archery

Patience

The first day of turkey season comes with excitement and anticipation like what a child experiences on Christmas Eve. Distance gobbles and strutting toms glistening in the sun fill a turkey hunter’s dreams as they wait for first light on opening day. Confidence is high as the memories of last year’s successful hunts are still fresh in the mind and the failures long forgotten.

A Virtual Balance

Five missed calls and 33 new emails. I slid the phone back in my pocket and stared at the Y in the trail contemplating my dilemma: go to work or keep looking. An October snow storm prompted me to take a couple of hours off in the morning to go hunt my favorite stand. The wind was right and I knew the rut was kicking off. It was a Wednesday and I told myself I would sit until 10:00 am. I could return phone calls on my drive back home and should be at my desk by 11:15 a.m. It was already 10:30 a.m. and I hadn’t been able to find a single speck of blood.

I Don't Care About the Blood

“Look deep, and if you stare at the water long enough you’ll get your opportunity” – Boat Ramp Wisdom

Simple, yet profound, this advice was solicited from a fellow bow fisherman at the boat ramp. His craft was anchored to the dock at the same time we were pulling out. There was one big difference: he had a paddlefish laying in the bottom of his johnboat and I did not. I congratulated him on his catch and asked if he had any tips. That prose of wisdom was all he provided.

The Twelfth Hour

My mind did not immediately register what I had seen.  Looking to my hard left to investigate the sudden noise I expected to see a squirrel for the 500th time that day.  Quickly returning my eyes to the two does out in front of me I realized I had seen a buck creating a scrape less than 10 yards from the base of my tree.  Peering back over my shoulder I confirmed my eyes were not playing tricks on me as he started to move.  If I was going to capitalize on the opportunity unfolding during the last minutes of shooting light in the 12th hour of hunting I would need to act now…

Connected

Americans are disconnected from their food.  We live in a country where food is in abundance.  Restaurants line the streets in every city and grocery store aisles are filled with multiple options for almost any product.  For example, we designate an entire aisle to cereal!  The average person knows where they get their food, however they do not know where their food comes from.  They just walk into McDonalds, order some Chicken McNuggets, pay with their credit card, and go on about their day.  Completely oblivious to the fact that their order resulted in another chicken being put into the butcher line to be cut up and pressed into a nugget. 

Something You Have to Try This Turkey Season: Reap a Wild One

Half way across the river water rose above my belly button.  I had never turkey hunted in chest waders, however I was glad Rod talked me into going home and grabbing them.  My original plan was to cross in muck boots, and that would have ended badly.  For now I was dry and heading to the opposite bank…bow in one hand and my reaping decoy in the other.