I was excited. The project was all but complete and the Clinic's Open House was behind us. I had been looking forward to spending an entire week hunting without any distractions for the past two months, and that much-anticipated time had finally arrived.
The way I saw it, I would spend a majority of my time perched in a chair in the midst of Mother Nature. Although hopeful to put a little meat in the freezer, I was most excited about the opportunity to kick back in a stand and watch the world pass me by.
Sure, I'd still have to crawl out of bed during the wee hours. Thought and strategy would go into outwitting a wary buck, and I would take all possible steps to go unnoticed by that keen sense of smell that whitetails so effectively use. But that was a far sight better than the grind I had grown accustomed to.
I could hardly sleep the night before. And in spite of only a couple of hours of sleep, I eagerly crawled out of bed with time to spare. I would be in the serenity of the forest soon.
Arriving at the location where I planned to park long before daylight, I savored the opportunity to prepare without any rush. I slowly donned my insulated bibs and blaze-orange jacket. Slipping my feet in rubber boots, I pulled a fleece beanie over my ears and shoved my ball cap In my pocket. Securing my rifle and grabbing a handful of ammo, I slowly pushed the truck door closed and was on my way.
I purposely chose to leave the flashlight behind. The break of day neared and my eyes had acclimated to the dark conditions and I could easily stay within the perimeters of the dim road. And if all went as planned, by the time I reached the trail leading to my stand, it would barely be light enough to see.
I reached the trail just as it grew light enough to distinguish where the path left the road. Veering left, I slowly began an ascent up the steep hillside in the direction of a faint silhouette of my distant stand.
Everything was going just as planned. I had hardly made a sound and was confident I had gone undetected. I was hardly a stone's throw from where I would settle in and remain still for a portion of the day.
I thought I had it made. But little did I know what was on the verge of transpiring within the next few feet. Unsuspectingly stepping in a stump hole, I had no chance of stopping my forward momentum. You got it. I quickly pointed the muzzle of my gun in a safe direction and went plummeting to the ground.
I've never claimed to be nimble, and this was certainly a noisy fall. Everything had been going so well, and in one small step I lost all hope of going undetected by anything within ear shot. But growing disgruntled would change nothing. So I simply pulled my foot from the hole, stood up, dusted myself off and continued to my stand.
Although the morning low had dipped below the freezing mark, I had obviously overdressed. I was beginning to sweat. Pulling my beanie from my head I slipped on my blaze orange ball cap and attempted to lay my fleece headwear on the window sill of my stand. But as luck would have it, it tumbled over the board and fell to the ground.
I suppose I could have simply picked it up upon calling it a day. But no, for some reason I felt compelled to get out of my stand and secure it immediately. Bending over to pick the garment up, I grew even more discouraged when a bottle of root beer fell from my pocket and quickly rolled down the steep hill.
I could have easily left the beanie alone. But that root beer was a totally different story. It was the only thing I had to drink, and I had no intentions of remaining in a stand for hours with a dry throat.
Eventually retrieving my beverage, I still managed to make it back to the stand just as the sky grew light enough that I could effectively see any potential movement in the distance. But movement was sparse. In fact, I saw nothing during the next couple of hours, other than a lone mouse scurrying across the trail.
To be honest, I eventually grew bored and convinced myself this was the perfect opportunity to catch a wink of sleep. Kicking back in my chair, I was aware that the morning had turned out far from what I had hoped for. But with a smile I also concluded that a bad day in the woods was still a far cry better than the daily grind.
Sports on 11/26/2017