Hunting For Answers

Saturday morning in some ways was like any other Saturday during deer season. I was up before the sun, and out the door early to get in the woods. I decided to hunt one of my favorite places, and I'm pretty sure I made this decision without consciously thinking about it. It's a treestand that two friends and I built on my grandparents' farm, back in the woods on a ridge overlooking a small creek and pond that my uncle built years ago. I haven't seen any deer from this stand this year, although I will say that I haven't hunted it much. However on this day, it wasn't really the deer I was hunting for, it was the peace that comes from being in the woods.

A Foggy Morning in the Stand

The news about the horrible tragedy in Newtown, CT was fresh in my mind that morning as I sat in the stand. As a teacher, I can only imagine what the students and staff must have went through, and although I'm not a parent yet myself, I can't begin to imagine how the parents of those children were affected. I went to the woods that morning in order to be alone with my thoughts, and just let nature provide some solace.

Fresh Rub on a Pine

Walking in that morning,  I flushed a flock of roosted turkeys along the path, and had to stop a minute and calm down after the initial shock. Once I made it to the stand, I spent the morning watching the squirrels running around and chasing each other, and discovered a freshly rubbed tree not far from the stand. I didn't see any deer, but that was ok. There is something about this place, whether it's the connections to my family or the memories of my childhood roaming these woods, that always seems to lift me up. I decided before I left that morning that deer or no deer I would be back there that afternoon.

Southern Flying Squirrel

Saturday afternoon, I was back in the stand, and made a discovery that added some excitement to the day. For several weeks, I had been hearing something scratching around in the roof of the stand, but I just assumed it was birds on the roof, or a little mouse in between the roof and tar paper ceiling. When I climbed into the stand, I heard something scratching around, so I tapped on the roof, and a flying squirrel sailed out and landed on the tree beside the stand. This was the first time in probably 15 years that I had seen one of these neat little creatures, the last time being not far from where I was Saturday. After it landed, the squirrel stayed stock still, doing its best tree bark impersonation. When I left at dark, it was still there. Once again, there were no deer, but I did something Saturday that I don't do nearly often enough. I just sat still, and took in everything around me.

Psalm 46:10 says, "Be still, and know that I am God; I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth." That's what I did on Saturday. I was still.

For everyone who was affected by the horrible tragedy at Sandy Hook Elementary on Friday, please know that my thoughts and prayers are with you. 

- Joseph

Patience Pays Off

First of all, I'm still here. I haven't forgotten that I (attempt) to write a blog, but the firearms deer season opened the Monday before Thanksgiving for us here in western NC, and I've spent all my spare time in a stand or ground blind the last two weeks. It's been a strange start to the season here, with some people saying they have been seeing lots of rut activity with bucks chasing does, and other people seeing little to no rut activity. I'm sure the strange temperature swings we have been having haven't helped. As I sit here writing this on December 3, it's 71 degrees outside and I'm in short sleeves. Several days ago we were having lows in the 20's, and highs in the 50's, which is closer to typical for this time of year. I'm sure the deer must be just as confused as I am right now!

Opening day of gun season had me chomping at the bit all day at work. As soon as the school day was over, I headed for the house to get ready and headed for a ground blind I had set up on a friend's farm about 5 minutes away from home. My brother-in-law Trent and I had been seeing a fair number of deer in this field during bow and muzzle loader seasons, and had several does and young bucks on our trail cameras. I was hunting the lower end of a fairly large field, not far from the tree stand where Trent had harvested his first deer last year, an 8 point buck, during bow season.

At this point, I should probably admit that I had only harvested one buck in my deer hunting career, a 3 point buck that was my first deer. I didn't start deer hunting until I was in high school, and it wasn't until I was a senior in college that I got my first deer. I think a lot of this was due to a lack of areas to hunt back then, or seeing does during buck only seasons. For whatever reason, it took me a while to finally get that first deer, but that deer ignited a passion for deer hunting. In the years since, I had passed on several young bucks, with the idea that I would take does for meat and let the little bucks grow. Here in North Carolina we are fortunate to have the opportunity to take 6 deer a year, (something that I have never done), but only two of those deer can be antlered bucks in my area of the state. I think this was another reason I passed a lot of small bucks, thinking I would "save" my tags for that big one that I was sure would come by the next minute, or hour, or day. Over the years, I have usually been lucky enough to take a deer or two each season, but that nice buck always eluded me.

My First Deer - Thanksgiving 2005

Going back to opening afternoon, I got in the ground blind around 4:00pm, and for the next hour or so I heard a few shots in the distance, but didn't see any deer. As it approached time for the sun to start going down, I noticed a deer had just stepped out of the woods into the edge of the field, about 50 yards from my blind. It had it's head down feeding, and I couldn't tell if it was a doe or buck because of the the way the field dropped off at the edge. About that time, the deer picked it's head up and I could tell it was a nice buck! I didn't give myself too much time to think about it, knowing that buck fever was sure to set in at any second. After the shot I couldn't see the deer, but I felt confident that I had made a clean shot. I got out of the blind as fast as possible and went to check. After about two steps, I could see my buck laying just over the little hill on the edge of the field. It was an 8 point buck with a symmetrical rack that was 16" wide.

