Couldn't Thread the Needle

I found this arrow after taking a walk in the woods this morning. It is the remaining section of my (31 inches) carbon fiber arrow that snapped when I tried to thread the needle on Sunday evening.

I am happy that every arrow shot was a clean miss and the deer was not wounded. Wounding a deer and watching it walk off after a non-lethal shot is difficult. An ethical hunter tries their absolute best to take an animal without causing it undue harm.

Humble Pie Tonight...Still No Venison!

After helping a friend hang sheet-rock in the new mudroom of his house, I headed home showered, put on my hunting clothes and ran for the woods. I moved a stand to a new spot this morning and wanted to hunt from it in the afternoon.

This is a special time of year for deer hunting. The full moon on Thursday evening (also known as the "hunter's moon)normally initiates the estrus cycle for does. Testosterone charged bucks begin "chasing" the does--or looking for a wife as we tell our kids. This cycle increases the animals' movement during daylight hours, which provides hunters with better opportunities for harvesting a deer. Nonetheless, it is the best time of year for deer hunting.

During this time of year I use scent lures combined with a simulated doe bleat in an attempt to attract the deer to my location. I have always have great success with this combination. Immediately after hanging my stand in its new location I saturated a few cotton scent wicks and hung them on tree limbs and squirted doe scent on the ground.

At 3:15pm I was comfortably seated in my stand. I am about 15ft. off the ground at the top of a East-West slopping finger ridge looking down into a brook bottom. The sound of running water and warm temperature provided me a great place to read my litany, reflect and unwind.

After letting out a series of bleats, it finally happened! I saw a deer walking towards me about 120 yards from where I was sitting. This season has been really slow up to this point.

The deer continues walking toward me and then I lose him in some tall scrub-oak. After about 15mins he emerges (from behind a tree) at what I think is about 30 yards. Now he is standing directly in front of me, broadside, oblivious to my presence. This deer has one thing on his mind, he smells a familiar (annual) smell and is fervently searching for the source of such an exhilarating and attractive scent.

I draw my bow and settle my 30 yard pin right behind his shoulder. I let the arrow fly, and to my shock the arrow sails clear over the deer's back. A clean miss! The deer is a little startled and runs off a few steps trying to figure out what just happened. What's amazing is that he did not leave the area. He stayed there and put his nose right back to the ground looking for the source of his desire. I knock another arrow and get ready to shoot. I am following him as he meanders up the ridge towards me. I take out my laser range finder and (range him) he is standing 20 yards from me. I settle my pin directly behind his shoulder and let a second arrow fly. I watch the arrow leave my bow seeking its mark. However, it never reaches the deer! The arrow hits a limb and is deflected up and away from the deer. The deer jumps at the sound and bounds off a few steps, again still remaining in the area. I knock a third arrow and leave him alone for few minutes; he scans the area trying to figure out what is happening.
The deer has now walked past me and is directly behind my stand. I turn all the way around (this is unheard of and I am not writing fiction) and range him again. He's now 30 yards from me, and is still oblivious to my presence. I wait for another opportunity and slowly draw my bow. The deer's head and neck are protruding from behind a large oak tree, but I can not see the rest of his body. At this point I've been holding my shot for a few minutes and the tension in my bow is getting the better of me. I am beginning to shake as the lactic acid builds up in my arms and shoulders. Now, the deer is looking right at me(or at least in my direction) he takes two steps forward and I let my arrow fly. It is deflected by the oak tree and the deer is saved again. It is my opinion that Divine protection is preventing me from taking this deer. The deer still does not run off. Rather he calmly walks directly into the group of small Hemlock pines where I sat Friday evening and disappears. I knock my fourth and final arrow!

I wait a few minutes, but the deer never emerges. I give a few bleats knowing that he will come running to the call of female companionship. However, it was not to be. He had an exit strategy that was perfectly executed. He must have slipped out the back door. How? I have no idea, my eyes were fixed on his point of entry and any movement would have been immediately detected. He was gone, and with him went my first chance of taking a deer this season.

Please excuse me while finish up the last few pieces of this very bitter humble pie.

Bear Prints

I did not plan to hunt this morning. Instead, I wanted to get some rest and then move one of my stands to different location. Around 8am I headed out to take down my stand and move it to an area where I have seen some good signs of deer in the past days.

On my way in to my stand I found this print on road. I think (assume) it is the print from the Black Bear I saw Friday night?

Bear v. Bear

I had an amazing encounter with a bear Friday. I ran home from work changed in to my hunting clothes and headed out the door behind my house (1.5 miles from campus).

