I had my first sit with my bow of the 2022 season tonight. I observed six does at various ranges and could have taken any of them if I had chosen to. Something I do every time I hunt Is get into my own head. It allows me way too much time to sit and think about whatever is bouncing around in there, which can be very dangerous.
When I first arrived, I found that my normal hunting spot had the corn harvested on it the day before, which usually means lots and lots of deer are going to come visit me this night. I was super-stoked. Within a few minutes of being there, I had doves dive bombing me and a hummingbird that apparently thought I had a flower on me or looked really sweet because he would not leave me alone. This had me all excited because when everything is this active, something is going to happen. I’m not sure what it is, but something for sure.
After the initial excitement was over, I ate all my snacks and drank all my water and changed my dip three times. I was starting to get bored. So, I started daydreaming about fishing. Truth be told, I am more of a fisherman than I am a hunter. I could fish until my arm falls off, then I would just tape a rod to myself and keep fishing. I guess you call that almost an addiction. That’s healthy, right?
People are also reading…
Now that we are all in agreement, both my attention span and patience have grown shorter with old age. When hunting I can’t just change my fly and figure out the pattern in a matter of minutes, solving my slow hunting day as I can fishing. So, this trip has me questioning my dedication to sitting in the woods waiting for a beautiful buck to come by when I could just be in my office tying flies, prepping for my next fishing trip.
Back to my trip… I found that I was just not paying attention to everything that was around me. Nature, whether I’m hunting, or fishing, is the same. Instead of paying attention to the cork handle of my fly reel and how perfect my loop is with my fly rod, I need to be feeling the perfectly smooth wood in my hand from my recurve bow. Also, those arrows with the real feather fletchings that I’m so obsessed with being straight and clean, ready to fly through the air to their destination. See, you can find art in anything.
In synopsis, I have been a total space case today. We have had a couple of weeks that would cause some to question their belief in God and life, but this is just what I needed — time to clear my head. In life, there will always be an end, and sometimes the end comes sooner than anyone expects. We lost a very close family member last week that affected us all in different ways, and I guess today I realized that it has affected me in ways I didn’t understand. Of course, I keep myself busy, but I have put myself in overdrive trying to help everyone else and didn’t realize I just put my emotions to the side.
So did I use my time in the woods to pour my emotions out rather than hunting? Yes, but it has made me feel better and put me in a better emotional state to be able to help the rest of my family. Did I feel like a blubbering fool? Yes, but I finally got it all out. The outdoors can be healing. Is it unorthodox? Yes, but I promise you it works. This is not my usual kind of column but it is what came pouring out of me when I decided to write tonight.
Credit: Source link
