Do you Ever just Stop, Look and Listen?
 

I know in our quest to take Mr Booner with our bows we sometimes forget to stop, look and listen. As I was sitting in my treestand tonight and not seeing a darned thing I happen to look where the sun went down and saw the beauty in the iridescent red, yellow and blue sky.

I took a pic with my cell phone and sent it to several in my contact list. The responses I got were wonderful as well. As the texts were coming in the geese were over head singing their music. Again, I smiled.

There are times we forget to soak it all in.

Take this morning before I got down. I heard the crunch, crunch of leaves knowing it wasn't a squirrel. As it neared I saw a grey/tigered house cat. As it stalked under my stand I ppssst at it and it looked up. I whispered BOO and it turned inside out to leave the area. I just sat there giggling to myself.

I've got to see my 3 legged bear numerous times. The cubs and their antics have made me smile more than once.

I've successfully filled doe tags and one 3 legged doe that will forever be a part of my memories. I've hunted with good friends and shared the woods along with smiles. I am blessed.

I know Germ get's it with his humorous post about seeing sex, cats, atv's, kayakers, hell what doesn't happen to Germ?

bloodcrik gets it, he texted me tonight asking me to call him crazy because he was in a tree with bow in hand coyote hunting. I said, " Not crazy, awesome. ".

I'm weary, I'm tired and yes a little frustrated. I've taken deer this last week before and I may again but I'm not going to lose track of what it's really about and I've had a very fulfilling season.

Good luck to those still hard at it but don't forget to stop and look around.

I was sitting in the stand this afternoon. Nothing was moving and I had a headache . All I really wanted was a couple aspirn and my couch. I sat it out without seeing any thing and was pretty frustrated when about sundown a flock of geese came off the lake and flew over. About then I felt the same way you did Rob

I always soak it all in I love it.

Got to do that a lot the last couple days. Deer sightings have been slow.
Unusual and cool things so far:
Buck trailing doe at 1:30 PM. Flock of geese right over me as they lifted off a pond. Hawk nailing a squirrel 5 yds away and the squirrel getting away! I also snort wheezed a nice 9 point to within 20 yds. was at full draw and let him walk, Probably a 3.5 yr old but I was looking for something a little bigger.(my choice if I go home with a tag) Also had a real nice 7 pt. lay down 20 yds from me for more than 2 hours. He was also trailing a doe. Got some real nice still photos of him also. Had full draw on him too. Saw a racoon climb into a tree 15 yds away.
All in all it has been one of my better seasons, buck wise and just plain good sits in the woods. We are certainly blessed to have such a sport that can put you in touch with reality and nature.
6 days left to enjoy archery season here in PA.

Ya know this is wierd.

Today I had decided to do my first all day hunt, from the same stand. After and entire day of seeing nothing I was frustrated, tired, had a headache and was just in a overall bad mood. As I was about to get down and leave in my frustration, but then something clicked and I just looked out on the horizon and watched that beautiful sunset. I felt the same way you did.

Yeah but it still felt good to get home and lay down for a bit :)

when im out i just love to sit there have stare downs with a squirrels also i like the quietness to just think about life or what ever

Great post Rob! I think we all fall into that trap of trying so hard to put that certain animal down that we forget how lucky we are to be able to spend time in God's great outdoors, and take it all in.

A couple of my fondest memories a field was watching a Black Capped Chicadee land on my bow limb and sing his little heart out or meeting a black bear eye to eye at less than 5 yards. I still don't know who was more shocked me or the bear, LOL.

Thanks for reminding us to slow down and enjoy our time a field.

Take care and good luck next week my friend.

Brian

I love it as well. On my last scouting trip I found the biggest Oak Tree I've ever seen. I was following a fire break I've never used before and was late getting out of the woods because I kept wanting to see "what's around the next corner" I love being in the woods.

Best thread on the web!

These are the values my dad and uncle instilled in me when I was little and the ones I'm trying to ingrain in my kids' heads. For me, getting an animal is a bonus; just being outside and experiencing a different adventure every time out is why I hunt and fish. One of my fondest ourdoor memories is; a turkey flying in to roost, landing on a limb, the limb breaks, and turkey falls to the ground. Another was the red fox pouncing around in the field less then 15 yards from me. Or the mouse that was gnawing on my bootlace. But my favorite was just a few weeks ago with my son. He was in awe just taking in the sights, smells and sounds of the woods. We saw some deer and turkey on this hunt, heard some coyotes, watched countless birds, but came home with only muddy boots and great memories. Still, my son said to me, "Dad, this was great. Can we come back tomorrow?". He totally gets it now, which is why I'll never forget this hunt.

