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 When you hear the phrase "the first day" it brings different things to mind. Your first day of school or college, your first day at a new job, maybe the first day of a long awaited and well deserved vacation. This phrase can stir every emotion you have; happy, scared and even intimidation. Nevertheless, it's a feeling you won't forget and yet one you can't relive."The first day" to me brings a different experience to mind. The first day of Deer Season! Hunting season's coup de gracie'. This day compares to the greatest present under the Christmas tree, one you wait for all year hoping it will be all you dreamed it would be. The first day for me is an exhausting journey. The wait alone is enough to kill you. I start early in the year shooting tournaments to keep my back muscles is shape, and judging yardage on everything my eyes come in contact with. July and August begin the scouting tactics, perfecting tree stand location, clearing shooting lanes, tuning the Muzzy's, and making sure my Mathews Ultra 2 is as quiet as possible. Of course a trip to the woods during late summer would not be the same without mosquitoes the size of B-52 bombers, chiggers, poison ivy and a week of itching so intense you wonder if you will have any skin left for the next trip afield. Just thinking of the first day sends my heart in to palpitation and my hands get sweaty. By August, I'm on the weekly mission to the secret haven to make sure all is well, then the finally preparations begin. My basement looks like a tactical room for a marine sniper, Real Tree Camo, Mathews Bows, Carbon Express Arrows, walkie talkies, flashlights, Wildlife Research Center Scent Lures, Quaker Boy Game Calls grunt, the list goes on for days. Then there is the matter of scent elimination. Yes, all camo and gear was washed and treated to be completely with Wildlife Research Center Scent Killer, to be scentfree at the end of the season last year. It is all taken out again and rewashed and retreated just in case something was not quite air tight. I don't believe in taking chances. When all is said and done, the blessed day finally arrives. The first day of deer season. There is no sleep the night before for fear of not hearing the alarm clock, not that the excitement and the knot in your stomach has anything to do with it. 4:30 AM the alarm clock does its job and it's up and in the shower to be scent free from head to foot. Dressed and ready, I grab the gear I so carefully packed the night before, still I run the list one more time. Flashlight, bow, release, arrows in quiver, arm guard, head net, gloves, back pack, a quick cup of coffee and I'm off to the honey hole where I'll spend the day. When the day wakes up around me, the Canadian Geese honk over head making their way to their winter home, I know I have finally reached my destination. I stay at the ready in hopes the monster buck I have scouted for months will give me that one chance all hunters live for. "The first day"...no words can explain it. It's a feeling deep within that sings to you its song all year. The greatest thing is that it is a day you can relive year after year. The feeling never goes away. For those of you that have been asked over and over by your wife, husband, girlfriend, boyfriend or children to be a part of your hunting adventures... take a chance. You might end up with not only the best hunting buddy you have ever had, but it will be another way for you to relive the "first day" through some else's eyes. |
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