LAST UPDATED: May 8th, 2015
With a slight southeast wind blowing at our face, and the gentle humming of Wisconsin’s unofficial state bird, the mosquito, in my ear and temperatures in the eighties could only mean one thing…the opening day of the Wisconsin archery season was upon us. Chad and I were set up in our stands hours before sunset. Sitting patiently, listing to the music of falling acorns and safely in our trees with the help of the Hunters Safety System, it was just a matter of waiting till closer to dark before the woods would come alive with deer.
Through extensive scouting in the off-season we knew that we were going to have a great acorn crop this year on this particular property. Acorns to deer are like Chocolate to a kid. With the right wind to hunt our “acorn” stand, I knew that it was a no questions asked sit. It was just a matter of time until the deer came out to feed.
Approximately 45 minutes before dark we had our first deer movement of the 2009 season. Two fawns came running up the trail and stopped rite under our stands. Soon the woods came alive. We could hear deer moving through the thick leafy foliage, and one by one they came filtering past our stands, making a four-hour sit feel like a half hour. Though we didn’t see any bucks the first night, it was far beyond a successful night, it was a cleansing of the mind, stress reduction, and recharging of the batteries.
The next morning didn’t disappoint us either. Sunday morning brought us cooler temperatures in the 60’s. We keyed in on deer feeding on acorns and moving back to bed down in the buckthorn thickets shortly after daylight. With a large amount of acorns falling we knew the deer would be feeding on the fresh crop well before daylight. We didn’t want to bump the deer, so we had a pre-hung set of stands knocking on the deer’s bedroom door.
Shortly I spotted a doe and two fawns crossing the logging road that we were sitting on. Less than an hour latter I heard the tell tale sound of a twig breaking (I’m still amazed to this day how one breaking of a twig can get the heart pounding). Soon several does and a small buck came into view. At fifteen yards away I opted to pass on harvesting any of the deer and just became a mere observer of nature’s story.
With the opening weekend under our belts it was definitely a successful one. You don’t have to draw your bow or see a buck for it to be a successful day in the woods, just merely sitting back and watching natures story book unfold a true story for me was more than enough for me to walk out of the woods with a grin stretching from ear to ear.
