Midwest meditation

 Jed was nice enough to let me come back to Iowa for treestands and rutting whitetail this fall. The results were emotions all across the spectrum, and ended with 9 days of enjoyment watching the Iowa’s hardwoods transition from fall to winter from an treestand, a solid buck, and a doe.

Bringing home a massive bucks with kickers, and the meat from a doe were icing on the cake from this hunt. The greatest memories of this hunt are sprinkled through the nine days of sitting from the morning darkness till the last hint of evening light. Some people don’t have the patience to sit that long. I used the time to collect my thoughts and just be an observant to the natural world that surrounded me.

-Fox squirrels, in a rush, scurrying across the leafy substrate in search of the nuts they would find, and then bounce from limb to limb, tree to tree, and then caching them in their nests. 

-The rich-baritone hoots and cackles of the barred owl in the twilight.

-The sudden shift in wind temperature and direction, that rustles the last dead leaves clinging on the bare limbs.

-the undeniable sound of leaves crackling under the hooves of a cruising buck.

- a far-off barking farm dog

-A black-capped chickadee ignoring my presence just mere feet away.

-the drumming of a red-headed woodpecker on a decaying tree limb.

-A small gang of Tom turkeys that seem to catch your movement even through the tree limbs from long distances. 

- A nervous doe and her fawns feeding directly underneath you looking out for incoming danger constantly, without the slightest knowledge that their greatest predator stands 15’ overhead.

- The moments of stillness, when nothing is moving, not even a squirrel. 

-Wrapping your cold fingers around the hand warmers in your pockets

- the combination of fox and doe urine smells emitting from your rubber boots.

-A coyote on a mission,  making you wonder where he has been and where he’s going.

-The regular sounds of high-flying waterfowl cackling to one another and all headed  one direction, south.

- Visions of giant bucks in your shooting window

- The sighting of a bird you almost certain you’ve never seen before.

- Grabbing hold of the tree trunk you’re fastened to when a heavy gust of wind sways the mighty tree, as if grabbing it will save you if the tree were to fall over.

-Your inner-body so chilled, you’re not sure you could stand and shoot at a buck if you tried. 

Even till the last minute of the 9-day hunt., I enjoyed being in that tree. It was what I became comfortable with, like it would be hard to adjust back to normal life.

You feel insignificant up there, almost as if you’re not there at all. Between my stillness, my camouflage, and scent cover, it gave me a glimpse of the natural hardwood forests in their most raw, undisturbed form . It answers the question I’ve asked myself many times, “What would this place be like if I wasn’t here?”

It’s likely the same logic urbanites pay for to attend a meditation retreat. I’m sure it’s the same innate emotion that drives the need to attend such a place…retreat, reconnect, and meditate. They just don’t know how else to scratch that itch besides paying somebody to show them how. They’ve been disconnected. My idea is more natural and more redneck. I connect with the dirt, wildlife, plants in their natural setting, rather than a piece of real estate that is groomed for “beauty and tranquility” and designed by man.

So if you feel the need to reconnect to your more natural, biological side. If your life feels a little empty living the 9 to 5 lifestyle, I recommend climbing a tree and setting a copious amount of time doing “nothing” but observing, learning, and thinking. It’s dirt cheap and it’ll do wonders for your primitive soul.