A grateful hunter

By Mac Arnold

Only one way to put it walking up on this nice fat doe I
shot Nov. 18 with the hours I've been working: grateful.

ROA Editor

It's rare that I would glorify a bagged doe after a six-day deer sabbatical but under these circumstances it is truly a welcomed result.

In addition, this post will stand as a midseason report since as it is looking now, I won't be getting back out until Michigan's muzzleloader opener Dec. 6.

The tally as of now is a fall tom and a big fat doe.

A tough pill to swallow, but it is what it is. After an off day Sunday, which I had a prior obligation (trust me, I would have gotten out of it if I could), I am scheduled to work the next 10 days straight.

One down last night and nine to go before I can sit on point again in a Sanilac County, Mich., blind.

As is commonplace at this time of the season, I am renewing the annual call for "one more deer."

I'm hearing from fellow hunters at the Sanilac camp and at a friend's property in Saginaw County that the deer movement has really died down. I attribute this to the bucks being hunkered down with does, and unless they move, neither will the big boys.

I did have a slow day myself on the last outing of the vacation in which conditions seemed perfect for deer movement: crisp temperatures, pretty much zero wind and a reduced number of hunters on the property, but nary a deer nor any critter moved on Tuesday, Nov. 19. So I'm not sure if the blustery days we've had recently are the only reason to blame for slow deer action.

But I've had decent action in past muzzleloader seasons, even into the end of December with the late doe firearms season, so I'm not down on my luck by any means.

After the orange army pretty much clears out of the woods, deer get into a necessary feeding pattern to build up their bodies in preparation for the long winter months ahead. And it isn't only at night, which benefits the opportunistic hunter on point willing to brave all conditions, usually snowy and windy ones.

And with the fewer days afield so far this season, I should be willing, rested and ready to fill the freezer with one more deer.