It's funny how a tree can tell you more than a calendar can. The tree in our front yard in Sioux Falls does just that.

I've been getting all itchy butt about getting out and going deer hunting. Over the past 15 years or so I have just bow hunted. Once you've been on deer at close range you get readily excited. Once you've harvested a BIG deer, you get flat out addicted to the rush.

Back to the tree. Why is it better than a calendar? Fall will come, the rut will come. Things will happen. It doesn't matter how cold or how dry it is. The length of days and daylight do not lie. Mother Nature is pretty standard.

I've been looking at the calendar for the past weeks. Come on, CHANGE! So I decided to look back at what turns out is kind of a hunters journal. Scroll down. Look at the same tree one year ago, TODAY! Almost exactly the same amount of color change.

I like to wait to bow hunt. Wait for cooler weather. NO bugs and I love to hunt the rut. Want to find out my rhythm and why I watch the tree? Scroll down and keep reading.

Good hunting this year. Remember, I love to hear your stories! Bow hunting? Taking kids hunting? Email your stories to me at jdcollins@kikn.com

October 14th, 2014

This morning I was practicing again. Shooting my bow. Thinking about the shot. Thinking about the position of my shoulders and feet in regards to where I was shooting. Shooting a bow is a discipline. It takes practice. After you get the hang of it, getting proficient at shooting comes quickly.

As I pulled out of the garage to come to work, I checked my hunting barometer. It's my 'nature calender' when it comes to hunting.  It's the tree in our front yard.

It doesn't matter what the calender says. It doesn't matter what the thermometer says. The tree in my front yard tells the story. Here's how it reads.

1. Leaves start changing color, continue practice shooting.

2. Leaves start falling off. Time to scout and possibly reposition stand in hunting area.

3. Leaves all Red on Tree. Time to wash hunting clothes in scent free detergent and pack hunting gear.

4. Leaves all off tree?  Get up in tree. Rut is either starting, or on!

That tree is my way of talking with Mother Nature. She's been talking to me lately. If you're a hunter, I'll bet she's been whispering in your ear too.

Pic by JD Collins-KIKN FM/Sprint Sioux Falls
Pic by JD Collins-KIKN FM/Sprint Sioux Falls
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October 13, 2014

This morning was more of the same for me. Shoot, Shoot, Shoot...and shoot some more.

A few years ago I subscribed to a new theory/philosophy when it came to bow hunting. Practice and prepare more, hunt less.

Don't get me wrong. I will still get my 'stand time' in this year. But I'm not a huge fan of bed to food, food to bed hunting. That's what most early and late season bow hunting is. The bugs are usually out. The bulk of the leaves are still on the trees so you see much less and deer movement isn't nearly what it's like later on. Especially around the rut.

You are right. I'm kind of a fair weather hunter. I search for the ideal days when the wind is right. I move my work schedule so I can be out when I WANT to be, rather when I have time to be.

I've been hard core. I love it. But I just don't have time to do it ALL the time. So I pick my place and get ready.  THEN hunt.

Coming up, I'll walk the perimeter of the area I plan to hunt. I'm hoping for a rain here in the next few days. A day or two after, I'll head out and check travel patterns. These patterns will change as crops come out, but I'll have a last minute feel for where deer are traveling. I try to hunt smarter, not more.

Yes, there is nothing like being in the stand when the sun comes up. Or when it goes down. The only thing better is when the rut is on, being on stand when deer are moving and when you can see them and when the bugs are dead.

That time is coming soon. Tomorrow, I'll tell you how I can tell when to be in the tree stand. And it has nothing to do with the calender.

(Sue Cocking/Miami Herald/MCT via Getty Images)
(Sue Cocking/Miami Herald/MCT via Getty Images)
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October 10, 2014

I got a call from our youngest son last night. Tad called from Aberdeen. He was wondering if I could pick him up a hunting license for opening day.

Opening day of Pheasant season is a day we all point to in our family. It's a chance to reconnect with friends and family. We have been going to Armour, SD for the past 20 years or so. It's really more than pheasant hunting. It's more like Christmas or New Years Eve.

The picture above is of a ritual that takes place all over South Dakota and throughout the midwest. Break in the field. It's a Big Deal. And it's interesting how 'times have changed at break time as well.

It used to be, Coke and Mountain Dew and candy bars. Now, you're more likely to see thirsty hunters reaching for a bottled water or a healthy snack. It seems like everyone is at least thinking about taking better care of themselves.The other day, my wife and I were doing some shopping. She was thinking ahead. We bought a couple cases of water.

If you've been getting ready for the upcoming season, you know what I'm talking about. Break time at hunting is one of the coolest parts of the hunt. You catch up with old friends, tell a few lies and of course a few jokes too. You cheer for the Huskers or the Vikings even if their not your teams.

Hunting time is almost here. I can't wait!

 

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October 8, 2014

I could start this blog with one thousand cliche's. 'Fall is in the air.'  'Woke up this morning to crisp morning air.'  I'll save that for the experts at Outdoor Life and other wildlife magazines I grew up reading. I have to tell you though, once hunting bites you, you feel it.  Every year.

My first hunting trip was with Harold, Jake, Ron and Dewey. Or, if I personalize it, Dad-Grandpa, Uncle and Great Uncle. I was the snot nosed kid carrying a dart gun, but this year was different. I got to go along!

One of the first hunts I remember was a deer hunt. We were looking for whitetail deer up on grouse creek northwest of Kennebec, SD.

We didn't get a deer that morning. But I can still smell grass from that cool morning. I can still feel the warm air coming from the pickup heater. I thought it was so cold that morning.

But more than the cold, I can still see and hear Dad and Grandpa and my Uncles chatting from pickup to pickup with the engines quietly idling. These are the days I miss them most. Their laughs. Their jokes. Their lessons. To this day, I check the wind twice before I pee outside.

I know the blog lead was bow hunting.  We'll get to that over the next few days. I just wanted to give you a baseline of 'why' hunting is so important to me.

It's more than camouflage and shooting.

It's a part of life. An important part of life that comes alive. Every fall.

Through October and most of November I'll walk you through some of the things I think about and some of the different things I do to get ready and what I think about while I'm out in the woods.

 

 

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