SO..., for me it's about seeing something. When I was first getting into BP hunting, it was all traditional in those days btw, I didn't mind not getting a shot, as long as I saw a deer, or whatever I was after that day. I liked just knowing the critters were out there and I had a chance..., I just needed to get better at hunting.
Then I read The Still Hunter by Theodore S. Van Dyke. Now this guy hunted in California at the beginning of the 20th century with a modern carbine, but he was limited by his ammo as we are, and he was in thick brush very much like the woods a lot of us find ourselves with today. He was also at one point a guide for Teddy Roosevelt, not a slouch as a hunter, so I figured this guy might know some good stuff. So I learned about moving and about what the deer behavior is in brush, and wind, etc.
Which caused me to "see" more. When I started, I looked to see the animal(s)... to feel I had a good hunt. So not getting a shot wasn't a bad hunt, but not actually seeing the game animal, was kinda "deflating". BUT after reading that book, a couple times, I started to notice much more in the woods. I didn't "see" the animals, but I saw where they had been, and how recent. Where they had slept, where the buck had rubbed his antlers free of velvet, or worked out his frustrations on a helpless sapling. I saw other critters too, as I was much better at moving through the woods and sitting still as well.
I've seen birds of prey make a kill (well at least somebody got something that day LOL) and watched chipmunks have territory disputes. I've been visited by chipmunks who perched upon my toe and looked up at my while munching on a nutmeat, and gazing up at me with curiosity in their eyes. I've seen several species of woodpecker, found what was left of a yellowjacket nest after a skunk had breakfasted on them (I kept the nest pieces as wadding for my rifle). I've found field mouse tunnels beneath crusty snow, and where one of them mice was unfortunate enough taken by an owl or a hawk (well not unfortunate for the bird-HA). I've seen black bear, and I've seen an odd yellowish stump at a distance that turned out to be a bobcat..., I've seen fox, and I've seen fox kits at play. There have been turkeys that move amazingly fast on their feet when they saw me, and there are bald eagles now, where there were none when I was not yet old enough to drive. I've seen some strange as heck insects, too, all of this and more things, beaver, a piebald deer, sandhill cranes, ... because I have learned how to see.
Come to think of it..., I can't go into the woods and avoid seeing something interesting these days....
LD
