What a great day to get out and hike around with the bow. It has turned out to be one of the coldest morning so far this season; 26 degrees when I got out of work. Made my way home, dropped of Gwyneth at school and headed for the woods with Greta. I decided to check out a public land spot that I had a ton of fun at last year. We pulled in at 9:30 am and there was a heavy fog from the river shrouding the woods. I'm thinking how great this is and that I might still be able to catch some deer moving into the woods from the bean fields.
I put Greta in the back pack, grabbed my bow and an arrow. Time to start off sneaking. Though the path is littered with golden leaves from the surrounding trees, the moisture in the air keep them soft and quite while I walk. A few rays of sun make their way through the dispersing fog and illuminate the forest with a warming yellow glow. This forrest is made up of tall Tulip trees, Ash, and mighty Oaks. A few Cedars line the edge of the many small ridges that break up the hill side.
It is not long before I find a trail with the leave turned up and I follow it. I quickly discover a scrape that was probably made early this morning and has a few leaves falling into it all ready. I follow the trail some more and soon realize I am traveling with the wind. "Not going to see any thing doing that" I tell my self. I turn to head off and make a loop around the area I will be checking out when I hear some thing move off in the brush ahead. I'm sure its a deer, but no sense in trying to go that way with the wind.
After looping around, I drop back into the hard woods. Fresh sign is every where. Even better then I had seen last year. I check the baby since she is so quiet. Sleeping! What a break. She started crying last time I had her with me and a deer only 15 yards away.
So I begin. A slow uneven stalk through the woods. I do this to try and not sound like a human walking about. Last year I had spent a lot of time here and the usual spots were showing good sign. At the crest of a high ridge, I decide to sit a moment an glass the oak flat below. I catch movement right away. A nice buck! He is making a scape! I love when I get a chance to see this type of activity. He is busy clearing a large spot of every leaf. He occasionally stops and urinates all over himself and the scrape. He moves off to a near by tree and begins to rake it's bark from the trunk with his rack. After a bit of rubbing, he returns to the scrape for more pawing and peeing. Finally he starts to move off down the trail. I get up and swing down the steep hill side to get in behind him. When I reach the bottom, he is all ready a ways off. I follow for about 30 minutes trying to close the distance. His brief stop at a few more rubs helps me get closer, but not enough to begin thinking of a shot. Alas I give in and let him go off to his hiding place in the thickets.
After getting back to the car I am warm and remove my sweater once I take the baby off my back. TICKS!!! I have small ticks all over me! My pant, sweater, under my sweater on my cold gear shirt! This is not good. I have never in my life had so many on me. After a thorough check, I have removed about 30 some thing ticks from my clothes. I check the baby and she is clear. Though I know there is a nice buck around and not much sign of other hunters, no way do I want to deal with all those ticks. I'll let him be. Maybe winter bow when there is some snow on the ground. Still, a great time in the woods with the bow.
Topic: A hike, a scrape, a stalk and too many ticks. (Read 269 times)
