We are just a month away from the start of the winter season, according to the calendar. I was asking my wife last week what had happened to the fall season and whether I had just missed it. Even after it got cool, the warm air was never away from us over a few days and it seems that the cold can’t get a good hold on the area. Usually, we have a start of winter around the Thanksgiving holidays, giving us a taste of what is to come next month.

Fall is my favorite season of the year. Winter and summer are both extremes and spring, though nice, is so green. Spring is the bet time to catch fish—at least the easiest time to catch them anyway. We have hunting seasons in the fall and fishing season never goes out. After a really hot summer, the cool mornings of the fall make everyone feel so good and it is a joy to be outside at this time of year. Because we live so far down in the United States, we are not subjected to the harsh weather that other folks to our north have during the fall and winter. Maybe that’s the reason I like fall.

Most years, we do have a rather dry fall and the water levels fall. We have had that this year and it has been made worse due to the fact that we didn’t have any tropical storms to visit Southwest Georgia. As you may well remember, the 1994 and 1998 floods came from tropical storms. They didn’t bring a tremendous amount of wind, but they did have copious amounts of rainfall. I know we are holding back all the water we can, but some has to be passed on to the Florida folks. The river from us on down to the coast is very low. Having no rainfall, there is not much we can send them, regardless of what the outcome of the water wars is. I truly believe that the folks on the river below us think that we send them all the water that we can. It is the government folks that need to have something to argue about all the time.

If some more rain comes through our area, followed by some drop in the temperatures, we should have decent hunting weather leading up to the holidays. If the woods continue to be dry, the hunting will be less than we need and sitting in a deerstand will be trying. The trees are dropping their leaves and it is easy to see the squirrels playing around in the trees. Try not to get to distracted by the entertainment and let a big old buck get past you. It wouldn’t be a bad idea to take along a soft cushion to sit on while you await the arrival of your big buck. A hard seat and a sore behind can make your hunting experience miserable.

The hunting stores have plenty of cover scents, as well as attracting scents in their inventory. They also have a few deer calls you can use to help pass the time. The cover scent is something every hunter should use. If used properly, the deer will never smell you and never know you are in the woods—so long as you remain still. Deer have excellent eyesight and their sense of smell is second to none. It would behoove you to not let him use either of those senses against you. If he is able to use one or both of them, you will definitely be the loser.