Thursday, October 2, 2008

First Bow Hunt Of The Year

Well opening day of bow season came and went with out me getting out in the woods. It always seems as if the best laid plans always go to waste. I felt really bad that morning so I stayed at home. But never fear, I did make it out this morning to partake in day two of the season.
My buddy Matt from Compass Outdoors showed up at my place at 6:00am to pick me up. I got my gear together and I was out the door. We drove the 10 minutes it takes to get to his spot to hunt and then it was time to get suited up. I always put my hunting clothes on once I get to the parking spot where I'm going to enter the woods. Once I got my Scent-Lok, rubber boots and other gear, I grabbed my bow and found out I forgot my quiver! Well I'm supposed to only need one arrow any way, I grabbed two though just incase.
We began the walk back to the treestands, this was the first time I've hunting this property and in the dark it looked different than it did when we were there scouting. After we split up on the trail I headed to the stand I was going to hunt. Luckily I had my bow sling so I could climb the climbing sticks and hold on to the two arrows I took while doing so. I got situated on the stand and proceeded to nock an arrow. The other arrow I laid across a couple of small branches and hoped that it would stay put. It wasn't long until I felt the cold air begin to creep into my jacket and pants. It was then that I thought boy this is going to be a cold morning. I later used my range finder that has a thermometer in it to find out how cold it was, 42 degrees was the pre dawn reading. The skies were clear over head but in the distance it was starting to cloud up somewhat. Then the wind began to blow in my face, it was then that I knew that I wasn't ready for the cold weather yet. I hung my bow on a hook and buried my hands into my jacket hoping to keep them somewhat warm.
As day broke, I noticed that there was a plane flying overhead. I forgot that this property was in the flight path of Flint's airport. I counted 8 big planes this morning along with 4 trains off in the distance and numerous cars driving down the dirt roads. It wasn't like it was when we were in Colorado. Out there you didn't hear anything all day.
As the sun rose it began to warm a little bit, but the deer were not moving this morning. I kept glassing the field and treeline ahead of me to try and see some movement. I must have lost track of time along the way, because I thought it was around 8:00am when I noticed some movement behind me. It was Matt coming up to pick me up. We had made plans to leave around 9:00 or 9:30 and he was sneaking up behind me. I asked him what time it was and he told me 9:00am. Boy did I lose track of time. I guess it was the anticipation of being out for the first time hunting whitetails this season that made it go so quick.
He also wasn't able to see any deer movement, so I guess we will have to wait until next time. I hope to get out this weekend and give it another shot. But for a first day out at home it was great. I got to watch the sunrise and spend time in the field, what more could you ask for?

2 comments:

Tom Sorenson said...

Sounds like a good trip - better luck with bringing home some venison next time. Or, if not, the time after that! Or the time after that...and so on! :)

Anonymous said...

Hope you have better luck next time. Atleast see a few deer. Can't wait for season to open here.