Deer Season: Opening Day

 

Opening Day.  Photo by Jerry Apps

 

It’s opening day of deer season, and I, with a new handwarmer, some beef jerky in my pocket and my 30-30 Winchester lever-action deer rifle, I sit at the ready. The temperature is 17 degrees.  Thankfully there is no wind.  Not a whisper of wind.  The sky is clear.  I am ready.

 

I am sitting at the edge of a little field, where just a week ago I spotted a big deer leaping across where I am sitting.  Couldn’t tell if it was a buck.  Coming out of the pine plantation to the north and following a deer trail. Would I see a repeat?  I am ready.

 

Nothing.  Quiet.  An abundance of quiet, which I rather enjoy.  The sun is creeping over the trees to the east, warming my back.  My back needs warming.  

And then I see movement out of the corner of my eye.  It’s a squirrel, running, stopping to look at me, running some more.  Looking at me again.  And then it disappears.  Nothing else happening.  Surrounded by quiet.

 

Then I see it, a chick-a-dee.  It flies by and lands on a tree limb to my right.  Calling its name over and over again, “Chick-a-dee-dee,  Chick-a-dee-dee.”  Breaking the silence. Welcoming the morning.

 

I’m enjoying the solitude and the quiet.  No phone ringing.  No computer demanding my attention.  But where are the deer?  Are they on a different deer trail this morning?  Or are they hunkering down in some sunny place, enjoying the quiet of a frosty late-November morning?

 

At noon my son, Steve asks, “what did you see?”  My report, “one squirrel and one chick-a-dee.”  He smiles.

 

 

THE OLD TIMER SAYS: Sometimes solitude and quiet is enough reason for deer hunting.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS:

 

Tune in PBS Wisconsin on Thursday, December 3, 7:00 p.m. for a showing of “Farm Story With Jerry Apps.”

 

WHERE TO BUY MY BOOKS:

To Purchase my newest books, When the White Pine Was King,  and The Old Timer Says: A Writing Journal, go to your local bookstore, order online from bookshop.org, or from the Friends of the Patterson Memorial Library in Wild Rose—a fundraiser for them. Phone: 920-622-3835 for prices and ordering.
Patterson Memorial Library
500 Division Street
Wild Rose, WI 54984
barnard@wildroselibrary.
www.wildroselibrary.org

If you live in the western part of the state, stop at Ruth’s home town, Westby and visit Dregne’s. Say hello to Jana and Dave, and look at their great selection of my books, including my news  ones, or order a book by calling them at 1-877-634-4414. They will be happy to help you.