Early Season, Slim Pickins II

After the first day in the woods, my dogs were barking. My colleague Josh had graciously provided me to a place to sleep. With the Patuxent River State Park being located near his house, it was a quick trip to a cool bed and warm meal. It made me a bit jealous though, that he had a such as short trip to great huntable land. It wasn' t long before clock struck o'dark thirty and we walking into the woods. Our destination today was pond to the east to sit and wait for deer to come in for an afternoon drink. The temperature today was going to reach above 80 which will certainly make an uncomfortable sit.
As we walked through the intermittent spiderwebs along the trail, my backpack and tree stand reminded me that I had lugged way too much into the woods.
The extra weight became my enemy again, only allowing me to get halfway to the pond. Disappointed with my lack of physical fitness, I choose a trail that branched off the main trail. The woods opened up and some great vantage points to the trail made it an easy sell. This portion of the woods though still lacked the deer sign that I wanted to see. The sit went fast, and before we knew it, we were walking back out of the woods. Without see any deer and still lacking solid proof of deer we would spend the day scouting around the area. As we drove around, it provided the chance to interact with other hunters and check other parking areas to access this long sliver shaped state park. Everyone seemed to be tight lipped, but a local farmer provided some valuable information. He let us know, that he found bedding areas out in the middle of the bean fields.
This helped to conclude on our feelings about the area coupled with early season activity. The deer have yet to endure any hunting pressure, the farm fields are untouched by John Deere green machinery, and the temperatures being so, the deer are still on vacation. We agreed to sit for the evening in other areas as confirmation, but still with a bit of hope to see something worth while in this heat. Since the previous evening had provided some deer activity, I choose to sit there again. On the route in though, the briar war was won with the edge of my Gerber Machete. Now if a small plank was available to cross the ravine, my day would be getting even better.
The walk created a waterfall of sweat on my brow from the heat and humidity. After an hour in the stand, my clothing finally dried out. The view would be dismal and uneventful. This truly solidified my early season expectations. Over the next few weeks, the deer will come out of vacation mode and begin their patterns. If one had to choose, a cool boat ride on the way to hot sit in the woods, would certainly be more enjoyable. A sika deer trip will be in my near future.