My 8 point from this year

It's strange reflecting on this hunt, because this is by far my biggest deer to date, and probably the biggest buck I've seen while hunting. I know it's not a record book deer or one like you might see on a hunting show, but for me it is a definite trophy and the memories of this hunt will stick with me for a long time. Best of all, not only do I have the memories, but I have some wonderful, nutritious meat in the freezer, and a good supply of venison jerky, one of my absolute favorite foods.

After opening day and working Tuesday, I spent the rest of Thanksgiving break hunting, enjoying time with family, and freezing venison and making jerky. I can't think of a better way to spend a week than this. I've seen a few more deer since opening day, but so far this is the only tag I've filled this year. This week and next week are still buck-only, and our last week is either sex season again. I'm going to be out there as much as possible, just enjoying God's creation. The deer are a bonus, no matter how big their antlers are.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Joseph

Unfinished Business

After fishing a short time the other weekend at the local delayed harvest stream, and catching a few trout, I decided this past Saturday that one more trip up to the mountain was in order. Only having an hour or so last time to fish, I felt like I had some unfinished business with these trout. I also felt like I had more fishing to get out of my system before putting away the rods for a while to focus on deer hunting. I got a fairly early start, and arrived at the state park about 8:30 am. Since they don't open the gates until 8:00 am, I was a little surprised to find a few people out fishing already. It turns out they had camped the night before, so they were able to get an even earlier start on their day.

There were a bunch of trout in this pool

 My usual strategy when I'm trout fishing is to cover a fair amount of water, but this time was unusual because the pool I started fishing turned out to be where I stayed. There were people fishing both above and below me, far enough away that we all had room to fish, but it did limit the amount of stream that I could cover without getting out and hiking upstream. It turned out that this wouldn't be a problem because there was a pod of a couple dozen trout right in front of me. I started out the morning fishing a hare's ear bird's nest nymph, and my first few trout came on this.

Jacob Fork Rainbow

As the morning warmed up, I noticed some cream colored midges hatching, and lo and behold, trout started rising to them! This got me excited, and I quickly cut off the nymph and got out my fly box to tie on a dry fly. Of course, all my small midge flies were used up on my last trip to the Davidson River, and since I hadn't expected or even planned to do much trout fishing this late in the season, I hadn't tied any to replace them. I thought that since these fish were recently stocked, they might be fooled by a bigger dry fly. I tried fishing a few different patterns, but without success. Evidently these fish had already figured out that if it was twice the size of what they were eating, they needed to leave it alone.

Jacob Fork Brook Trout

Finally, after digging through my fly boxes, I found a couple of size 18 blue wing olive parachutes that I had tied. Since this was the smallest dry fly I had, I decided to give it a try. It turns out that it was close enough, at least for some of the trout. I got some refusal rises, but still managed to fool several nice rainbows and brookies. The trout seemed much more bunched up this time than they did the week before. I guess the trout had time to migrate to some of the bigger pools after the stockings the other week.

Jacob Fork Rainbow

I was glad that I had a chance to go back and give the trout another try. I would still like to get farther up in the mountains and fish for some wild trout one more time this fall, but I don't know if that's going to be in the cards. Either way, I was thankful for the opportunity to get out and do a little trout fishing and enjoy the fall weather. Willing trout rising to dry flies were just icing on the cake.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Joseph

A Brief Fishing Trip

I've written before about the many choices that I face as an outdoorsman in the fall, with hunting seasons and trout fishing vying for my attention. Most of the time, deer hunting trumps trout fishing for me because of the limited time that I have to hunt. However, on Saturday I decided to take a break from deer hunting, and head up to South Mountain State Park for an hour or two to do some trout fishing.

Jacob Fork

This decision was brought about due to several factors. One of the biggest was the fact that the last time I went fishing for anything was the middle of August. Another factor was the knowledge that the delayed harvest had just been stocked, so I felt sure there would be fish in the stream. I love getting way up in the mountains and fishing for wild trout, but when I have just a few hours on a Saturday afternoon it's hard to beat a 25 minute ride and willing fish. The final thing that cemented my decision to trout fish was finding out that the soybeans were being harvested on the farm where I do most of my bow hunting. I figured with this going on I would be better off fishing. All these thoughts were running through my head as if I needed a reason to go fishing, but to tell the truth it had just been too long since I had been on a stream or seen a trout.

Hooked Up on the Jacob Fork

Saturday turned out to be a great day to go fishing, as the temperature got up close to 70 degrees and the sun was shining. I talked my wife into coming along on the trip, and it's thanks to her that there are pictures to go along with this fishing report. She doesn't fish nearly as often as I do, but occasionally she accompanies me on a fishing trip. She was fishing with a spinning rod and single hook Roostertail spinner, and I was fly fishing. She did catch a nice brook trout, but unfortunately it got off before I could get to her to make a picture. She was the main photographer on the trip, and I didn't have a camera on me. Next time, I will make sure we both have a camera.

