On the hunt...

For my whole life (and well before I was born), my Dad has been an avid hunter... I've always tried to figure out why I never got into it... I know my Dad didn't want to push us (my brother and I) too hard to be interested in it, and we didn't really make any effort to try... The funny thing is that I've ALWAYS enjoyed spending time outdoors. I spent many hours on many days going out to spend time in the woods near our old house throughout junior high and early high school. So, with this in mind I gave my Dad the shock of a liftetime when I told him I'd like to go out with him sometime hunting... I wasn't necessarily interested in having my own bow and arrow, but I thought I would enjoy going out with him and sitting up in a tree enjoying wildlife and possibly seeing some deer. I was definitely right...
The morning started well before dawn... Dad told me the night before that he was gonna get me up at 4:30am... I'm not that far removed from 4:30am being a late night down at IU rather than being an early morning... So, we got up, got dressed and equiped, and headed out... We got to where we were hunting and had to get through the woods and to our treestands in complete darkness... I actually thought it was fun kind of sneaking into the woods (the thought is that you don't want to make a lot of noise going in b/c you'll scare all the little critters away). Dad had a little red light he used to make his way, and I just stayed on his heals and tried to stay quiet. We had to cross a little creek, which was interesting... It's not exactly easy to walk through water in the dark without making noise... Our treestands were right on the creek, so after crossing it all we had to do is get up into the trees.

Here is a picture I took from my stand of the creek and where we crossed in the dark...



Dad put up a ladder stand for me so it would be easier for me to get up into the tree. For those worried about safety, Dad and I had on body harnesses which were then attached securely to the tree. Once we were up in the trees, we just had to wait for the sun to rise and for the animals to come... We had a few racoons walking by before dawn (which when you can't see anything, and you have something walking toward you making noise, you automatically think it's something huge because it's the only sound you can hear). Later, still before dawn, we heard what sounded to me to be a very large log falling into the creek. Dad later informed me that it was actually a beaver hitting the water with his tail.
The sun finally came up, and I was able to actually see that monstrous racoon walking down by the water... Later I saw a couple of racoons down by the water, and they were all of a sudden scared off by something across the creek. I didn't see anything right away, but then Dad pointed out a deer walking toward the creek. As I watched, it crossed the stream and directly toward us.

**HIPPIES AND ANY ANTI-HUNTING PEOPLE PLEASE SKIP THE NEXT PARAGRAPH**

I had my eyes pretty much fixed on the deer, and then I looked up and noticed my Dad had stood up and readied his bow. The deer walked directly under Dad's stand, and with me thinking in my mind something along the lines of "Get 'em, Dad!", I heard Dad release the bow, and off goes the deer (with the arrow in it). We both watched as the deer ran away (both of us trying to watch closely as to what direction it went). We gave the deer about a half hour to "pass on" and then we got down to look for it. I won't go into the gorey details about finding the deer and getting it home, but let's just say it was a workout because it was a pretty hefty buck.
I thought I'd post some pictures from the hunt (Dad said he doesn't know what he looks like in a treestand (see above). Just so we don't get any negative comments from hippies, I'll leave the pictures out of anything with blood and/or guts. So, like I said, I was right in thinking I would enjoy going out with my Dad... I've always known how much he enjoys hunting, and I was very proud to see him in action. Mainly I enjoyed sharing time with him doing something I know is important to him. Hopefully we can go out again soon. Dad commented that I'll probably be disappointed next time we go out because I'll be expecting to get a deer right away like we did the first time. I'm realistic, though, and I'll enjoy just spending time out there.

Here's the ladder stand I used...




And here is Dad with the buck...