After so many months spent waiting, preparing, and obsessing over deer season its hard to believe the season has already begun. Unfortunately I, like most hunters, have limited time to spend in the woods due to the bane of our existence, work. That being said, I save up all my sick and vacation days to use for pursuing my whitetail dreams. After a vacation day spent on Monday, I have already logged 20 hours on stand. Due to a visit from Pope Francis effectively shutting down all of our current job sites, I will be able to hunt this Friday and Saturday. After that, probably Saturdays only till late October with an evening hunt during the week sprinkled in here and there. I must admit it was nice sleeping in for work today, my body hasn't adjusted to the 3:30am alarm clock just yet.
One thing I have noticed this season is the deer seem smarter that I remember. Usually opening day is a guaranteed doe for everyone I hunt with. I have a valid excuse for my empty trunk bed. I was with a friend filming a hunt when we had two does come in behind a tree and bed down 25 yards from us. The wind was in our favor, so we figured eventually the does would get back on their feet and continue into one of my shooting lanes. We waited for about an hour until the lead doe stood up, shook the sleep from her face, and began to head our way. That's when suburban deer hunting struck again. A neighbor a few houses down decided 9am on Saturday morning is the perfect time to let their kid go outside and practice.... the trombone. It sounded like Jim from American Pie pretending to be "Petey" at band camp. As the silence was shattered the 2 doe took off like their tails were on fire, taking their delicious back straps with them. That was a first for us, but probably not the last time this will happen. Hopefully by November the kid will be able to carry a tune.
On a serious note, the deer do seem to be more educated this year. I never had to pay too much attention to the wind before, since most of our spots are in close proximity to people and their scents. I had a few does and one small buck try in vane to pick me in the tree, but on both occasions they never seemed comfortable around me. I know I was clean. I shower scent free before each sit, and my clothes are washed with Hunters Specialties Fresh Earth detergent and sealed in a garment bag when I'm not wearing them. It seems the deer have been coming in down wind and picking up something they don't like and changing their course. The problem with limited time and properties to hunt is that if I do not have a perfect wind on Saturday, I have to wait till next Saturday. That could mean going two to three weeks without sitting in the woods, and that's just torture. If the trend continues I may have to look into changing my stand placement.
So it looks like I am going to me an amateur meteorologist this year, monitoring wind directions and cold fronts to maximize my hunts. Just another tool I can use against my quarry. While I am at it, I should brush up on my lunar phases too. You can never have too much information when chasing an animal that depends on weather cycles to tell it how to act. Nobody ever said filling tags is easy. It can be a grind at times, but for most bow hunters, they would not have it any other way.
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