Deer Hunting

So, why am I blogging about football when I'm in the north country to hunt deer?

When I left headed to the Bolt Hole it was to take advantage of the fresh snow on the ground to locate another buck. I wasn't disappointed by the snow. It was still on the ground and remains there even though we have had some clear, sunny days. Temperatures in the low thirties during the day and as low as 15 at daybreak will do that. Unfortunately, those really cold mornings made walking in the woods like treading on cornflakes. Every step produced a crunch that you would swear could be heard 10 miles away.

As for fresh tracks, yeah there are some of those. There are also lots of tracks from Wednesday's snowfall and there really hasn't been any fresh flurries to help delineate the old from the new.

Mark and I have been working as a team--although he has been doing most of the work. He says he likes going into what he calls "Rambo mode" and traipsing through the woods. So I've been picking a spot that offers some viewing in a particular area and he has gone walking with the intention of trying to spook a deer my way or, if he can get close enough, get a shot off himself. The results have been a little disheartening. While he has spooked up some deer, they have either been too far away for him to get a shot (blame the crunching snow), in thick hemlock groves where he had limited sight lines, or heading in a direction away from me as well. Sometimes all three have occurred on the same walk.

Me? I haven't seen any of the deer he keeps telling me via radio that he has kicked up. (Actually, there weren't that many.) Personally, I think he's hired an army of little people walking on stilts that have cloven hooves on the end to make the tracks we've seen in the snow. That or the Jersey Devil has relocated north. Hey, it could happen. Lots of people are leaving New Jersey.

I guess that's why they call it "hunting" and not "killing".

Despite my limited walking (compared to Mark) my feet are killing me. I don't know if it's bone bruises, spurs or plantar fascia but something is really hurting in both of my heels and gel pads and inserts aren't helping any. If I wake up tomorrow feeling as badly as I do now, I'll be out of here by noon. Which might not be a bad thing anyway since the weather wizards are predicting some freezing rain for tomorrow night.