Last week I never even had the opportunity to draw back on a whitetail, but I still experienced a marvelous time in the woods. One of the most fascinating aspects of the pastime is the last half hour of shooting light when the creatures of the day stir a great deal and the nocturnal animals begin to look for food.
This past Saturday, for example, as the shadows lengthened, a barred owl on top of the Craig County, Virginia mountain where I was began to belt out the species' "who cooks for you" chorus. The owl's song had a cascading effect on others of its kind and soon two other owls further down the mountain were joining in.
A few days earlier, I had observed a pileated woodpecker making its last rounds of the day. The pileated drummed on a dead tree to announce its presence, next winged to an oak and vocalized its "cuck, cuck, cuck" notes, then flew and perched just outside of a tree cavity that was only a few yards from my treestand. The woodpecker took a quick peak inside the cavity, and, apparently satisfied that the area inside was vacant, hopped in and no doubt went quickly asleep.
I enjoy bowhunting a great deal and providing healthy, nutritious venison for my family. But sitting 10-feet above the ground in a treestand is a relaxing experience and also a superlative way to observe the natural world.
I enjoyed reading all of these blogs! It sounds like you are really crossing the line from simply a hunter to a true outdoorsman, in the old frontier sense.
ReplyDeleteJust to nit pick, "I enjoy bowhunting a great deal and providing healthy, nutritious venison for my family. But sitting 10-feet above the ground in a treestand..." Should it be "And sitting 10-feet above... instead of But sitting 10-feet above" sense you are adding another positive statement, not a negative one? Maybe you could do a blog sometime on how scared you are of heights.
Hey Ingram!
ReplyDeleteI think that Bow hunting is very fun! I go to competitions with my dad and its awesome. I enjoy hunting very much.