Outdoor adventures: Some weeks are worse than others

When our hobbies are going well, there’s nothing better. Every cast is producing a fish. Every sit on stand produces an encounter. That’s the stuff dreams are made of.

But a lot of the time, the very opposite happens. You know you’ve been there. No matter what you do, something goes wrong.

I had one of those moments – scratch that – I had several of those moments this week. And since my shrink says it is good to talk about things, I just figured I’d share them with you.

Close your eyes and sink into the moment with me here. I’m nestled in an oak tree some 18 feet above the ground, watching the Rock River gently roll by. The birds are chirping, and there’s a gentle breeze pushing the crisp fall air.

My camera buddy, Jesse, is settled in a few feet above me with the camera mounted to the tree and ready to go.

Then like following a script, here come the deer. One, then another, then another and yet another appear from the tall grass plot over my left shoulder. Then the deep guttural sounds of a buck grunting as he follows the does.

I’m thinking, “Man, how perfect can this be?”

The buck, a small deer with a tiny nothing of a rack, is chasing these ladies like there’s no tomorrow. He continues to do this as we watch him run the does in circles to the point we almost get dizzy.

Finally, I decide I am going to shoot this one rather large doe for the meat and for the video – a win-win. I smoothly draw the bow and, as I do, I hear a “pop” from behind me.

Yep. There’s the monster. The one I had been waiting on. I know better, but I did it, anyway. I watch, as this big sucker wheels and disappears back into the tall grass and, wouldn’t you know, by time I recover from that, my heart starts beating again and I am ready to re-focus on the does.