SUNSET WHITETAIL

It's sunset, and I'm sitting on the ground on my old tree stand between two oak trees.  Gray squirrels are cackling, one directly above me and another southeast of me.  The woods is quiet and calm, and the temperature on this first day of November is quite mild!

I was planning to walk across the crick this afternoon but I couldn't cross it with my Merrell hikers that I'm wearing.  We received close to three inches of rain in the last few days, and the water level has risen a bit.  I forgot that little detail.

I've got my camera in hand, focusing on the jabbering squirrel in the red oak tree right above me.  It seems as though his noise making will give my presence away to the entire world.  Dang!

 
But after snapping a few pictures of the squirrel I hear a commotion to my left.  A whitetail buck is walking directly towards me and he's extremely curious.  He steps closer and closer while I keep trying to capture a photo of him that isn't blurry.

Then he stops about 60' from me and slowly trots away after realizing that I wasn't the doe he was looking for.  This buck is clearly in the rutt to have his guard down so much.

Just a couple minutes later an owl lands in an oak tree nearby.  It's hard to write in my journal with so much action going on this evening.  The owl escapes me as I frighten him with my quick motions, setting down my journal and pen and turning my camera back on.  It is neat to see his large wingspan as he takes back off in flight and soars through the oak trees toward the pond.

Moths are fluttering around me also.  They are elusive but I see one now perched on a maple tree just across the trail from where I'm sitting.  With a flash, I'll try to capture it later when I get up to leave.

The sun has completely set now and darkness is settling in all around me.  Will I make it back to the cabin without a flashlight?  For sure.  Do I want to?  Maybe, but I'm in no hurry.  Who's afraid of the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf, the big bad wolf, tra la la la la?  Not me!

What a glorious beginning to the month of November in Wisconsin.  I think Indian Summer is just around the corner.  Don't let it pass you by! Go take a walk and enjoy it.