Saturday Sept. 26, 2009: Opening day of the Tennessee archery season.
I got up at 4:00 am and checked the weather and radar. There were supposed to be storms moving in Friday night and continuing on through Saturday evening. It wasn't raining when I got up so I checked to see where the storms were. According to the radar, there was a storm moving in but it was off to the southwest of me, quite a ways off, so I thought I could get in a good morning hunt.
I got dressed, loaded up my gear and headed out to dad's where I have been seeing deer on a daily basis in the field. I got there about 5:00 am, geared up and headed to the field. I slipped in quietly and crept under a huge tree behind the building in the field. The drip line on this tree is about a 12' radius from the trunk with the limbs hanging on the ends. It makes a great natural blind and offers me no more than a 40 yd. shot in any direction to where the deer come in and out.
It started to sprinkle a little bit but the canopy of the tree was keeping my nice and dry. Daylight started breaking and I could see the field well enough to shoot. The sprinkling was continuing off and on but nothing I couldn't deal with. Then I heard a noise coming through the woods that sounded like the wind picking up, Man, was I wrong. It was one of the hardest rains I have ever seen or heard. It was raining so hard, it proved the trees are 90% air. It was raining through the canopy. I held out until water was running down my back, then I built an ark right quick and headed to the car.
As I headed back to the house, it wasn't raining in town so I went to one of the local WMA's and hunted a field for awhile. Surprisingly, there were several people hunting but I didn't run into anyone. This was the most I have ever seen on opening day of archery season. The rain finally moved into town so I went to McD's for breakfast and went to the house to get ready to watch the Alabama game.
The rain continued throughout the day so I stayed in and watched some great college football with my wife and some friends and had a great time.
Sunday was a beautiful day with sunshine, cool temperatures and no rain. I thought it would be a great day in the field, but I was wrong again. I sat on stand all morning and all evening, watching the birds and getting a sore butt, still it was a great day to be out.
The temperatures are starting to drop now. The highs are in the 60's and 70's with the lows in the 40's and 50's. With as much rain as we have had and the temps dropping, I suspect the deer activity will pick up. Work is slowing down as it does this time of year, so I may start getting off early or having three day weekends soon which will give me more opportunities to hunt. I have plenty of time to hit the woods after work now, but, when the time changes at the end of October, I don't have enough time unless I get off early.
This season has the potential to be more productive than any have been in a long time, so hopefully, with a little bit of luck, the work I have put in will pay off and I will have a great year and a full freezer at seasons end. I hope everyone has a great season either by filling tags or making memories or both.
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