Mighty Hunter Experience

Deer season week 2: It got much colder, below the freezing point. The ground and trees were covered with snow. A lot more like normal deer hunting season.
Today, Sunday, Joe decided to sleep in and go out in the afternoon. He'd seen lots more deer signs later in a day. I also went along, as you might have guessed, to take my afternoon nap in the woods. In the daylight Joe could see quite a few deer tracks on the fresh snow. A very good sign.

The woods this afternoon looked very pretty. Magical and very, very quiet. There were hardly any birds. I soon laid on the ground and took a nap. Luckily I didn't miss anything. When I woke and sat up in my chair, nothing had changed, except it was getting close to dusk. Just past 5pm the sky started to turn pink from the sunset. We both were feeling pretty lucky about seeing the sunset, when I heard Joe whisper  "There he is."

The deer showed its antlers, so Joe decided to take a shot at him. I couldn't believe that I got to be there when the great mighty hunter was in action!! Well, this was only the beginning. At 5:15pm. Joe had to track him in the woods, and I got to witness and carry a flashlight in the dark. What I could see of the towering trees, lit by my flashlight, was amazingly beautiful. I admit it was a bit spooky to hear the trees cracking and... the total dark silence. Joe's buck took us through quite an adventure. He wasn't bleeding a lot externally, which made it hard to track him. I still have a clear mental picture of his final resting spot. A little open area in the woods, just at the foot of a large tree. Like a shrine in the woods.

After all the dragging, what I thought was endless dragging for Joe, we finally reached our truck at 8pm. Phew. I now have a lot more respect for a mighty hunter. All the work and effort that go into it. Yes, you can say he is CRAZY. A lot more crazier than I thought! Needless to say, we both had a good day hunting. Joe got a 6-pointer; and I had my afternoon nap and a great hunting experience.