Deer Hunting, Week II

My nephew and I teamed up in the deer stand on Saturday night, but no deer appeared for us to shoot.

By Allan Olson

Last week was a crazy, whirlwind week, with lots of activities all jam-packed into a few short days, and I was really feeling it by Saturday morning in the deer stand.

Between deer season and the change back from Daylight Savings Time (DST) to Standard Time, my sleep schedule has been messed up all week. I have been waking up around 4:30 a.m. – on non-hunting days! – and it sucks. I really do enjoy hunting; it’s the one time of year when all my brothers, my dad, my uncle and now my son and niece and nephew all head out to do the same thing – sit in our stands and wait for deer to walk by.

Unfortunately, it has also messed up my sleep schedule. The first day of hunting we woke up at about 5:30 p.m. The next day it was about an hour earlier due to the end of DST, and on Tuesday and Wednesday I found myself waking up far before my normal end-of-slumber time. I was back at my parents for hunting again on Friday, Saturday and Sunday, and I found myself waking up every time I heard someone else up, thinking my dad was going to come in and say “There’s daylight in the swamp, it’s time to get up!” On Friday night I set my alarm for 4:15 a.m., thinking that’s when we were getting up. I woke up at 4 a.m. and decided to shut my alarm off and just wait for someone to start moving in the kitchen before I got up. Forty-five minutes later I heard my dad in the kitchen and I got up to make breakfast for the hunters. By 7:15 a.m. I was ready to fall asleep in my stand, but I couldn’t get comfortable, so no deer-stand-napping for me.

Nikolai and I got up there at about 10 a.m. on Friday. We unloaded the vehicle and I decided I was going to get dressed and go sit on a stand somewhere. Nikolai decided he wasn’t going to hunt until the evening, so he went to help Grandpa cut up some meat. I was still pulling my outdoor gear on when my brother informed me that his daughter had shot at a deer. I let my dad know, and the next thing I knew, they were both getting gear on to go out to help look for any signs. 

I went to a nearby stand while they went to walk. I heard another round go off and was hoping that was a kill shot for my niece’s first deer. However, I learned that instead she had fired at yet another deer – and then it happened one more time. She fired three shots at three different deer in 30 minutes. Her lead left hair on the first two and some drops of blood on the third one – but apparently hit nothing vital as we spent a long time searching Friday afternoon and again Saturday morning, but had no luck finding downed deer.

So again we compute the time change, the early waking time, the hours walking in the fresh air, and it all left me exhausted and going to bed earlier. And that just resulted in me waking up more during the night. Although I must say my older brother seems to get even more tired – he often falls asleep in a living room chair while others are sitting around. A dangerous proposition, as it usually results in pranks by me – most of which he sleeps through, making it even more amusing. I’m sure my day will come.

As for my hunting progress, the only deer I saw between Friday afternoon and Sunday morning were all on the road – and all but the nice buck my mom nearly hit with her car on Friday north of Waskish were fawns. 

On Saturday evening I sat on stand with my nephew hoping that maybe I could help him take down a deer since he has yet to get one while hunting with his dad and Grandpa, although he has shot at deer with each of them. Unfortunately, we didn’t see anything to shoot at. The last deer shot in our hunting party was on Monday evening, and we still have three tags to fill. We have harvested six whitetails, which is one better than last year.

The highlight for me this year is, of course, hunting with Nikolai. He’s willing to help with all facets of the hunt and still wants to learn. He has proved himself to be a good shot on the deer stand, taking five deer in four years of hunting. He wasn’t upset last year when we were both skunked, he understood that it happens. He’s always willing to go help cut meat and clean up when asked. Next year, I need him to work on developing patience – waiting for that bigger target – rather than popping the first little one that sticks its neck out of the brush, and I’m going to have him help with one meal.  

This year is the last year I will be hunting in my stand alone for any length of time for probably several years, as I plan to take Marcus hunting next year, and possibly Alivia, too, after that. Abigail is still uncertain if she wants to hunt; she loves venison, but hates the cold. I hope they all want to join in the hunt with me, but if they choose to enjoy the food but not the hunt, that’s okay.

We left the hunting camp by 9 a.m. on Sunday and headed for home so we could join Alivia’s 10th birthday party. It was a big sewing party for a bunch of young girls, all planned and hosted by wife. My job was the cleanup afterwards – easy peasy compared to her job.

This coming weekend, our plans are really uncertain right now. Did I mention that I’m tired? Well, part of that is also from all the running we’ve been doing. Either my wife or I (or both) have been running every weekend since the first weekend of October, and it takes a toll. I’m the first to admit I hate to sit still, but this is possibly a little much. I really wouldn’t mind going hunting again, especially if my niece and nephew still haven’t tagged their deer yet. I would sit with either of them if needed. But I wouldn’t mind just sitting at home and reading one of the five books I have waiting to get completed either.

Please remember to watch out for the buses that will be carrying our most precious cargo. Also, snap a photo or two to preserve a lifetime of memories. Thanks for reading, and have a great week! Feel free to drop me a line at cltimes1@arvig.net or stop by the office for a visit