Time To Travel

Having a convenient area to hunt is a blessing, and this year I have taken full advantage of it. I can literally jump in my truck and drive 500 yards to where I park to walk in to my stands. It really doesn't get much better than that unless you live on your own land. The land owner is thrilled that I am hunting the property and is always curious about what I see and encouraging about getting at it and hunting more. He seems especially happy that I am taking my middle daughter with me to introduce her to the woods and the sport. When I stopped hunting 5 years ago I was on a piece of land owned by a close friend, and that property is still available to me. It is a beautiful piece of property I have hunted for over 20 years and have killed countless deer there. The itch to return is growing daily. I have also been offered the rights to hunt a small partial of land near my home that is only 25 acres. The kicker is there's an apple orchard on the property. I have never hunted this land, and the owner refers to the deer on it as different family groups, but he is insistent that so long as I bow hunt, I am welcome to kill whatever moves me. The hunt possibilities there seem to be ridiculously good. So with all this said, having somewhere that is safe, private and available to hunt has never been and is not a problem. My problem in recent years has been time. The old adage that time is money is true in so many ways beyond money. With a wonderful family and the kids begging to do stuff, my career, my personal interests and a lack of money, time truly becomes priceless. To run home, strip and dress, then be in the stand in 10 minutes is priceless, and that can also include getting the kids in the stand with me. I guess this quandary is boiling down to my hunting priorities. At the top of this list of priorities is spending time with my children. They are begging to go and the 9 year old has spent quite a few hours with me in the stand recently. I have completely enjoyed having her with me. Even when she doesn't quite sit as still as I would prefer I have to shrug it off because the time spent together is priceless. Sure, her wiggling may have gotten us busted, but watching her amazement as the deer blew and crashed through the woods was totally cool. A deer standing quietly munching on acorns doesn't give an impression of how big it is as it does when its stomping, blowing and crashing through the woods. All she could say was, Wow, that was a really big animal in there. I was of course thinking to myself "ya think?", but it didn't really matter in the big picture. A little later another small buck walked through, and she was perfectly still and enjoyed every second of it. She was very proud that she hadn't scared this deer. I assured her that the big one may have winded us so it wasn't her fault the first time; no big deal, just learn as we go, and you know, she has done a very good job since of monitoring her movements and not letting her clothing slide on the stand. Anyway, I digress. The point here is the value of time. Time is of the essence and  making the most of it is essential. I am starting to realize that convenience is not always the best option when hunting. This is of course something I have known, but maybe laziness, and also having actual limited time to hunt has caused my sedentary hunting.  I was speaking recently with a man about how things seem to have slowed a bit in the woods. When bow season opened back in September, I was covered up with deer. I was seeing 2-5 deer on every hunt. In the last couple weeks though they have changed patterns, and we are seeing nothing in the stand. Is this time well spent? Certainly it is for my daughter's introduction to the sport, but she too wants to see deer. How long will she be willing to sit silently while waiting on deer we are not going to see. One thing about moving the hunt other properties is the new potential for the hunt; always something new. There are new views, new wildlife, new patterns and sounds and of course new deer. I think that may be a ticket to keeping her interest, and also mine. With other properties out there to explore and take advantage of their resources, maybe it is time for me to take the path away from my convenience. I need to get out there and make the most of my, and my family's time on the hunt.  I need to go back and hunt the lands of my past and I need to explore the news lands available to me now. I need to pack up the kids and hit the road. I think it is time to travel.