Wednesday, October 19, 2011

First day in the Deerstand this year.

October 18, 2011 and I am sitting in a ladder deerstand in Stanly County, NC.  The weather is overcast this afternoon with a slight  breeze  from the southwest. I can taste the rain coming in the wind. It hit a high of around 80 degrees today so I am lighting my Thermacell as I get settled in for the rest of the afternoon.

I have my bow ready to go so to pass the time as I sit and watch the clearcut to my right. I use my rangefinder to mark different points in my view and their ranges. I use these markers to use match the pins I have my bow sight set for. In this case today I have a pair of circles etched in my mind at 10 and 20 yards all around me.  An old stump here a mushroom or whatever else may mark the forrest floor. If a deer aproaches my circle I will have a spot to gauge it by without having to look through the rangefinder again.

As it played out today just like others in the past the deer stayed outside my magic ring. Two does and a buck crossed the clearcut behind me and to the right. I watched as they moved into the light breeze at a distance of 93 yards.  They made it out about 100 yards and just melted into the underbrush just as quickly as they showed themselves 60 seconds before. You know they have a way of doing that like ghost in the night, you blink and they are gone.

Just as my fellow friends from the deep woods disapeared I felt the pit-pat of a few drops of rain. Light was failing me fast and I had a promise of a chicken diner waiting for me.  I called it quits for today and thanked God for just making me able to spend this time outdoors today. Others will follow for sure.

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