Bow hunting is my life

Pleasant dreams! Just think how special a season is to see a buck like this.

Dozens of strong reasons are experienced each year to remind me why I prefer bow hunting for whitetails rather than using a firearm. One day I may write a much larger blog about my key reasons for bow hunting than you’ll read today. Just consider this an introduction to my feelings about deer hunting.

I'll just trot out a several key reasons tonight, and go into a far deeper explanation about why they are some basic thoughts. Here are several to consider while you delve into the reasons why you prefer hunting deer with a bow.

I’d be willing to bet that many of our reasons are the same.

October is, without question, the best deer-hunting month of all. Here’s why.

•October is such a beautiful month, and most of the women I know who bow hunt favor the beauty of early October. It's just a shame the color doesn't last longer, but it would be a bigger shame if people didn’t get out into the woods during this gorgeous period.

•There is a shoot-don't shoot atmosphere about bow hunting if we really pause long enough to think about it. A person could hunt every day with a bow without turning loose an arrow at a deer, but why? A kill isn't always necessary but it must be what our hunting urge tells us to do. Instead of shooting and killing an animal, it's possible to draw down on every deer and then allow it to pass without taking a shot. I’ve passed up any number of bucks that I could have killed, but instead, granted that animal his life on that day. Drawing on a deer is great practice, and when it comes time to release an arrow, those past draw-backs will help calm your jitters. It can make us better hunters.

•There are sights, sounds and smells that nurture our days afield with bow in hand. There is the distinct and sharp aroma of a passing skunk on a foggy fall evening, and there is the odor of pungent marsh mud when walking through cattails while hunting wary deer.

Revel in the sights and sound of autumn in the deer woods.

•Countless sounds can be heard while hunting. The guttural grunt of a buck tending an estrous doe, the soft rustle of deer hooves moving through dried autumn leaves, geese honking overhead with that mournful sound, and the startling noise made when a ruffed grouse flushes heavily from bracken ferns or thick cover. They never fail to startle me even though I’ve come to expect the noise in certain areas.

•Bow hunting always makes me practice more than I normally do while moving between the many places I hunt,, and I'll often shoot a dozen arrows before heading for the woods. I find something very satisfying about shooting a bow during a hunt or practice session.

•Watching and studying deer is a great personal passion of mine. I've found the more one studies deer, and the environs where they are found, the more we learn about the animals and the better we become at hunting deer.  Watching deer closely also teaches people when and when not to draw on an animal.

•My senses reach a higher level during deer season. It seems I can see and hear better. I've learned how to look deeply into heavy cover, and to spot the vague outline or movement of a nice buck. I know to look for bits or pieces of a deer, like a tail switch, than to look for the entire animal. An old friend once told me to “look as deep into heavy cover as possible, and anything that moves in-between, will be seen.” It really works.

•Hunting makes me feel good even when I’m feeling poorly. I don't need a kill to be satisfied with my hunt. Just watching deer, studying their travel patterns, and learning how they react to other movements or sounds, are now important to me. I don't move or make any sound, and the only movement comes when I draw the bow and I know when and when not to do so.

A very key reason why bow hunting is so important to me.

•Bow hunting is something very special to me. It releases any tensions I feel, and I don’t hunt so much to kill as I hunt to prevent life from killing a part of me that would otherwise die of boredom if I weren’t out in the woods with bow in hand.

•Although October is still months away, there is within me, an intense passion which is difficult to match during any other time of year. October, when it inevitably rolls around, is such a wonderful time for anyone to be afield.

•The deer move well early in the season, and late in October is when the rut kicks off, and it too is an exciting time. The leaves are down on the ground, and the bucks are actively chasing does. It is a marvelous outdoor spectacle.

•For me, just being there, watching the ebb and flow of deer past my chosen stand is something I deeply treasure. It's like a dream come true, and that dream always centers around hunting with a stick and string -- one man against a whitetail buck.

It is a priceless experience, and  one that never fails to fill me with great emotion.