Is It All Worth the Time, Sweat, Blood, Briars, Snakes and Effort?

On our DDH Twitter account, @deerhuntingmag, I noticed a tweet from a fellow hunter who had been out in the woods doing some season prep work and fighting with Mother Nature.

“Soaked in sweat and bleeding from briers. Come November that set will be worth it.” tweeted Kyle Sheesley (@kjsheesley) who, along with his pal @BrentChappell12, had been hacking through some wooded areas to get some setups ready for the season.

I also added a Stick 'n LIck Deer Pop from Extreme Hunting Solutions in the camera area, and deer wiped it out almost immediately. The deer in this area haven't seen any kind of goodies like this before so it wasn't long before they found it and pounded it. A few raccoons did, too. — I also added a Stick ‘n LIck Deer Pop from Extreme Hunting Solutions in the camera area, and deer wiped it out almost immediately. This has a long screw on the disposable base and screws into the tree. It’s fantastic. The deer in this area haven’t seen any kind of goodies like this before so it wasn’t long before they found it and pounded it. A few raccoons did, too.

The last few weekends I’ve had the same idea each Friday. Go to the woods, put out some salt in the mineral lick, check the cameras and pull SD cards, repair the step on the blind, cut some shooting lanes for new ground blinds, clean out some …

Yep, I have my Yeti cooler filled and ready to go in summer. Always.

And then Saturday rolls around and, doggone it, I just lose that getup ‘n go. Maybe because it’s been, as my wife says, “800 degrees like a sauna” out there this summer. But heat and humidity doesn’t bother me. I’ve just been lazy. Season’s near, though, and I need to get some work done. Nothing terribly major, but work that will make my hunts and my fellow landowner’s hunts more enjoyable, I hope, and maybe more successful.

So, yes, that fight with Mother Nature is worth it, all the briars, and spiderwebs in the face and OMG IS THAT A SPIDER ON MY NECK!!! and the heat, humidity, sweat, blood, maybe a snake here or there, wasps and whatever else is going on to get things done. Some folks call it elbow grease or sweat equity. A few folks call it dirt therapy, which I tend to agree with.

Yes, it’s worth it. Always is, always will be.

Part of my summer work involves trimming trees and small saplings where I want to walk, creating paths, and getting them out of the way so they don't snag or make noise when I'm moving around during the season. — Part of my summer work involves trimming trees and small saplings where I want to walk, creating paths, and getting them out of the way so they don’t snag or make noise when I’m moving around during the season.

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