Saturday Morning

Sorry for the light posting this week from down here around the Equator. I've been running busy preparing for a trip at my day job (Ducks Unlimited) and working on a feature story for Realtree.com in the evenings. But, most importantly, this week is the countdown week to the Kentucky bow season. I'll be leaving town early tomorrow afternoon and hunting for four solid days. It's hot and miserable this time of year, but as I've said on here before, early September has tons of big-buck potential. And, right now, we're shaping up to have decent weather, with highs in the low 80s and lows in the 50s. I'll take that over last year's 100-degree heat any day.

All this running around reminds me of bow-season eve as a kid. Much too excited to sleep, I'd gather up a pile of hunting videos (I always had Whitetails in the Wild, Monster Bucks of North America, and Monster Bucks II in my pile), put them on for background noise and attempt to dose. When I would inevitably wake up, I'd spend time honing the blade of my big Buck knife, a sentimental piece given to me by my dad, with a stone and ceramic sharpening sticks. I could get that sucker scary sharp. Often, by 3:30 a.m. or so, I couldn't stand it any more. I'd be perched in my treestand an hour later and spend a couple hours in the dark woods.

I don't have as much trouble sleeping these days, but I'd say chances are good I'll be awake before my alarm rings Saturday morning. My wife, Michelle, who'll be bowhunting for the first-time ever this weekend, is walking paces around me as we speak, packing camo in scent-free bags and gathering up as many ThermaCell refills as she can find. Even if I don't wake up early on my own, she will.

So that's that. I'm going to arrow the first doe or nice 8-pointer that walks by my stand, and be a happy camper. More importantly, I want Michelle to get a shot at something. But I'm also going to venture a guess that a book buck falls somewhere in Kentucky over the next week. I'll keep updates on here best I can.

To all the other folks heading out this weekend, good luck, belt in to that tree, and shoot straight.

-Will