Opening Day

It was a nice crisp late fall morning with a stiff breeze from the SSW. But this year on opening morning of deer season I was in a tree stand and not in the combine (like last year). At about 7:00 a Doe walked past out in the grassy field in front of me. I decided to pass on taking a shot. But then she turned into the timber and walked at an angle right towards me. I decided she would be meat for the winter.
I rested in the truck until the other hunters came out of their stands at about 8:30 and we delivered the deer to the locker.
I went back out in the afternoon just to sit in a stand and enjoy the day. I do have another permit, but will only use it for a trophy buck or if the boys don't get anything. About 4:00, a doe and two fawns came browsing through the area near my stand. They would nibble on twigs here, then reach for some green leaves over there, and then search through the dry leaves on the ground and munch on acorns. All the while Momma would be alert for danger, eyes always scanning and radar ears tuned in to the sounds of the woods. I watched them for a half an hour until they were out of sight, blending into the woods. A while later a fawn came through from the other direction. Fifteen minutes later Momma came, bleating for her wayward child. There was a pair of squirrels that spent most of the afternoon chasing each other around through the dry leaves, making an awful racket. As dusk came, a couple of raccoons started making their rounds. I climbed out of the stand and started walking through the pasture to the lane and saw several deer in the fields silhouetted against the sky with the dark red/purple sunset as a backdrop.
I love the woods. It was a good day to be out in them.

Our credit card security division called because they caught some odd transactions coming through on our account. Someone got hold of our account number and was making charges in Fresno, CA yesterday. We immediately closed the account, so now we are without our VISA card until we can get a new card next week. The old farmer had to call his wife, who was in the middle of a shopping trip, and tell her she could no longer use the card. Perhaps this saved me some money! I imagine they phished the number off of some Internet transaction. Its amazing how quickly security caught the problem, and how much they know about our spending habits.

The slothful man roasteth not that which he took in hunting: but the substance of a diligent man is precious.
Proverbs 12:27