Today hunting-deer-with-guns season opened. Four of us climbed into various stands and we sat quietly, waiting for the sun to rise at 7:13 AM. Hunting becomes legal a half hour before sunrise and lasts to a half hour after sunset. There are sufficient deer in this area so that we all are authorized to take one buck and two does.

I listen for sound in low light. The first to awake were the squirrels, the grays then the reds. The birds arrived at the feeder precisely at dawn. Jays, chickadees, woodpeckers (Red Headed, Downey and Ladder Backs), and nuthatches.

We were not overly confident that we would find any deer, as our field holds few soy beans. Our renter planted his beans after the early rains. Then the June-July drought prevented the seed from sprouting in a timely manner. The weeds outgrew the beans once we did get rain in August. This means there is little on our land to attract deer. We are not alone in this dilemma. The shots fired this morning were few and far between.

Despite our misgivings, my son in law shot a young buck at 9:30 AM.

A large doe walked in from the field, heading toward the tamarack swamp. I heard her before I saw her. She stopped when I moved my rifle.

She died at 10:30 AM. It took me about a half hour to field dress her. “Field dressing” means taking out the viscera, which accounts for about one third of a deer’s weight. Removing the innards not only allows the carcass to cool faster, reducing the chances of spoilage, but also makes the deer easier to haul home.

I helped Michael wrangle her into the trailer. We get to use the lawn tractor! We are due to hit 53° today. It was this warm about 20 years ago, the year I started hunting.

Here’s to you, Miss Doe! Thank you for coming to feed my family this winter. We will appreciate your nourishment of our bodies and our souls.

We are not the only hunters here.

Deer are not the only targets of our attention. I have learned to be aware of patterns, differentiating between the rustle a squirrel makes from a deer’s footfall. The time and habit of an oyster mushroom or a blewit call to me as I bend to pick up ditch trash. I find plants and berries worthy of dinner walking in urban spaces. My friends become used to my bending to pick up random items as we walk along. It is important not only to go to a place, but to be in that place and learn from it. I am forever hunting; I am forever finding fortune