Hunting is the Excuse

An owl hoots in the distance
A squirrel barks alarm
The birds welcome me the morning
As the light of dawn begins to shine
The smell of pine and oak invade my sense
As the wind blows and sways through the treetops
Oh there's nothing like greeting a morning
Alone in the forest just me with nature

A bright male cardinal sings his melodies
Jumping limb to limb
While warblers and woodpeckers
Provide entertainment all their own
Squirrels provide false hope as they make
Noise similar to deer only to "reward" me
With a carefully dropped pine cone
Ensured to make the most noise possible
Birds fly by I cannot see
The flutter of their wings I hear
In the far distance the first sound of
Muzzleloader fire

Golden streams of sunshine
Filter through the pines
Patches of fog clouds hang
Low throughout the forest
A droplet of dew sparkles on a strand
Of a spider web silhouetted by the sun as it
Sits structured between two trees
Ready to snare some unsuspecting prey
A red-tailed hawk shrieks its
Magnificent call as it glides above the palmettos
And up to its perch high in an oak tree and
Off it goes again

Then complete silence if for only a second
Just to show it can
Still no sign of deer and yet I'm at peace
It's the joy of being one with nature
Listening to the crickets with their
Unending symphony
Watching the stars fade
The dark turn to day
The leaves fall from the trees
The smell of pine, oak, elm, palmettos...
The fresh air of nature
Hearing the owls, woodpeckers, crows, turkeys
And various songbirds celebrating the day
Is just incredibly awesome and breathtaking
It's what life is about.
Hunting is just merely the excuse to experience it.

S Pearson