The Hunt

The first weekend of hunting season is behind us. Without a doubt, this has been a weekend to remember. For several days last week, right up through Saturday, the weather had been exceptionally warm for this time of year. Personally, I loved it! The warm weather came with scattered showers; but the rain never lasted too long and the drizzle wasn't too bad. Saturday was one of those warm drizzly days. Honey & his Dad left for the woods late in the afternoon and got home right after dark. They were pumped up at the prospect of their hunt yesterday. There were plans of getting up at 4:30 and being in the woods behind the house by 6:30 when the first rays of light arrive.

As I've described before, there's about 100 acres or so of forest that border our land on three sides. Our place is literally cut into the side of the mountain and at the edge of our back yard the terrain starts sloping almost straight up. The strategy was that Honey would go up the south-side and wait for his Dad at the top; his Dad wasn't going to going to arrive until around 8:00, so he would park along the highway on the north side and work his way toward the meeting area. They were both pleased with the plan, and together they would end up canvasing most of the mountain top.

At 4:30am the weather was comfortably warm and Honey was feeling really positive about the hunt. By the time he was ready to walk out the door, he resembled a cross between Grizzly Adams & Rambo. We prayed together for their safety and he was gone. He wasn't out the door but a few minutes when the wind hit. With the wind came a really ugly cold front. Within the hour, the temperature dropped more than 30 degrees. High winds aren't common around here, and was going to add to the challenge of their hunt.

While Honey was waiting at the designated meeting spot, he spied one of those wildlife cameras fastened to a tree with a doe standing behind the tree watching him. In a few moments the man who owned the camera approached and they got to talking. Apparently just a couple of days before, the camera took images of our resident bear(s). The hunter said the bear(s) looked to be about 400 pounds. I say bear(s) because there were images taken about 30 minutes apart and he didn't think the first bear had circled around for another pass by the camera's area. This news gave Honey some concern. He didn't think our resident bear was anywhere near that big. One thought that crossed my mind was if Honey & his Dad actually do kill a buck ... where are we going to hang it without the bear coming after the fresh kill? This will call for some creative thinking when the time comes.

All in all, the day was a test of endurance. (while they were gone yesterday afternoon, the power went out at the cabin.) They came back just as it was getting dark and began to set up the generator when the power was restored. They were tired & sore ~ but pleased with their day. It reminded me of the old song by Cat Stevens. The one where the father was busy working when his son wanted to spend time with him. Then as the father grew older, the son was too busy working. Watching the two men together telling their "hunting stories" and laughing reminded me that this is what it's all about.

After being down with a cold for the past week, I'm behind on my work, so have a wonderful day ~ and may the Lord bless you.