Diz-Knee-Land in the woods

In conjunction with the last fire-side chat, I will elaborate on the opening weekend of Buck centerfire season. It all started Friday night. I arrived at my hallowed campsite with visions of sugar-plum bucks dancing thru my head and a day of hunting awaiting my awakening in the morning. I got camp in order before I set down for my evening nap. All was right in the world. Not a sound other than the coyotes yipping and yowling at the clear sky and the bright crescent moon. I should have known from that what foreboding details were on the wind. A weather forecast of highs in the mid 80's and clear skies. A deer hunters worst nightmare in October. Good weather is not good when it comes to stalking the great Mule deer. I bit down hard and decided to buck up and give it the ol' college try. As I set out for my few 'choice' spots, I began to realize this was a wasted effort. It wasn't even 7:30am and I'd already seen more hunters than deer. I'd seen less deer throughout  my whole 3 months of scouting. By noon, I'd seen another 20+ hunters and NO deer what-so-ever. The woods appeared to be a new theme park for geriatric motorhome drivers who needed an excuse to see Oregon. It was ridiculous. I felt if I were to see a deer, I'd be pulling my gun out in the middle of the Pine Mountain Senior Center. God forbid you pull a gun in the middle of geezer meeting while they're playing bingo or majon or bridge or whatever it is those old folks do. It was the worst management of hunting resources I have seen in many years. The Forest Circus had all the roads in the unit closed other than the main arteries, keeping the entire population that was hunting the unit contained into certain corridors and off all the good hunting roads. So, hence, DIZ-KNEE-LAND. I felt like I was waiting in line for Space Mountain to get a chance to (let alone SEE a deer) shoot my buck. By 12:30pm, I gave up on the hallowed grounds (where I hope MY buck made it through the weekend) and traveled north to Prineville rez. The scene there was much the same. Fortunately all the people around there were hunting a spot on the lake, something I wasn't all that concerned with. Unfortunately, there were just as many deer there as there were back at Pine Mountain. NONE. The day wound up at Reynolds Pond. Enjoying a cold adult beverage and the cool water of the passing canal, I cooled my feet (and head) and relaxed for a while. I got a chance to chat with a local BLM ranger and learned from her that no one was having any significant luck hunting that day. Really, it was obvious. 80 degrees and blue sky do not = good deer hunting, no matter who or where you are. I cashed in my chips and called it a day. What a waste of time, gas, money, and effort. I should have known better but the temptation of OPENING day was just too much. Here's to the next hunt, hopefully better (worse) weather and less fricking geriatric tourists in my way. The week is long and so is my constitution and I'm not going to give up. I'm just wondering when Californians come into season.........?