I had no plan of going hunting today, but I learned a valuable lesson about footwear, so I am glad that I did.
Since I went to bed at about 1:30 am, mama-pepper suggested that I not set an alarm, so I could sleep in, rather than waking up early to go hunting. Her reasoning was sound, so I agreed, and drifted off into slumber without setting any alarms. Then, a little after 6:00 am, I awoke anyway. Thoughts of steemit and hunting were racing through my head.
It is often hard to fall back asleep when steemit is on your mind. I had just posted my new original song, "STEEMIT LIKE YOU MEAN IT" around midnight, so I was curious about how good the post was doing. After checking that, I still had some time before sunrise.
I figured, it's a little later than I prefer, but perhaps me being up now is a sign that I should go hunting. Perhaps God wants to bless us with some more great meat.
Picking footwear was an interesting situation this morning. Normally, I would wear my boots.
They keep my feet warm, but can make a lot of noise in the fallen leaves of autumn. Thankfully, I noticed another option.
My "aqua-sock" style water shoes were laying outside the door. I knew that it wan't that cold out, and wondered for a moment. This type of footwear was much similar to the moccasins that the Native Americans would wear when they stalked their game in the woods.
Hmmm.... Would this be a better option. It was already getting light out, and I was not in position. Making too much noise getting to the hunting spot would be counterproductive, and I had a long walk down a gravel road to get to my spot for the morning. I took the chance and put on the aqua-socks rather than my boots. Off I went.
As I walked down the road, I noticed an extreme difference in the noise level. I was stealthy rather than obvious in my approach, and I was glad for the silence of my stride. Soon, I parked myself up in the bushes and began my wait.
A lot of noises were soon rustling around me on the forest floor. Before too long, another creature approached on stealth mode.
A buck appeared about 25 feet to my right without me even hearing it come. Whether it walked down the gravel road or came out of the woods to my right I will never know. All I do know is that it was right there, and my gun was facing the wrong way.
For some reason, I started shooting rifle left-handed as a boy, even though I am right-handed and right eye dominant. Eventually, I switched to shooting right-handed, even though I can still shoot just as well left handed. Quietly and slowly, I switched the rifle to face the deer, and ever so quietly clicked the safety off. Just as I had awoke out of nowhere to go hunting, this deer had presented me with this opportunity out of nowhere too.
I raised my rifle left-handed and aimed my barrel. When I pulled the trigger, the deer staggered, and then bounded off into the woods across the road from me. Immediately, I got up and was fast on his trail. He did not make it too far, as I had hit him in the heart. From the time I shot until the time he died was probably only one minute, so I was glad for that.
He did not have an impressive rack on top his head, but he was a good sized deer and will provide a lot of food for my family.
To eat real meat, and animal must die, but a quick death after a natural life is what I prefer.
Though one can never know, I still wonder if I would have had that opportunity if I had worn my boots and made a lot more noise coming down to my hunting spot. Deer are quite alert anyway, and unusual noises can scare them off easily.
It gave me a great appreciation for the hunters that once roamed the woods of this continent too, as they silently crept through the woods with their feet shod with moccasins. Sometimes I am amazed at how far we seem to have come in the wrong direction!
Whether I am out photographing animals in the wild or hunting, I think I'll be opting for my aqua-socks when it is too cold to go barefoot. *At least until I can buy, or make, some moccasins of my own.
A couple of my little peppers are hard at work making some Pumpkin Pies with mama-pepper right now, so it looks like this has been an excellent day in Papa-Pepper Land.
Happy Thanksgiving to everyone out there, and if you are not American, I would still recommend being thankful!
As always, I'm @papa-pepper, and here's the proof:
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