More deer hunting and a bit of fishing

I still haven’t caught up with that big buck I saw a few weeks ago, so I was back there Sunday evening. Sitting on a hill side, waiting for him again, the weather was certainly pleasant: cool, blue skies, a slight breeze. The squirrels were bounding through the treetops and the birds and chipmunks were scratching in the leaf- litter. The deer are becoming harder to find; hunting pressure, ATV riding, and several baited spots in the woods are keeping the deer hidden during daylight hours. That’s something new; in the past, the deer didn’t seem to become nocturnal until gun season started.
Just as last light was fading, two deer crossed to my side of Panther Creek, but at an angle away from my position. One must have seen me raise up and it snorted… end of hunt; I picked up my gear and headed out for supper.

I had to be back in town for my flu shot Monday morning, so I arranged for fishing in the afternoon. I took Buddy who’s been anxious to get outdoors. He has developed COPD and has some difficulty with getting around. He’s huffing and puffing and short of breath. They have started him on oxygen, as needed, and for sleeping. So we packed up the canoe, tackle, and oxygen tank, and went to the Blackwater Conservation Area. There is a nice lake there, that I have talked about in previous posts. We fought the wind for a while and had several strikes from brim, but caught nothing. Near sunset, the wind lay. We saw some fish activity in the shallows and I started casting a bass popper. I caught one small bass, our only fish that afternoon. A pretty, red sun was setting across the lake as we packed up and headed home. Buddy was about played out, but we had a nice outing, and I was glad we could share it.