Opening the archery deer season

Hi all; original post by cell phone fromHickory Ridge. Woods are pretty; seeing no deer but much squirrel activity.

It was a pretty morning for opening day of the archery deer season. The skies were blue and the winds calm. Nephew and his friend who came to hunt said they had been through some dense fog. No fog here though, and no dew; it was dry and noisy to walk. I had little choice, though; I had done no pre-season scouting. I got impatient on my hastily- chosen stand, breakfasted on GORP and came out of the woods about 9 am, having seen lots of squirrels and no deer. I planted some mustard greens near the cabin, in the area I had tilled yesterday… more dependable to grow, rather than hunt for food. By 10:30, it was already hot. In my rounds, I couldn’t find evidence of what the deer were feeding on and I saw no heavily traveled trails. I was noticing the timber stand as I went, too. There are many poor trees and snags that need to be thinned so the younger stuff can come on. It’s too hot now… maybe as it cools down. I was pleased to find that I can now get a cell phone signal from the top of Hickory ridge. I was even able to post to my blog and tell the world that I am safe, if not very successful. I noted that I had seen no armadillos or evidence of their digging. That is mighty unusual for this time of year. And no mosquitoes, ticks, or gnats, either. I won’t complain about their absence. After a mid- day rest at the cabin, I slipped back to the woods. I checked around the scattered French mulberry, but the deer didn’t seem to be nipping at that. I still wasn’t finding obvious feeding areas, but located some possible watering spots. A couple of times, I heard deer move out ahead of me. The second morning started cooler and warmed quickly. I continued scouting and found most deer sign along the creeks. It’s very dry in the woods, and they have to go to water; so I should hunt along trails to water. As I worked my way back toward camp, I saw a deer on the creek bank. Unfortunately, it saw me first and dashed away, waving that white flag.