I know I won’t sleep much tonight, even though I’m writing this more than a week before Nov. 20. I never sleep well the night before opening day, and I’m betting you don’t either.
I will have a dozen things stacked near the door, some fairly organized and some in a heap. Two pairs of gloves are never enough. Neither are 20 rounds of ammo, two flashlights, six handwarmers and untold snacks and water bottles. Will I survive until lunch on opening day?
What am I forgetting? At 2 a.m., I’ll wake up suddenly and remember some earplugs, the Thermos bottle I rarely use or maybe some orange trail ribbon. Then it’s back to sleep until the next item on my mental list slaps me awake.
To those who don’t hunt, we can’t explain it. It’s never just about shooting a deer. It’s not just about hunting with family, friends or just knowing hundreds of thousands of fellow hunters will be doing the same thing in every woodlot and forest in the state.
Camaraderie is a great buzzword, but it goes far deeper. It is tradition as new as the latest rifle calibers and blaze orange, and as old as our ancestors who hunted with worn-down, handed-down lever actions and their ancestors who hunted with spears and handmade bows.
Mostly, it’s about anticipation. We always imagine that buck of dreams showing up in range, maybe in the first 10 minutes of legal shooting and the fellow hunters who will shake your hand, and it’s all very possible the night before. Reality comes after the hike to your stand.
Even a fat doe is a worthy target and a careful shot brings delicious venison and the same handshakes. Maybe you missed a big one last year or lost the deer camp poker game tonight, and your hunting buddies (they can be very annoying, right?) are just waiting for you to mess up again, but this year, you will get the last laugh.
Opening day is hope, faith, cold hands, a sore behind, the scold of a bluejay, the churrrr of a red squirrel, a flash of white and then, there he stands.
With all our dozens of trademarked camouflage patterns, nothing has ever matched brown buckskin. Deer appear like apparitions, suddenly and often close. And when they do, all of this preparation and expense and restlessness and research on moon phases, rut periods, scent control, buck lure and scouting is worth it. Just to be there, in that moment, and to see a deer, any deer, that close.
It’s the reason you are a deer hunter in the state where deer hunting is sacred. Any deer hunter knows all of this from his first season to his last.
When everything goes well and your aim is true, the hard work starts. Field dressing a deer is never fun, but it does get easier with practice. If you have cleaned a rabbit or squirrel, it’s the same idea, only on a much larger scale.
If this is your first hunt and you don’t have anyone to guide you, there are some printed guides available online that you can copy and carry.
The Wisconsin DNR has a link to a two-part video that will show you in detail how to cut up a carcass into steaks, roasts and more. Watch it at https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MtAhwjk3uMo&t=40s.
The DNR has a variety of information about disposing the carcass waste. Although there has never been a documented case of a human getting infected from chronic wasting disease by eating an infected deer, the DNR also advises to not eat a contaminated deer and will issue a new deer license if there is enough time for the hunter to use it.
Call me lazy, but after hunting in all kinds of weather for a few days, the last thing I want to do is spend three or four hours cutting up a deer. I find a local processor who will take my whole deer and work his magic. The price for the service has gone up, but so has everything else.
Wear plenty of blaze orange, and if you are hunting from a ground blind, you are required to have a blaze orange “cap” on the blind if it’s on public land (use a similar cap on private land so other hunters can see it).
Enjoy the magic that is opening day and when you are tired, take a nap. When it stops being fun, go home or back to camp. Exhausted hunters take shortcuts and have accidents. Make sure you wear a safety harness if you hunt from a treestand. Ground blinds make naps much safer.
Good luck to all. I hope to see you at the meat processor.
Ross Bielema is a freelance writer from New London and owner of Wolf River Concealed Carry LLC. Contact him at Ross@wolfriverccw.com.
