HUNTING THE HUNTER
I'm an avid animal lover. I never thought I would be interested in going on a hunt.
Now, keeping that in mind, I have never been anti-hunting, as long as I know the animals are going to be eaten after they are killed. Hunting for food is one thing. Some people hunt because their ancestors hunted and they have kept the tradition alive. I also believe there is nothing wrong with being able to feed yourself off only the land. Some readers might disagree, and that is your opinion entirely. I do not wish to offend anyone, only share my experience in the forest.
I learned so much this past weekend by spending time in the woods with my boyfriend Ryan on his family's privately owned land in western New York State.
For context, it is bow hunting season. This means no rifle hunting has started yet. Bow hunting is a completely different type of hunting than that done with rifles. (Also, I was not shooting since I do not have a license to hunt in NY as does my boyfriend) Since arrows are relatively silent, the deer are not alert to the fact that hunting season has begun. Once the first rifle goes off, it is heard near and far, and the deer become much more careful and cautious since they know gunfire equals death. Bow hunting gives one the privilege of being able to see deer up close and personal, as they are more curious and interested in unfamiliar noises in the woods.
Since the land is privately owned, there are no trails made by humans. The only people who go in the woods are the two men who own and hunt the land. I have never seen such a beautiful untouched forest. It is like a time capsule of what woods were like before humans came around and touched them. The life cycle of the forest is ever apparent, from the decaying roots of old dead trees that have been ripped out of the ground by wind and rain, to the strong sturdy maple, oak, beech, and hemlock trees that make up the canopy of the forest. The ground is moss covered and home to so many types of fungi and mushrooms. The only paths through the woods are those made by the deer and you can with practice easily pick out a dent in the underbrush where a deer made it's bed the night before. You can see the cycle of nature that occurs, a tree grows large and harbors saplings fertilized by a dead tree that lies near by until the tree becomes very tall, old, and dies, falling to fertilize the next generation of trees that are growing higher. The shape of branches is dictated by where the light falls, each one reaching farther and farther into a tiny clearing to soak up sunlight. I felt as though I were in a storybook forest that only exists out of time.
Hunting is a silent sport. It requires you to be one with nature. One's senses are automatically heightened. Every crack of a stick, movement of a leafy branch, or rustle of leaves sounds extremely loud. It is literally only you and the forest.
On rainy days, it is possible to walk around in the forest and search for deer because the forest is so noisy and the rain muffles most loud sounds. On dry days it is better to pick a spot early, with a good 360 view of the area, and sit and wait for the deer to come to you. Deer sleep alone but once they wake up they tend to get together to feed and walk about.
Since it was raining on the day we set out in search of the perfect buck, we geared up and decided to do a walking hunt.
I trailed behind Ryan, so as not to spook any deer he might see and also to get a good look at his process from a bit farther away. On this morning adventure, I have only my 85mm lens with me, so I was able to get some cool shots from a bit father away than necessary.
After walking through many acres, Ryan decided we should make our way up to the tree line by his neighbor's old cornfield and cut across, to come through the woods on the other side in case we missed anything.
Ryan informed me that it was much too early in the day to see the deer grazing in the field, however many of their paths could be seen from the tree line looking down into the woods.
At one point, I was shushed, and stopped snapping the camera because there was possibly something in the woods. It turned out to be just a squirrel, but along the way we had come up with a sort of hand signal language like the one Darryl and Rick use while out hunting for zombies on The Walking Dead. That was pretty exciting.
It turned out to just be a squirrel. Alas.
As the morning continued, we kept venturing through deer paths, walking lightly and keeping our eyes and ears out for any promising sounds of life. The rain made it hard to hear far away.
I found a great amount of pleasure in just studying the moss and lichen in the forest, and got especially excited when we hit a group of extremely tall pine trees that had grown so tall and yet left many of their smaller low branches still attached. The lines were so dramatic and beautiful I ended up losing Ryan while taking photographs of the trees.
Midday marked the end of our morning hunt. After a delicious lunch and some family time, we decided around four to go back out with the intent of at least SEEING a deer. We took the express way up to the field, using the neighbors track for his farming gear.
Using our silent hand talk we inched our way to the clearing.
Ryan crouched at the tree line and motioned for silence. Then finally...
DEER!
Four doe were grazing in the field. We watched them for a while, silently. I tried to get some good shots, but without a super long lens I knew I wasn't going to get anything that great. Finally, after chasing each other for a while, the deer seemed to get a whiff of us and got spooked, cantering off over the hill. I asked Ryan why he didn't take a shot, and he informed me that killing doe is a last resort. They don't have as much meat and are the ones who bear the baby deer, so if everyone killed off the doe, there wouldn't be much left in the woods to hunt. Also, getting a stag with many pointed antlers is much more of an accomplishment, as they usually are on their own and much harder to catch.
Where there are doe, there are bucks he said. So we decided to post up and stay to see if they came back over the hill with a buck following them. It was much less rainy by this point, and we sat silently in the calm quiet at the edge of the clearing, resting up a bit.
We decided to continue, following the tree line so we could easily disappear if we found anything.
Then, suddenly, after standing on a tree stump, Ryan told me to stay behind because he thought he heard something on the other side of the clearing. I took the opportunity to take some more photos, and found a turkey feather! Yay!
Alas, the feather must have been a sign, because all it turned out to be was a group of turkeys who ran off as soon as they felt Ryan's presence.
The light was fading, so we decided to give up on the hunt. If you shoot something too late you have to drag it though the woods in the dark, which is never fun. Despite the cold in the clearing, I persuaded Ryan to stay out in the field to watch the sunset. All in all it was a beautiful day full of learning about what it is like to be one with nature. I hope you enjoy the photos!
