Dave Beck

You know how when you talk about something you jinx it so that it happens? Well, I need that something to happen in a big way. That’s how desperate I am to get on the other side if this…..thing.

I haven’t bow hunted yet, not one time. That has to be some sort of record for me. For the last three weeks I have been spending an afternoon here and a morning there getting ready for the deer archery season. The first action plan item was to move some trail cameras around and into better positions. Cameras never influence my decision to hunt but it sure does help to develop an inventory on what is roaming around in the woods.

Next on the list was to move a permanent blind. Now that sounds like one of those oxy-morons but the reality is that as crops and seasonal harvests change the landscape, so do the hunting spots. Moving blinds a short distance isn’t that big of a deal but it is a necessary chore. Then again, doing prep work for a hunting spot isn’t really a chore, it’s just all part of a fun process.

Then it was on to the ladder stands that needed to be tightened up and given a once over before the first hunts of the year. When springtime arrives it’s routine to loosen the straps to allow the trees to grow as opposed to letting the straps choke the life out of the trees. Those trees that have been selected because of their location and their value as a good tree to hunt out of. If you have ever lost a hunting tree because it died, it almost feels like you have lost a special friend. Seriously, ask anyone who has experienced it. For that very reason it’s a must to loosen those straps before the next growing season.

A task that goes hand in hand with tightening the straps is brushing out the stands. It requires a delicate balance between leaving enough of branches and enough of the leaves for cover but also removing enough to provide accurate shooting lanes. While you’re trimming lanes it’s easy to let your mind’s eye picture that Booner walking exactly where you want him to walk. They always walk right where they should in your head.

All that is left to do is the shooting but the reason I haven’t hunted yet is because of the darn black gnats. I have a love/hate relationship with those gnats. I hate them because they love me to the point that I have some sort of allergic reaction. Honestly, I swell up and the bites get infected. The agony lasts for days. The bugs are a biproduct of the warm temperatures and that’s the real reason I haven’t been in a tree stand yet. So having said all that, I sure hope that some cooler weather arrives soon. 

*Now go back and re-read the first paragraph again. 

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