll miss that too, but my waistline will appreciate the loss.

This has been one of the toughest years of hunting I've ever had in terms of bad weather days and fewer deer sightings - especially late season. I did see three nice, and I mean NICE bucks (see previous blogs), and a dozen or more smaller ones, but I couldn't get a shot at the nice ones and I let the small ones walk. Still, it was fun. The highlight was helping my son-in-law, Chad, get his first deer with a bow, and it's always great spending time with my hunting bud - Danny. It's always great to just spend time in the woods thinking, praying, and enjoying God's creation. For now, I've put the above picture of the lower fields of the Colorado ranch we hunt on each year, as my screen saver picture. It's looking down from the mountain behind the ranch house. I was in a ground blind at the time. A big part of hunting is anticipation. God is good.