OPENING DAY of the WISCONSIN GUN DEER SEASON

SNOW FLEAS ON THE TRAIL TO AN OLD DEER BLIND

It's a balmy opening weekend, with temps in the 30's and 40's.  I'm thrilled with this heat wave after a few weeks of way below average temps.  This warm opening day of the Wisconsin gun deer season gives me a chance to journal out in the woods. 

A few eerie sounding crows have noticed me as I sit in my blaze orange coat leaning up against an oak tree on the back twenty.  I chose this spot to ponder as it is next to an old ground deer blind, a favorite hunting spot for Arnie, a deer hunter and family friend I knew all my life.  He hunted right up until the spring he passed away from pancreatic cancer a couple years ago. 

Arnie was a visiting guest deer hunter with my family for over sixty years.  His zest for hunting, the stories he told, and the kindness he bestowed on all of my siblings won't be forgotten.   Arnie was one of those old fashioned hunters that made sure you were up way before the crack of dawn, not just on opening day, but every day he was there to hunt.  He carried a flashlight, a hunting knife in a sheath, a hatchet, and a plastic bag.  And he knew how to cook. 

I'm missing a few things today besides Arnie...  a good stash of candy bars, a drag rope, a gutting knife, and my 30-30.  I haven't hunted in several years, but I'm thinking next year I just might give it a try again.  My oncologist said at 2 1/2 years I could have my chest port yanked out so I'm holding her to that.  It sits in my upper right chest where the butt of my gun should be. 

I hoped to find snow fleas on my walk to this spot, and BINGO, they're everywhere!  Snow fleas are little black insects with spring-like tails.  They look like pepper sprinkled on old snow, but they leap about everywhere in constant motion.  I love snow fleas because I associate them with mild winter days and little things no one seems to notice.   If you open your eyes you can find them on a warm winter day, hopping atop the snow in a Wisconsin woods.  Often they appear on a trail that someone traveled before you did.

It's foggy this early afternoon.  I don't hear any gunshots, only crows and blue jays calling in the distance, so I'm guessing neither hunters or deer are moving.  Blaze orange hats off today to Arnie, and all the deer hunter guests from seasons past who have come into our lives for a few days every November.  They've not only shared the gun deer season experience with us through the years, but have created a lifetime of memories, traditions, and unfading hopes of shooting that dream buck.  Perhaps I will... next year!