Quest for Venison

The legends were in place:


If you want [it], you'll have to get up before day.
"Well then I'll get up before day." - Old Jack Beechum, paraphrased

View from the stand - looking down the draw (I sat in this stand and did not exit once from 0600 to 1500 on Saturday, and again from 0615 to 1100 on Sunday):

Didn't see a single deer to shoot at, so I got up and stalked around on top of the ridge. Ten minutes into that, I kicked up two does - they had been bedded down just ~50 yards east of me on the ridgetop. Needed a buck though, and I only saw their flags waving at me anyway. I'll tell you this: the landscape is unsurpassed. Big River could be seen from the stand looking east. To the south, the mouth of the Whitewater River snaked through the last of its valley. To the north I could see across to the next ridge over. To sit up there, deer or no, was truly a privilege and I'm thankful to the folks who granted me passage. Here are a couple shots looking out from the top:


On the second day, three more does were jumped up to me at the top of the draw. Never did see a buck (lottery area, and I wasn't a winning ticket). As Sunday wore down, I took to sitting in a few different places and watching and listening for a while at a time. I saw three different woodpeckers (pileated, downy, red-bellied), brown creepers (first time I've ever been able to watch that bird), chickadees, white-breasted nuthatches and bald eagles. As a final salute I captured this portrait of a somewhat-forlorn but very-at-peace hunter staring out at The Driftless.