I guess we're in for an early ice fishing season around these parts.
Looking at the thermometer this a.m. (Wednesday), I see that it has dipped to about 11 degrees, a bit colder than predicted. There's ice and people are out fishing on it. It's always a concern, though, about what will follow. Will the snow come like it did last year and make for slushy conditions and keep the ice from growing very fast? Or will we get a cold shot of Canadian air, driving that ice down far and fast?
I was up in my tree the previous night with my bow and arrows, and I could hear the ice moaning and groaning. It was a beautiful night to be on stand. I did see one big deer work its way through the swamp and had another come from downwind of me that must have got wind of me and ended up tip-toeing back from where it had come from. The wind was out of the south/southwest - not the best wind for this particular stand, but I had left my rattling antlers on a branch the last time I hunted it and I had to get them.
Will that be my last bow hunt of 2008? Probably not. But now that we have ice, it gets more difficult to go with deer when I know there are hungry fish calling.
The muzzleloader season opened over the weekend, so it's back to blaze orange for a couple of weeks.
A lady from church stopped me last week and said that she had a deer story from her son. She said he was praying the hunter's prayer and, a few minutes later, he had his deer - right on the grill of his truck. Like she said, be careful what you pray for.
As we try to digest all of our gobbler and fixings from the Thanksgiving Day feast, let's not forget how thankful we should be and make sure to remember those who need help during times like these.
WALLEYEDAN Eigen may be reached at (218) 839-5598, walleyedan@brainerd.com or www.walleyedan.com.
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