I got my first sit in yesterday afternoon. Every year the first couple of sits are a disaster. I arrived and parked with plenty of time to spare (thankfully). On my hike in, a new beaver dam created an fairly serious issue. The water levels in the swamp I am hunting are higher than I have ever seen. Now partially that is good, because it keeps other hunters out of that area. But it makes me nervous about the water level around the oaks I am trying to hunt in this location. I spent 20 minutes breaking the dam down a bit in hopes of lowering the water over the next couple of days (yes I know how futile that is).
I get to the oaks in good time apart from that interruption. There are three BIG red oaks in the timber right next to a swamp (spread out about 60 yards from each other). They haven't dropped nuts the last two years, so I figure they have to be on this year. I quickly check out the nearest tree, and yes there are nuts, but most are down and there are very few to be seen on the ground. Either the tree didn't drop as many as I would hope, or the critters have cleared them out. Regardless I move to setup on a tree.
Based on the wind I pick a slightly different tree than I have hunted before. A big multi stem maple. I start climbing and do ok - a bit slow. I put my gear strap on too low and hoist my pack on to it. Then I drop my screw in cup holder (phone, thermos cup, wind detector, book rest). I am not climbing down for this, so I just hunker down.
Within minutes my a$$ starts hurting and I get uncomfortable. Then the rain comes in. Then a murder of crows sets up on a big dead tree near me and crows and caws for 20 mins (What I would have done for a slingshot...).
Thankfully my legs and butt started to remember how to get comfortable, my rain gear did the job, the crows flew off eventually, and my book got me through the wait. No deer, but my first sit is in the books. Now I am ready...