My hunting Experience

No that’s not a ninja in a tree…that is me. And I’d like to know why is it we have beautiful and unusually warm weather for most of this wonderful fall season, and the weekend I decide to go hunting, it drops below freezing and snows? 

But on to my story….

The kids were all tucked in snuggly at my parents house, so Trevor and I got up before the sun, on Friday morning, in hopes to catch our own “black friday” deals.   Only instead of fighting over worthless stuff at stores filled with crazy, disrespectful people, we bundled up like Eskimos and headed to the woods.  Boy was it cold.  I was very thankful for my warm hat, face mask, several layers of clothing and warm coat.  On the way to our destination, I asked Trevor if he had grabbed the camp chairs. 

“uh…oops.” 

Great…I guess I’ll have to get in a stand.  To most people this would not be a problem.  But you see, I have a small problem with heights.  It comes and goes, depending on where I am and how high up I am, but the thought of getting into a tree was not a pleasant one.  We met up with my brother and dad, who were hunting in the same area, and dad offered me a chair.  Apparently he carries on in his truck, just in case he needs it.  We took the chair and off we went, all going our seperate ways, and on to our said spots.  We arrived at a “family stand” that my brothers and dad have used for years. 

“Uh…you want me to go up in that thing?”

“Yes.  You’ll be fine.” 

It was nothing more then a home made ladder, nailed to a tree, and a homemade stand about 10 feet up.  The stand consisted of a board with a seat nailed to it.  Oh boy…this was gonna be fun.  So taking a deap breath, and with Trevor watching over me very carefully, I started climbing.  (looks like hunting on the ground was out of the question) It was still a bit dark, but the moon was mostly full, so it shed enough light that I was able to see where to put my feet, as I made my way up the tree.  Once at the top, I found the safety harness, which  was frozen solid.  Great.  That took a bit of “unthawing” before I could actually attach it around my waist, but Trevor climbed up behind me, and was able to help me out. 

After getting me all settled in my stand, Trevor climbs up a tree a few feet away, gets all settled in himself, and then the wait began.  I was fairly warm and toasty for the first hour or so but then my toes started to freeze.  Even tho I had on 2 pair of (normally) very warm socks, and my snow boots, my feet and toes froze to the point that I thought I was loosing feeling in them.  I tried adding toe warmers and later hand warmers, but nether one of those things worked.  Bummer.  By 10:00 I didn’t know if I could stand the cold any longer.  We had a good ole time watching the squirrals, woodpeckers and other birds, but never did see any deer.  I finally told Trevor that I had to get down and move around, or I wouldn’t be able to walk.  I was that cold.  The sun had risen long ago, but when you’re up a tree and its only 30* outside, the sun might as well be gone. 

It seemed to take me forever before I finally got warm again.  But now that I’m back home and warm once again, I think I’d go hunting again in a heartbeat.