The Fall Scramble

Fall, and more specifically October, is usually a busy time.  I own too many things with internal combustion engines and many of them are not used in the winter - so all of them get maintenance and get cleaned up before putting to bed.  This takes time and the timing is dependent on their last use.

The lawn always needs a final mow.

Outside and inside cleaning must be done.

The house often needs a bit of attention before Brother North Wind begins to blow.

And I need to get ready for hunting.

My recent trip west made all this winter preparation seem even more of a scramble this year.  I needed to finish most of it before leaving, then complete the rest after returning.

But the local deer season started less than two weeks after I got home.

Deer hunting around home has a lot of variability.  I've had years where the deer seem to constantly saunter around me, and years where they seem to know exactly where I am.  During the latter, they plan travels to keep miles away from me.  It was only a few years ago when I had a 2-year dry spell with no venison in the freezer - the dry spell broken with a doe taken late on a Thanksgiving afternoon.

This year, the weather on opening day was not conducive to deer hunting.  There were high winds all day with a threat for heavy rain.  The weather ended up being only bad, not terrible.  Still, I probably heard less shooting on opening day than I had in years; the only year that I can recall that produced less gunfire was 2008, when there was an all-day constant cold rain.  I always hunt opening day, but I much prefer the quiet of later in the season - even if there is less deer movement.

I shot a buck on opening morning, around the time I started to get concerned about the predicted rain.  The real work of hunting starts after the shot - not before it.

The buck I shot was a pretty nice eight-point.  In most other years, I would have been ecstatic.  For the area I hunt, he was probably better than average.  But my 2016 deer was an absolute monster.  And a recent trip out West also resulted in a phenomenal bucket-list deer.  With time for reflection, it is sad how our expectations can get reset, even if only temporarily.  I fully realize that within a year or so, expectations will be returned back to normal - and I'll be thrilled with a doe and probably much later in the season.

Something else ended with the shot on that eight-point buck.  The fall scramble ended.  After a day spent processing the deer - gosh I am slow at that - I realized my time horizon has opened up considerably.  I had scheduled lots of vacation time for hunting, and I have too much vacation to burn before the end of the year.  But the fall scramble is over.  The fall scramble ended abruptly with the report of a .243 Winchester.  Cabin fever may be next.

It is Thanksgiving.  I took my dog for a long walk at first light.  Temperatures were significantly below freezing.  The wind was putting just a small bite in the air.  I heard gunfire off to the west - almost a certainty it was someone deer hunting.  It was the kind of morning that begs for hunting, if one has the right gear for it.  For now, the freezer is full of venison.  I am very thankful.  I am very fortunate.