SHAKE
Nov 25
The day started out well enough. A couple of my friends stopped by about four in the morning. I was excited. We were heading out for our first deer hunting trip of the season. There were a lot of signs in the woods this year. Deer should be plentiful.
Thank goodness for Waffle Houses that stay open twenty-four hours a day. The coffee and food were good and I am hungry at four in the morning. We laughed and ate our way through breakfast. We shared the same jokes wondering who would be the first to drift off asleep and fall out of the deer stand. Or, who could get the deer to stand still in the open for the four shots it would take to actually hit him. It didn't matter that I had bagged the last deer in the last season, I still got my share of ribbing.
We spread out in the woods to find a tree for our self-climbing stands, making sure we had plenty of separation in our lines of fire. Safety is always first and always paramount.
I came across a tree that had good visibility around it and the area had signs that deer had traveled through. The tree trunk was small but it should hold well enough. I would have to be extra still not to create unwanted movement or noise that would scare off the deer.
I strapped my feet in the stand, shimmied up the tree by bending my legs and lifting, then locking it in place by pressing down on the platform. Not a big perch but I didn't need much, I was good.
The first hour went slowly. The temperature was living up to the forecast, dropping as the day went on. Even with well-insulated hunting clothing, the cold began to sink in.
Then I heard a noise coming down through the woods from the same direction that I had traveled. I got excited. From the amount of noise, this must be a huge deer. I eased my gun up into a ready position and took off the safety.
My blood ran a little cold as the biggest black bear I had ever seen came toward my tree, sniffing the ground, tracking me. I sat very still hoping it would pass on by. No such luck. A million thoughts rushed through my mind all at once; buckshot was good for deer, would it handle a bear? How small a tree can a bear climb? Why did I throw away that safety strap that came with the stand?
The bear sniffed his way to my tree, raised up on his hind legs and placed his front paws on the trunk, and raised its head looking me right in the eyes.
Even though the temperature had gotten very cold, I had started to sweat as I aimed my gun thinking, "Lord I hope I don't miss. And, if I do I hope I don't fall off of this stand." as the tree started shaking.