Would have had this up sooner but prior to writing I spent some time watching nature documentaries on whitetail deer; kinda forgot what deer look like. As expected this was another slow hunting day. Temps were far too warm (71 degrees again) but at least today there were gale force winds to carry away any slim hopes of deer movement. Went right back to the Bald Knob stand that was completely barren of deer yesterday to make sure no deer would disturb the area today. Mission accomplished. I did see a nice doe prior to sun-up as I walked across the Sand Flat field but she was a long ways away with very low light and nothing to brace on for shooting; a situation assessment told me there were too many negative outcome scenarios to risk a shot. Side note: The Sand Flat is the southern half of the field that runs adjacent to the Bald Knob area. The northern half of the field is rolling hills, the southern half is flat. And sandy. After days of creative brainstorming we decided to call it the Sand Flat.
So day number two was completely void of action, which gave me plenty of time for uninterrupted thinking. The main topic today was the question "Why do I hunt?" I spent nearly every day of my first decade of hunting contemptuously asking that same question - I hated hunting when I was younger. But now when I ask myself why I hunt it's a calming strategy for days like today; knowing it was going to be a slow day I used the time to remind myself that, even on the slow days, hunting is a terrific way to pass time.
Most importantly, I hunt to feed myself and my daughters. I grew up eating venison and I'll die eating venison (not literally, I hope). I want my girls to do the same (again, not literally on the dying end). Venison is lower in fat and cholesterol than beef while being slightly higher in iron. And venison is chemical free, guaranteed. I shoot it, I process it, I cook it. I do my best to feed myself and my girls as much food as possible that has never touched a grocery shelf or anyone else's hands. Putting 100 pounds of venison in the freezer goes a long way towards achieving that goal.
Getting meat is the destination of hunting; why do I endure the journey? This is the deep question, the one I spent much of my day pondering. There are a variety of reasons, including:
**Total freedom to have total control - I walk out the door in the morning with nothing, nothing, but my own decisions to dictate the day. Time is irrelevant (other than the magical 9:00 hour, also known as "shootin' time"). No meetings, no deadlines, no contracts, no demands, no stress. No messages in need of response, no questions in need of answers. I am in total control of how my day plays out. I can't always control the results, but every second of the day belongs to me. I spent my first ten years or so as a hunter who didn't take control of the hunt. I was told which stands might be good (they usually weren't) and where the deer were traveling (they weren't) and when to meet for lunch. I remember the specific day hunting changed for me - I got out of the lousy stand I'd been put in and started wandering around, eventually stumbling upon an old stand that hadn't been used for years. I got in it and shot a deer about an hour later. My choices, my stand, my deer. I've never hunted anyone else's way since.
**Solitude - I am so very lucky to hunt where I do, to have the land we have. I can hunt all day any day without seeing another human if I so choose. No offense to my readers, but escaping all human contact is very therapeutic. Being alone allows for mindfulness and deep thinking. Being alone removes conversation; talking is the enemy of thinking. Being alone is a good reminder that being alone is ok.
**Hunting is challenging - To borrow Tom Hanks' line from the movie A League of Their Own: "Of course it's hard. If it wasn't hard everyone could do it. It's the hard that makes it great." His character was referring to baseball, but I feel the same way about hunting, especially with regard to the weather. Which is why these last two days of warmth have been frustrating - it was too easy. It's also why I don't hunt inside a box with a heater - again, too easy. My dad and I have always said "If you aren't miserable, you aren't hunting." Numb toes and fingers, uncontrollable shivering, stiff joints - within the first hour on the stand, mind you - are the usual symptoms of hunting on a cold, cold day. Finding the strength to keep standing for another hour, and another, and another.....well, that's part of why I love hunting.
**Connecting with Nature - I've spent 19 hours the last two days sitting in exactly the same spot. I know the daily routine of a red squirrel (who was looking really tasty by sundown tonight). I've heard nuthatches warble a different call than their usual murmured chirp. Those same nuthatches come and go on an hourly pattern all day long. These are things that can't be noticed on a walk in the woods. Hunting provides an opportunity to be immersed in nature while stationary, giving time for true observation of a wide variety of natural phenomena.
**The chance to see something new - Yesterday I saw a wolf, heard tree frogs, and hunted in 70+ degrees. Never had any of those things happen in over 30 years of hunting. Today nothing new happened, which is the first time that's happened! Some days are like today where yes, nothing out of the ordinary took place. But most days, if I look and listen hard enough, I can experience something totally new. Oh - the nuthatch call! That was new today! I heard it yesterday but today I figured out what was making the noise. See? Every day, something new.
**A renewal of faith - I'm not religious. I have no faith in government or institutions. I have little faith in humans. But nature....in nature, I have faith. Nature is patterned while being unpredictable. Nature is fairly biased. Nature provides but does not give. Despite the humans' best efforts to destroy her, Mother Nature adjusts and carries on with a power we try, but fail, to fully comprehend. I find comfort in the dependability of nature - every time the calendar turns to November the bucks are scraping the ground. I spend as much time as I can throughout the year enjoying nature, but during hunting season I am able to consider nature while actually in nature.
Seems like I came up with more thoughts than this in my TEN HOURS on the stand today. But even slow day of hunting is an exhausting day, so this empty handed hunter needs some sleep. Back to The Knob one more time tomorrow, but this time to a different stand. Yeah, I might as well mark my tag right now for the deer I'll be dragging in by noon. Look at that - I'm already dreaming.
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