I am sitting on the ground in some small Hemlocks. I call out with a few bleats, no response. I wait a bit, try it again...nothing! After the third round at about 4:40pm I hear some crashing through the woods something is running right to me!

My heart is racing and I turn to get into position (my Bear Assault bow is ready), I can see the small pines thrashing about; it must be a monster (I think to myself)! My heart is racing even faster, I am excited (it's been a very trying season to say the least).

All of a sudden the animal pokes its head through the trees and I am face to face with a large Black Bear--5yrds between us! I can't tell you what I was thinking other than, "oh...that's not a deer!"

The Bear took one look at me and ran in the other direction. I am glad it had some sense; I would not have wanted to break the law and arrow a Bear without a tag. =)

Pretty interesting to write about this, and it was even more amazing to see a mature Bear that close. Perhaps we will meet again, and this time I will have a tag and my Assault will prove worthy.

Shoot Straight >>------------->

A Wish and A Hike

When my daughter turned eight, she said she wanted to climb Mount Moolsilauke in New Hampshire, the peak is 4802 feet. So we made a plan and camped about 2 miles away for the night. The night brought a heavy rain, but we stayed dry!
In the morning we headed out and started our journey. I had an eight year old and an five year old as my hiking partners. We had an amazing hike up and only a few meltdowns before we reached the top!
However, coming down was another issue!
They agreed it was a tough hike, but, they both agreed they would like to do it again!

Think Outside the Masjid!

One of the most beautiful aspects of our tradition is the constant reference to the outdoors. Repeatedly we are told to reflect upon the Sky, Sun, Moon, Stars, Mountains and Rivers, which are presented to us as signs. These signs contain manifest and subtle meanings that humble us through beauty, awe and sheer creative magnificence. However, if we never stop to reflect and seek opportunities to take in these signs, then we risk limiting the depths our spiritual growth.

One of my greatest experiences in understanding this relationship occurred while sitting in a tree-stand early one morning. I was hunting whitetail deer in New England and as the sun began to rise I began to witness an array of colors both in the sky and on the trees. The brilliant colors of autumn that embellish the Northeast are breathtaking . However, this morning I was blessed to see beyond the leaves and trees into a deeper meaning.

Out of the corner of my eye I saw a leaf falling, and as it floated down I followed it until it reached the floor of the forest. Immediately I was reminded of the verse in the Qur'an that reads: “And with Him are the keys of the unseen treasures--none knows them but He; and He knows what is in the land and the sea, and there falls not a leaf but He knows it, nor a grain in the darkness of the earth, nor anything green nor dry but (it is all) in a clear book.” [Qur'an 6:59]

I thought of this leaf falling in the knowledge of God, and after it landed I began to look at all the leaves on the ground in relation to God's knowledge. I then extended this thought to the leaves in the surrounding area, and then to the state, and then the region, and then to the entire East coast. Then I extended this thought to the continents and then thought about this occurrence happening from the beginning of time to our present day and beyond. It was an amazing experience!

With this thought I looked at the trees and was reminded of the following verse: “And if whatever trees upon the earth were pens and the sea [was ink], replenished thereafter by seven [more] seas, the words of Allah would not be exhausted; surely Allah is Mighty, Wise.
[Qur'an 31:27] Similarly, what if all these trees were pens and all the trees creation from the beginning of time to the end were used to write the word's of God? And what if the Atlantic Ocean that I grew up surrounded by and the Pacific Ocean whose cliff's I had stood upon and the Indian Ocean which I had swam in while in South Africa and all the remaining oceans, with their vastness, were ink? Endless pens and unlimited ink, yet the words of the Creator Supreme would not be exhausted!

With this new understanding I was able to connect the outward and that which is apparent with subtle meanings from the Divine. My immediate feeling was gratitude. How many times had I walked through this area, how many times had i walked among the trees and how many leaves had fallen in my sight? How many times had I looked at the floor of the forest only to see composting debris, devoid of any meaning? This time it was as if a veil had been lifted and these meanings were as obvious as they were visible.

These moments of clarity are gifts and I long for more of them. However, one thing I know for sure is that these moments will never happen by sitting inside!

Bow Hunting

One of the most beautiful aspects of our tradition is the constant reference to the outdoors.

The bow is a confirmed sunnah, and much exits throughout our tradition referencing its merits.

Whenever there is talk about the localvore movement it always surrounds fruits and vegetables. I would like to introduce the local (best tasting, organically raised, and ethically harvested meat into the equation).

I present to you--Venison. You can't get more local than that, you just can't!