this is a page that my buddy "drew" posted out of his journal from a hunt we had two weekends ago..i really enjoyed this and wanted to share since the journal topic came up..i'd like to start doing the same to share with my grandkids someday......here it is.
Here's a page out of my journal I wrote last night..about my hunt last friday night.
“A Season of Change”
As I sat on my stool in the unusually hot October afternoon sun in a natural blow down ground blind make up of Jack pine, my mind begin to wander off in reflection of this past year. I sat looking at the Northern Mist Baraga longbow lying across my lap, I studied every detail of the bow and how it had changed in the months since this spring when I received it. I noticed the leather on the arrow shelf that was perfect now shows the wear of hundreds of practice shots. The leather grip has marks where my hand rests and shows flecks of paint off my target from pulling arrows. A Sitka spruce “Firefly” arrow sits nocked on my string with new two blade broad head, ready for a new experience just like me.
I have changed over the course of this year, the end of the month will mark my first year as a father and a different trail I now walk. I sat thinking of how thankful I am for my beautiful healthy son, a great wife and family, a new group of friends made, and to a gentleman named “Pops” who did me a favor and held a special longbow as I fought to save up the money to buy it. The smells, sights and sounds of the woods made me feel right at home and thankful to be alive.
I absorbed the various colors of autumn, with the sounds of acorns falling around me as a welcome breeze blew against my face and rattled the oak leaves. Suddenly a squirrel erupted in a noisy chatter I knew meant something was trespassing within his sight. Just as my eyes searched for the culprit, I caught a movement and froze looking down a natural shooting lane. A mature Doe gracefully stepped in front of me as my heart started pounding out of my chest in my throat and ears, as I admired her beautiful silky brown coat as I picked a small spot just behind her front shoulder where I wanted to place an arrow. She took another step as I calmed my nerves a touch mentally, gripping my bow and putting tension on the string I slowly started to raise my bow up for a less than 10 yard shot. My longbow had barely moved, as I heard a loud blow and a stomp from off beyond my vision. I froze smiling to myself as I laughed inside from my error. I just made the mistake of being busted by a trailing deer I hadn’t seen or looked for in the excitement of the moment. The doe in front of me whipped her head towards me and locked on to me as she knew something wasn’t quite the same from a moment ago when she walked in. She blew and stomped, trying to force me to make another mistake, then bound a few leaps off into the thick brush to the left of me out of my shooting range. I shifted my glance to the deer that’d caught me, another doe just outside of my shooting lane slowly moved away from me keeping just enough cover to prevent me from getting a clean shot. The two ladies pranced around my spot cautiously letting me enjoy seeing them up close as they moved through the woods and slowly disappearing from my sight.
I tried to relax as I went over what had just taken place. Had I been in a tree stand with my compound, I would have easily seen both deer and shot once one had got to 30 yards. I would have never gotten as intimately close at eye level as I had just been. I just sat there smiling thankful God gave me the chance to see the two beautiful whitetails. As the gorgeous crimson and orange sunset faded into darkness I sat excited to share my story with a great group of friends at camp and to listen to their stories of the nights events. As I grabbed my longbow, and wood arrows I knew the changes that had taken place in me are for the best. I was thankful for a memorable hunt and just as the seasons have changed, so have I.