Taking some liberty with the title of Mossy Oak’s TV show by the same title, Obsession Revealed, I thought I would let you in on what has seemingly become an obsession of mine this season.
As I’ve said previously, I got permission to hunt a new piece of property this year. By all accounts and signs, it’s a great spot. There’s only one problem: I’ve seen a total of 1 –yes 1 – deer on this place so far. What I thought was going to be a slam dunk on every hunt based on the amount of sign I saw when I scouted has become an obsession to get even a single deer in bow range.
The thing is, I have permission to hunt another spot that’s loaded with deer. Actually, good friend and NWTF Public Relations Manager, Brian Dowler, killed a nice buck there recently. And, the owner of the property has been nice enough to let me hunt pretty much when and where I want to, but I have yet to set foot on the place this deer season.
Why? Because I’m obsessed with the new place. At least, that’s the only reason I can figure.
At first, it was the newness of the spot; I was excited every time I got to hunt. I liken it to when you first started dating the hot girl in high school. All you wanted to do was spend all your free time with her. You talked on the phone way past curfew, made plans for the weekend and dropped anything and everything to spend your time with her.
From there my budding obsession progressed into the “I-can’t-believe-I’m-not-seeing-anything” phase. I would leave each hunt scratching my head and calling my hunting buddies with new theories as to what the deer were doing – or not doing in this case. (Ask Dowler and Mr. BG, they’ll tell you they’re sick of hearing about it.)
Now it’s at the begging stage. I sit in the stand or blind and try to connect with the deer through mental telepathy – I told you I was obsessed. I beg for just the sight of a deer. Heck, I’d take seeing the hind leg of one at 60 yards at this point. But alas, it hasn’t happened…yet.
So, since my wife and boys have been out of town, I’ve been hunting as much as possible. Anyone care to guess where I went?