Deer Season is Nigh

Thursday, November 7, 2013
I spent a good chunk of my life dreading November. It's just so very dark, glum, and lifeless. But in recent years, I've felt November sneaking into my good graces. It tends to be the last month before winter settles in when driving to town can be done with absolutely no thought or gnashing of teeth, which in and of itself elevates the month pretty considerably in my opinion. It's also a month when we have a chance to return to ourselves. There's time to read a chapter of a book over lunch, to bake bars for a community fundraiser, or just bake something because it'll make the cabin smell nice and you're finally done with the manic push of trying to put up all of the garden produce. 

November's also contains the firearms deer season in Minnesota, which during my childhood just meant we couldn't walk our dog in the woods behind our house but now brings both excitement and suspense. Just yesterday I received an email from one of my editors with the subject line, "Now you have to kill something." I had twinge of horror before I opened the email that he wanted me to shot a deer this season and write an article about the experience, but the email just contained a link to an article about the reopening of a noted tannery. Still, the fact people know I'm interested what to do with deer hides shows just how much my life and priorities have shifted in the six Novembers I've spent with Andy.   
Also, I'm not sure why I always dismissed November as "ugly." Just look at those lovely rosehips. Sure the world's freezing up and it's dark as heck by the time Andy get home, but I also get to see more of my significant other this time of year because Andy takes a bit of vacation time during deer season. 
We haven't spent as much time this autumn tromping through the woods looking for deer sign as we have in the past, so it's hard to say what the season (which starts on Saturday) will bring. Despite numerous after dark drives through the neighborhood, we've seen just spotted just one deer on these now rather infamous "deer drives." The trail cam however proves there are deer out there and with deer season starting a week later this year, there's a higher chance there will be some snow on the ground which makes tracking easier, or so I'm told.  
The cabin has yet to be fully transformed into deer camp, but there's a new pair of insulated camouflage water boots by the door now. Tomorrow the deer stand will go up in some as yet to be determined location and soon the pleasantly scented soap in the shower will be temporarily replaced by "Scent Killer" soap. There's something comforting about the routine whether in two weeks there's more venison in our already packed freezer, it's not a bad time of the year. 

1 comment:

  1. so interesting and so very different to my life here. I'd be so happy seeing a deer in snow

    ReplyDelete

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