Virginia's Opening Day of Urban Archery Season (Blog 206)

Yesterday was opening day of Virginia's Urban Archery Season, and I spent much of the morning  watching squirrels and wondering why the mosquito spray seemed powerless to ward off the beasties.  I did not see a deer during the morning sit and went home for lunch and a nap.

Returning to the same Roanoke County woodlot around 4:15, I soon discovered that the mosquitoes were worse and even the squirrels were elsewhere.  But I decided to proverbially "tough it out," and sometimes that is the right decision to make.

For about 40 minutes before dark, five deer began making their way toward me, and I was able to send a bolt from my Parker Thunderhawk crossbow through the lead doe's lungs.  Ninety minutes later, my son-in-law David Reynolds helped me quarter the doe, and this morning Elaine and I began the process of canning the venison, minus the tenderloins and roasts that we froze, and the heart which will form the makings of school lunches for four or five days.

I am very glad that I stayed in the woods all evening.