Deer Hunting

I spent the afternoon in my deer stand today, at tree-top level in a young pine plantation. It's thick in there, by God, so thick that it is hard to see fifteen yards. The stand at that location is a fifteen foot tripod stand that I picked up from another hunter who didn't want to move it.



You can click on the picture for a larger image. This view is from the stand, looking toward the east. My shooting lane is the track you see heading away from you.

Here is the view to the west.



No, I didn't see any deer. I did get to watch wrens working the top of the trees and robins working the understory. Just before dark I watched robins by the hundreds pour from the forest floor and form a large flying flock. In the space of three minutes, I saw all the robins take wing, form up, and fly off toward the southeast. They must have been going to a roost site.

I also heard a coyote make a rabbit kill, and heard the steady thump-thump-thump of an engine powering a pumpjack. Our deer lease is in the middle of a working oil field. Many of the wells are run by electric motors, but I heard one motor rythmically thumping away.

It was a great way to spend a Saturday afternoon.