That's my boy in my avatar - asleep in the field.

good post Rob! its real easy to get TOO focused on trying to kill something that its easy to forget about the rest....

when that happens, hunting starts feeling a HECK of alot like work to me...hard to get outta bed...hard to enjoy it period...thats usually when i throw in the towel and take a day or 2 off and dont think about hunting for that day or 2...after a few weeks of heavy hunting, it can get to ya....


i think its important to not take all the little things forgranted when were out there...theres millions of people that rarely ever see the sun rise...

one of the things i get a major kick out of is listening to the woods come alive at day break...especially in the spring when the song birds and long beards are talkin...thats just awesome to me...

like i said in my buck harvest thread, that day was one of the most beautiful days i have ever been in the woods period...started off cool and crisp and you could smell the smell of fall...wind was absolutely calm which is amazing in itself...the fall foliage was at its absolute peak and leaves were raining down like someone flipped a switch...the drive home a few days later proved i timed my hunt absolutely perfect as the fall colors were all about gone....the leaves were falling so hard the day i killed my buck that when i was taking pictures i had to try to remember to remove the freshly fallen leaves from him...i got 1 pic a leave fell on my shoulder...the picture before, it wasnt there and it was a matter of seconds..that was when i had a buddy taking pics for me...just a breath taking day i'll never forget...

the little things often keep me going....its easy to get burnt out if you dont get a kick outta the little things...from the sights to the smells to the sounds....heck, just take a nap out there! thats one of my favorite past times!

I do this all the time, it is amazing what you witness in the woods when you are still and quiet and nothing knows you are there, between foxes, owls, hawks landing in my tree, geese flying overhead, raccoons, and of course deer. The woods is an awesome place to sit in watch. Nothing like a beautiful sunrise on a cold morning or watching the sun dip below the trees as the hunt is winding down. I completely agree Rob. I have a friend that hunts who isn't much into this type of stuff and is only concerned with wether he kills something or not. I constantly tell him he is missing out on part of what hunting and enjoying the outdoors represents, always turns into a fruitless argument. Great Post!

Shane

when i see a sunrise or sunset from my stand, everytime i cant help but stare at it and wonder how anyone could say that god didnt create that.... i can be five minutes from the house in my stand and feel a million miles away from everyone, thats what i love about hunting.. people that dont hunt wonder what is so special about shooting a deer, but theyll never understand how much more it is than that..

Hunting to me goes far beyond the actual harvesting of a deer. Some of my best hunts didn't result in a kill.

I have been following this forum site for awhile now, but I never felt the need to comment until now. Reading this post was eerily similar to my experience last night. It was a cold morning that was sure to lead to some good movement, but it only lead to a few does walking past me. But the best part of the morning was the turkeys were going crazy all morning.. Something you could only hope to see in the spring.. So after a bad morning as far as deer hunting went, but an amazing morning in the woods I went home to watch my Mountaineers play.. After grabbing a bite to eat and watching till half time I went back out. I sat for 2 1/2 to 3 hours that evening without even seeing a deer, and was constantly getting text messages from other hunters in the same area; most of them consisted of their disgust with the lack of deer this close to the rut and/or they are getting out early tonight. My response was somewhat of an annoyance to the lack of deer, but "what's the worst that's going to happen, a beautiful sunset hurt your eyes?".. Well needless to say I ended up only see 2 does that evening, but the sunset was one of the best I had saw from my stand this season (and the current background on my phone).. And the same guys that left early got that picture with a nice little message showing them what they had missed, along with my cousin in FL who is coming up in a few weeks to hunt.. And his response was the best of all.. So this all brings me back to an old saying my grandfather always told me, not matter if you're fishing, hunting, or just going for a hike.. People need to slow down and "Stop and smell the roses." I always thought I understood what he was trying to tell me, but not until recent year have I realized that you can never fully understand the need to Stop and smell the roses..

