By Rick Bramwell
Monday was the coldest day on that date in 75 years. With snow on the ground, it was a good time to look for deer tracks.
The breezy northeast wind soon had my attention. It was pushing me along. I would have to face it on the way back.
My thinking was that the cold weather would trigger some rut (breeding) activity. Two of a deer hunter’s biggest enemies are temperatures above 60 and strong winds.
For the first time in years, I’ve been seeing deer on and around my five acres. Maybe it’s because I no longer have a beagle out behind the barn chasing rabbits.
There are two cornfields adjacent to my property. Both were picked last week, and before the harvest was complete, deer showed up grazing on the corn the combine had missed. There is a big buck in the area. I saw him six weeks ago.
After watching the exciting IU vs Penn State football game, I went deer hunting on my property. Wouldn’t it be ironic that after driving 100 miles to hunt, I kill one in my backyard?
I sat under a tree along the fencerow facing the cornfield and a long and wide fencerow that borders the field. I had seen two deer come down that strip of cover the evening before.
I was looking in every direction except towards my house.
Books and cell phones have cost me and others a lot of deer, yet I never seem to learn. A doe was coming down my fencerow. She saw my hand move on my cell phone and snorted.
She came from near where I parked my truck. Deer usually don’t associate farm machinery and vehicles with danger. I probably would not have shot her, but the buck could have been behind her.
Back to my cold walk down a long lane. When I got to the two-acre woods, I saw what looked like one set of tracks covered with snow. This deer must have hit the cover before daylight.
I had hoped to see some rutting activity, but the weather was not to their liking, or I was in the wrong spot.
I went back into the field again on Tuesday, but I didn’t see a deer. Turns out the weather was not to my liking either. It could be the suddenness of the temperature drop along with the wind chill. Age could also be a factor; I’m 81.
Firearms season opens this Saturday. Ironically, the weather will be plenty warm with temperatures near 70.
I did not harvest a deer last year, and they are in abundance where I’ve been hunting this year. I may take two does, and hopefully, a big buck.
It is more about the hunt than the harvest. I’ve often passed on deer early, thinking there will be more chances, only to end the season venisonless.
Just as this cold front was arriving, I saw my first flight of snow flies. Conversely, on November 5, I observed about 30 honeybees drawing the sweet juice from three pears on the ground. I took the unblemished one and left the other two for the bees.
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