It’s been a wet fall in south central PA. October brought lots of rainy days and even a snow storm. Needless to say the ground is more than a little soggy.
Last Friday I decided to get out into the woods for my last evening hunt before daylight savings. I’m hunting a new area this year and have been dealing with all of the troubles of patterning an unfamiliar property. Not knowing where exactly to set up I settled in next to a large fallen poplar that went down during the snow storm last week. There was a fair amount of sign in the area, lots of tracks and a rub or two. The only question was when they were using this area. I found out very quickly that my timing was way off. I saw a group of 5 white tail doe feeding away from me at about 100yrds. It seemed that in the evening they were heading to the soy beans to the east instead of the corn to the south.
As I watched the doe disappear into the oaks to the east my heart sank a bit. But it’s that slight anxiety and not knowing what will happen that makes me love hunting traditionally so much. A few minutes later a very stiff wind began to blow from the west. The trees in the forest seemed to come alive; shedding leaves and swaying at least 10 feet from side to side. The wind continued through the rest of the evening. Shooting light began to fade so I got ready to head home. I put on my pack and stood up. Just then I huge crack rang out to the east. It was thunderous and was followed by a thud that I felt through my feet. The lose wet ground was apparently unable to hold that massive tree. Not more than a minute after the tree fell the woods were frantic. Those same 5 doe were a little too close to that tree for comfort. They zipped past me at about 25 yards and never stopped. Behind them came 2 more doe and a small buck. There was no shot opportunity but it was nice to have a little excitement before I went home. I think next week will set up next to that freshly fallen oak to the east.
