Friday, November 1, 2024

 

  I had no intention to hunt today, but I did go pull a camera for Jimmy. He told me where it was located, so I decided to go get it in the middle of the day. As I neared the camera, I heard the unmistakable noise of a deer getting out of its bed. 

  As I scanned the forest looking for the perpetrator, I couldn't locate anything. Then, I caught a twitch to my right and saw a deer standing there looking at me. It had nice, little spikes on it. I imagined all the young bucks I had shot in this area in my teens, and it brought me back to my younger years where I shared so many pivotal moments in my deer-hunting education. 

  I watched the deer for about two minutes and snapped a few pictures as well as a few videos. Eventually, the deer trotted over the hill and out of sight. I easily could've laid him in the leaves, but I just enjoyed watching him in his own environment. 

  After retrieving the camera and walking back to the truck, I realized life really does pass in the snap of the finger. When I was much younger, I shot a spike on that same mountain. My dad sent the photo in to have a fake Field and Stream magazine cover made out of it. He busted my chops for a long time about it, never knowing I would eventually end up on the cover of Outdoor Life and in the pages of Field and Stream. What a journey it has been in the deer woods, and much of that started where I went to visit today. When passing the buck, I realized how vital it was to my success when I was younger to be able to shoot deer of that caliber. It taught me many things about hunting and how to be successful. 

  I'm not sure what the next few days will bring or where I'll be hunting, if I'll be hunting at all. I'll either give it a few more days in the Adirondacks since the weather is supposed to be conducive to deer movement, or I'll be on the road with Brian to Illinois. The choice is yet to be made, so I'm not sure what I will have for you when I check in next time. The picture at the beginning of this is the small buck I passed today. We are a week into the northern zone hunting season and I have passed three bucks so far. I passed more than 17 last year. I'm not sure where I'll end up this year, but I like the start. 

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