This year was certainly a study in contrasts. During spring gobbler season a day seldom went by without rain. I was heartily sick of the rain after 2 weeks, but the weather God’s didn’t seem to care about my feelings for it never stopped. Good grief! This may be hard to believe, but the thought actually occurred to me that the heavy spring rains could possibly forecast an upcoming drought. This impression was strong enough it stuck with me instead of dissolving away with time but would it actually happen? It didn’t seem likely, but sadly it did, a long, rainless summer.

Natural springs that never went dry in my lifetime stopped running this year and it’s going to take above average amounts of rain and snow to raise the deep rock water tables back up to normal.

The drought was a disaster for everyone’s food plots. With great expectations fields were plowed, tilled, fertilized, limed and planted. This activity seemed to act as a switch, for the rain immediately stopped and all the time, effort and money invested was wasted. One turnip field of the 5 planted actually sprouted; when the leaves reached 6-inches in height the deer hammered it and, in a week, it was gone. Most discouraging.

What surprised me was the number of acorns in the forest this year. Despite the lack of rain many areas experienced a solid harvest. Oak trees have a deeper root system than other trees and it’s to this I attribute the healthy mast crop. Deer love acorns and took advantage of this surprising bonanza.

The drought and subsequent loss of the farm’s food plots was very disappointing to Jay Acker and the rest of our camp crew as we all had invested considerable energy and time in the venture. A few nocturnal bucks infrequently visited the sites for the few turnips and clover that managed to stick up some short, scraggly leaves.

Naturally, the lack of food plots made archery season challenging as the stands overlooking them were pretty much useless. However, oak groves and acorns allowed Jay to have some hopes of success in those areas. Small bucks were seen but nothing worthwhile until the rut when he had a close encounter with a big 10-point that came to his grunt call. Though the big buck was literally underneath his tree stand, things didn’t work out, very disappointing to have a deer so close and not bag him.

Suddenly, archery was past and rifle buck season was just days away. Rifle season is always special as it’s truly camp time. Once the Thanksgiving feast is over all thoughts turn to camp, sighting in the rifles, making plans and picking stands. Anticipations run high. Even those hunters fortunate to have bagged an archery buck show up to share in the camaraderie, food and camp life. There’s nothing like it, so special, a tradition running back for generations of hunters.

Though snow is now uncommon for the first day, this year the lake effects swirled off Lake Erie and snow falls in the area ran from a foot to 18-inches or more in spots. The opener would be a cold one but the snow creates excellent visibility.

At 5:30 the alarm blared and those with unfilled tags crawled out of the sack and prepared for the morning’s hunt. Jay dressed warmly, grabbed his .270 and headed for the Cherry Tree Stand. The deer still dug here for the few acorns remaining and the area watched over a travel corridor and a lower Hemlock edge. He managed to make it safely down the very steep icy road in his SUV, passing two 4-wheel drive trucks already unfortunately in the ditch, victims of the very slick road conditions.

He reached the stand, climbed in, loaded the rifle and immediately began checking his surroundings. Visibility was quite good despite the early hour thanks to the snow. Half an hour slipped by, then at the extreme edge of his sight he caught movement. Raising his binoculars to better see through the cover he caught the flash of antlers! It was a buck and a big one! Adrenalin surged into his system, his heart suddenly racing as he cranked the scope magnification up to 9X and tried to pick an opening ahead of the walking buck. Because of the distance and thick cover Jay wondered if he’d even get an opportunity for a shot. The buck slipped through a small clearing and now was angling away. Aiming at the last possible opening ahead of the buck he waited, hoping for a chance. The deer entered it and stopped. Now or never!

The .270 blasted, the deer spun and raced downhill. Hurriedly he climbed down and rushed to the tracks but failed to find any trace of a hit. A few yards further on he discovered 1 hair with blood on it and then a few scattered drops here and there. Uncertainty overcame him, was the buck hit fatally or not?

After 80 yards of tracking he came to a small ravine and to his great joy there lay his buck, large antlers sticking up out of the snow. Oh, the relief, oh, the joy! The big 10-point had a 20 ½-inch spread and nice points, what a trophy! Congratulations Jay, great shot and dreams do come true.