If you’re from Mars or some other distant planet then you probably were not aware that today was opening day for Michigan firearm deer season. So it seemed sort of fitting, by accident of course, that the day I chose to get up before sunrise and take pictures also happened to be the same day that thousands of hunters anxiously awaited for their buck to come in.
Okay, so I wasn’t in a blind quietly waiting like everyone else awake at this hour, but I was waiting quietly watching the gradually lightening sky to see what masterpiece this mornings light would bring. It was cold and crisp, but it was clear which is why I decided not to go back to bed after my alarm went off. Besides. Some of my proudest images have been captured when it was cold and crisp. Maybe it’s all about getting out when most others would not. Than again here I was, one photographer among thousands of deer hunters. Maybe there is something about this cold crispness that we all like.
I had already taken my first shots because I didn’t want to miss any of the changing light. As usual I was deep in concentration as I scanned the horizon for where to aim my camera next. And then it came. A sort of connection. The sound of someone’s first shot coming from the nearby hills. That really put it all in perspective. We were all out here, in the crisp morning air, making the most of our opportunities.
Never having hunted deer I have never experienced that excitement of opening day that I had heard so many times in so many ways from avid hunters the Monday after. Yet here I was experiencing that very day in a different sort of way.
My reward for this day’s early morning efforts was another opportunity to see nature at its finest. Whether or not I came away with some great images was not important. It’s the experience that I will remember. And the hunters? I’m willing to bet they will also have something to remember. Buck or not. I’m sure we will hear all about it on Monday.