By the way this was an amazing post, Rob.. Hopefully it'll get more people out to experience this instead of concentrating on the aspect of only killing, not the hunting experience as a whole.

Great post Rob! I often find myself gazing at the beauty of nature or focusing on a bird or squirrel and just watching how they go about their daily activities. I got my buck this past week and cant hunt out by school now but I still went out thursday and friday mornings just to be outside where i love to be and take in the beautiful scenery and animals that go along with nature. Friday was a wonderful morning even though I didnt have a weapon out there with me. It enabled me to relax and take in all the small things. Hopefully everyone out there can have experiences like this because its like nothing else in life.

Yea Rob...been doing a lot of that this weekend. It's been really slow here with the near 70 degree temps. Leave the house at 3AM and not home till 7:30PM doing all day sits. The thing that really gets to me is how much the looks of the same area of the woods change in a matter of a few weeks!

Amen to that Rev.Went out to today a 530 am and spent the whole day in the tree watching and listening.Finally climbed down at 530 pm.watched a bunch of squirrels and greese fly over.THe lord made the perfect day today even though didnt shoot a deer.

whats been posted here is why i enjoy bowhunting so much,i have much less chance to take game but the woods are much more alive than during gun season.....karl

bein out there is way better than readin it in a book...sleet, snow, rain, deer/no deer, all great memories...

Great post Rob. You are 100% right. We all need to remember to appreciate simply being out there doing what we love. Heck, we wait all year for season to get here and sometimes we get so wrapped up chasing antlers that the season slips away in what seems like days. I agree with what you and several others have stated, it's the little things that a person sees while in the stand that make the experience so great. I love just sitting there seeing how close birds will get, or watching squirrels stock up for winter, etc. Those are the things that can make even a slow hunt a fantastic time in the woods.

IMO, if you're not seeing the forest for the trees, your prioritys in life are miss aligned. There's not a day that I spend out hunting, not matter the animal that I'm in pursuit of, that I don't realize just how lucky I am. There's so many people in the world these days that never leave the BIG city to see nature at it's best. SO many people don't even have the opportunity to even hunt, let along be out in nature.
We've got it good. If you're taking it for granted, you need to look yourself in the mirror and remember, just how lucky you are to be able to enjoy nature at it's best.

Great post Rob and message. And yes I would say you are blessed and have been blessed! I enjoy every minute I spend out there and know that I have been extremely blessed also.

Rob I think Wed - Thurs things should pick back up.

awesome rob...had it saturday evening, stand i havent hunted all season...about 4:45 the woods erupt above me, limbs breaking, i said to myself (what the h-e-double hockey sticks is going on)

look up...i count 26 hen turkey...5 long beards...flying over me through the trees, across the creek, landing in the woods at my back ready to roost...gosh darnit that was cool...visions of airplanes dogfighting in the skies...it was cool as anything

minimal deer sightings that evening, but the black sheep turkey squadron made up for it

Amen to that! I agree 100%

I do very much enjoy just being out - and 99% of the time I don't kill anything, and often by choice. Good post Rob!

This post is Frame Worthy!

I'm a new hunter and although I've been out several times trying to hunt squirrels, they've been beating me at my game... I will NOT get frustrated about it because I have been there to Stop, Look and Listen and it has proven to be more than anything I could have ever asked for even though I've been coming home pretty much empty handed.

I was out just this Saturday and although I didn't get my sights on a squirrel, I did get to see a 4 point buck that ended up 10 ft from me as I sat as still as I could, watching him. He was so close, I could see his nostrils flare as he stared me down wondering wth I was. That had me so excited because you never get that close to a deer out and about.

I decided to get out of bed this morning, get my butt in gear and head up onto the hill before the sun came up. I saw 3 deer come through. They're absolutely graceful. I also saw 5 squirrels. I shot at 2 and missed and had my sights on 3 but never squeezed one out on them. Disappointed? A little but being in their home has proven to be such a blessing.

I had a great time sitting behind two fallen trees as my cover just looking and listening as the woods came alive and the sun rose. I couldn't ask for a better past time. I have absolutely found my new hobby. I love it! :love:

Thank you for this post Rob. This is what it's all about and I'm glad to see it for what it's worth as a new hunter than to miss all of it and feel like I wasted my time because I didn't bag my limit.