Jacob Fork Rainbow

We only fished about an hour, but I did manage two rainbows, one on a Triple Threat streamer, and the other on a two nymph rig. Being a dry fly optimist, I did try the tried and true Thunderhead a while, but no risers today. The water looked a little low, but there was still some nice deep pools and lots of trout. Our local TU chapter, Foothills TU, has helped with the delayed harvest stockings this year at South Mountain and the fish were spread out along the entire stream, rather than years past where they would be bunched up in one or two pools near the stocking points. I think this has really helped the fishing during the Delayed Harvest season at South Mountain, because almost any pool that is deep enough will have a few trout in it, and there are more places to fish along this sometimes crowded stretch of water.

Jacob Fork

It was a nice day to be enjoying the great outdoors, and I'm glad that my wife was able to come along and share the experience. I think I need to take these "breaks" from deer hunting more often, and just get out and enjoy fall in the mountains. It is a special time of year.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Joseph

Rambling Thoughts on Deer Season

It's been an interesting deer season so far for me. I've been hunting some, although not as much as I would like to. (Isn't that always the case!) I have enjoyed every minute that I've spent in the woods, but so far I'm still waiting for the main ingredient for venison jerky. I thought it might be fun to share some random thoughts about deer hunting I've had this season while sitting in a stand or blind.

Squirrel in the Soybeans

1. First of all, why is it that I am almost sure to see turkeys when I'm deer hunting and deer when I'm turkey hunting?

2. How does an animal as small as a squirrel make more noise coming through the woods than a 100 lb deer?

3. If you stare at an empty soybean field long enough, you can begin to see things that aren't really there.

4. Bushes, stumps, and other objects can magically appear to be deer, especially at twilight.

5. Never borrow a muzzleloader from someone and then take it hunting without shooting it first to check the scope.

6. If you do not follow number 5, be prepared to take two shots and then watch your deer leave the country without a scratch on it.

7. It's fun to walk by your hunting buddy's trail camera and make funny faces on the way to the stand.

8. Those nice bucks that appear on your trail camera in July and August will vanish exactly one day before the opening of archery season.

9. Raccoons must like having their picture taken by trail cameras.

10. Days when you're at work are sure to be the days your hunting partner will see deer.

11. No matter what happens, watching the sun come up over a bean field, or set in the woods as the owls start talking makes every minute spent hunting worth it.

12. There is no such thing as a bad day hunting, deer or no deer.

Good luck to all you hunters out there!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Joseph

OBN Photo Prompt: Fall Colors

Editor's Note: The credit for the pictures in this post goes to my wonderful wife, I was along for the trip but she was the photographer.

Over at the Outdoor Blogger Network they posted an outdoor photo prompt asking for a post showing fall colors. I thought this sounded like a good idea, so I decided to post up some fall pictures from a little further west than my neck of the woods. The Blue Ridge Parkway is one of my favorite places to visit, especially in the fall when the mountains really show off before winter arrives. I haven't been up to the parkway this year for a visit, although I did make it up to Boone, NC a few weekends ago. The colors were starting to really show, but sadly I didn't get a chance to make many pictures. I hope you enjoy some of the "greatest hits" (in my opinion) from the last few seasons on the parkway.

This is actually the spot where I proposed to my wife!

Looking Glass Falls

Looking Glass Rock

The view from Mt. Mitchell, the highest peak in the eastern U.S.

Travelling down the parkway

 I hope you enjoyed these as much as I do!

Thanks for stopping by!

- Joseph

Backyard Ramblings

As fall is getting into full swing here in North Carolina, I thought it would be a good time to reflect on the summer and share a few photos that I've been meaning to put up here on the blog for a while. I apologize for the lack of posts on here lately, a good bit of my time has been tied up working with the FFA chapter at school. I've really enjoyed it, but most of the activities don't really fit into the "outdoor" theme of this blog so I haven't done much writing. I have done a little deer hunting, but other than a debacle that occurred the last evening of muzzeloader season, there hasn't been much to write about. That particular day deserves its own post, if I can stand to write about it. In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this last look at summer.

I may have mentioned this in an earlier post, but my wife and I purchased my grandparents' house after we were married. When I was young, our yard was one of my favorite places. It always seemed to have more lightning bugs (or fireflies) than almost anywhere else. In the summer there were also June bugs, and I used to love looking for the nymph shucks of cicadas on the old oak trees. I remember calling them cicada skins as a child, and I used to have a fair sized collection by the end of summer most years.

This is a collection of pictures that my wife and I made in our yard this summer, and I think it helps remind me why as a child I didn't need 1000 acres of woods to entertain myself. I loved the woods, and still do, but I always seemed to find adventure just out the back door. Nature has always been fascinating to me. I hope you enjoy these pictures as much as I do. 

Cicada nymph shuck

Black snake in the garden

It seems like I spend a good bit of time in the woods or on the water, sometimes within a five minute drive from home, and sometimes several hours away. However, it always amazes me to see what I can find in my own yard. I wish I knew more about mushroom identification, if anybody recognizes any of these I would love to know what they are.

Thanks for stopping by!

- Joseph