Autumn 2006: A washout or wonderful?

To some, the term “hunting” implies a vision of the hunter being totally consumed in his or her quest of the prey. In reality, though, what occurs during any hunt is a cornucopia of lateral interests and activities of which the actual pursuit of game is but a very small part.

Take, for example, the average squirrel hunt I often partake of in autumn. On the walk to the woods I’m forever gawking at the distant hills that are ablaze in autumn foliage. Then I may be distracted by a passing flock of Canada geese or a small group of Monarch butterflies, gathering and preparing to migrate. Looking downward, I may spot a small white cluster of meadow mushrooms or puffballs, and the lingering memory of tasty fried fungi stirs me to make sure I take time to harvest some on my way back from the hunt.

Once in the squirrel woods, I try to concentrate on the task at hand, which is to add a couple bushytails to tomorrow night’s dinner menu. An acrobatic nuthatch that’s adeptly scurrying up and down a tree trunk, in search nearly invisible insects hiding beneath the bark, interrupts my concentration. I then marvel at how the tiny bird seems to defy gravity and wonder if the blood rushes to its head when it’s clinging upside down to the tree. A rustle in the nearby fallen leaves catches and refocuses my attention. Then the tiny grey head of a shrew appears from under the edge of a leaf, like a tank commander peering out from the top hatch of his vehicle. The shrew, on a hunt of its own, reminds me that most of what occurs on this planet has to do with hunting, in one form or another.

Ask an avid grouse or other upland bird hunter what the main attraction of the activity is, and, chances are, they’ll say it’s watching the bird dog(s) work and the enjoyment they derive from the sights, sounds and scents that make up the autumn outdoors. Same goes for waterfowl or rabbit hunters as well as bowhunters that are after a deer. Autumn, even more so than spring, normally has a distinctive and highly pleasant personality, and one that involves all of our senses. It seems to be somewhat of a “kissing up” on the part of nature before the bleakness and cold of the winter season sets in. And regardless of whether you hunt, fish, hike, bird watch, or whatever, the appeal of the autumn outdoor experience is undeniable. Of course all this depends on the quality of the autumn season we get.

While our most common vision of autumn consists of clear blue skies, brilliant foliage and comfortably cool daytime temperatures and crisp nights, the past couple of years has seen nature deal us a bad hand for what should be our most beautiful season. Abundant clouds, rain and brisk winds reduced the season to but a handful of typical autumn day conditions. Last year was a good example, as the peak of the area’s foliage colors barely last two days before heavy rain and wind whisked them away, leaving the area landscape appear more like late November than October. I recall spending a few early October mornings in a duck blind in St. Lawrence County last fall, surrounded by barren bushes and trees, and thinking, “At least our foliage will still be there when I get home.” It wasn’t.