Monday, October 10, 2005
Poor Hunting Night, Good Thinking Night
People say there is no such thing as a bad hunting night. They maintain simply that some nights are better than others.
If so, tonight left much to be desired from a hunting standpoint. A northeast wind is not good on my property, and only a few places could be hunted. And, of the five people sitting out in ground blinds or tree stands tonight, it was a mixed bag of nothing much.
One man never saw a deer. Another was photographing deer for me, and didn’t have a buck within 150 yards all night. Another man saw a few small bucks and does, but nothing close. Another hunter saw a 6-pointer and a doe but chose to pass on the young buck.
Me, I saw a couple of small bucks but nothing close and nothing I would have considered shooting at. It was one of those nights when most of the deer seemed to be taking a break from their early evening travels.
The weatherman forecasts more east winds until the weekend. Wow. This is almost as exciting as a blizzard in mid-February.
Hunters, being the eternal optimist that most of us are, can use our time on stand to silently remember old friends who have downed their last whitetail buck, stands we have loved and lost to wind storms, bucks we have seen but never were successful in taking.
I sat and remember some of my old stands from 25 years ago. I thought they were super stands at the time, but when compared to stands being used today, they were pretty rough.
Between watching the hills and ridges, the nearby open fields, I remembered Dr. Ned Hether who used to hunt here. He treated me and my family without charge, and we enjoyed having he and his family come from Swartz Creek to hunt.
I remember George Richey, twin brother of outdoor writer Dave Richey, who visited my ranch several times. He wasn’t an avid deer hunter like his brother, but he enjoyed the camaraderie of the hunt and the stories told after the hunt ended.
I remember when an old railroad caboose was a hunting blind at the north end of my front woods, and I remember the Hole In The Fence tree stand. I remember the old Execution Knob pit blind that produced so many opening-day firearm bucks for me over the years.
These slow nights of sitting high in a tree stand are great times to solve problems. I keep thinking about solutions to vexing problems, and ways to make my C.P. Oneida Extreme bow even better than it is. I roll the many vast improvements around in my mind, and keep nudging the bow-building envelop closer and closer to perfection.
Oops, there’s a small buck. He’s moving somewhere, and perhaps out of the way of a big buck. He disappears, and again I become absorbed in my thoughts. Over many years of hunting and thinking I’ve been able to solve complex mechanical problems while keeping both ears and eyes at full attention.
Nothing escapes my hearing or vision during these slow nights, and although we gripe about them, it’s still fun to be out in a tree stand and watching for deer. This deer hunting is a continuing learning process for people willing to pay attention while on stand.
Hunting is my life, and making and selling C.P. Oneida Eagle bows is what pays the bills, and I suspect a bit of nostalgia is good for all of us. It helps us appreciate good hunting when it develops, and allows us keep track of our past. We can’t know where we are going unless we know where we’ve been.
And thinking and remembering is as much a part of hunting as carrying my bow into the field or tracking down a heart-shot buck. Even though the hunting wasn’t good tonight, thinking about past hunts and old friends helps keep me going.