Gun season opened late this year. The rut was done about two weeks ago. No reason for deer to be running around. Even so, you will never see a deer unless you go and sit, quietly, and listen to the sounds of the woods.

The mice had been in my stand, nibbling on hickory nuts.

The trumpeter swans have been out in force.

A few Sandhill Cranes lasted until the second day of the season, when the temperatures dropped and water began to freeze.

I didn’t have many birds at my feeder, and very few squirrels. Another year without a crop in the field has suppressed their local populations.

A pair of pileated woodpeckers eat the dried grapes off our fences. ‘Tis the season for jays and woodpeckers.

I saw a couple of deer moving in the brush. They would move a few steps and I’d see them. They’d stop and disappear. I never had a shot and they wandered off across the neighbor’s field.

To give you an idea how well prey animals can hide, there is a rabbit in the middle of this photo.

Around 1 PM I crawled out of my stand and went inside to warm up. Then back out, but I stayed on the ground. My knees can’t take sitting on the stool in my stand, so I looked for an alternate place on ground level. This is the ladder to my first stand. The basswood blew down several years ago, taking the platform with it.

It’s still a good spot to find signs that deer have passed by. A buck stopped and rubbed the velvet off his antlers at the base of the basswood. I was leaning against my ladder when I heard two shots and knew Michael had seen a deer.

As indeed he had.

Two deer. The first doe he shot through the lungs. She ran off and the second doe stepped out of the woods. He shot that one through the spine and it dropped in its tracks. I stroked this second one, admired its clean smell, and thanked it for its life. I got the Ranger and we brought them home and got them hung to cool.

Felix loved petting the deer. He’s the one who chants, “Shoot deer. Cut them up. Eat them!”

Imogen stayed inside and chased Zeke. She started crawling on Opening Day!

Michael skinned and quartered the deer the next day. We’ve been cutting them up ever since. (We did take time off for Thanksgiving.). I got the last bits of meat and fat separated today.

The fat is rendering. Michael will make soap from the tallow. My skin loves the soap he makes. Tomorrow we will grind burger. We will end up with about 45 pounds of venison in the freezer.

We had venison liver and onions to celebrate. The last of our cabbages stir fried with brown rice balanced the meal. “Shoot deer. Cut them up. Eat them.”