North country whitetails

It’s Sunday, November 2, and I’m heading down Lake of the Woods in a 19-foot Lund with a 90-hp out­board. I’m with my deer-hunting buddy Deryk Anderson and our friend and photographer Tom Thompson. Our plan, hatched several months earlier, is to hunt the western side of the big lake that I haven’t hunted in several years, but where I’ve taken nice bucks. Tom has arranged a couple of night’s accommodation for us with his brother Ian, who owns a cabin on the lake that is located centrally to our hunting area. In November, camping on Lake of the Woods isn’t too pleasant, especially when the weather turns cold and the back bays start to freeze. It’s been a cold autumn. Northwestern dreams of whitetails We’d been chatting it up as we travelled, but eventually we settle back and turn intro­spective. I think about how the hunt has been progressing and anticipate tomorrow’s hunt. A smile crosses my lips. It’s been good so far. Although I haven’t taken a deer or a moose yet, I’ve had opportunities to do so. Trophy deer consume my thoughts. I look at Deryk, knowing he’s thinking about a tro­phy as well. I think of how great it is to be able to tote my rifle around, hunting deer and moose. It’s one of the main reasons I moved to north­western Ontario and one of only a few things I’d do again if I had to live my life over. But, while the deer season here runs concur­rently with the moose season for more than two months, the first two weeks of November are almost always tops for deer. It’s the time when most deer hunters, wherever they hunt in Ontario, are in the field. “This is the time,” I mutter to myself. We’re turning the bend to Ian’s cabin. I look at my watch. It’s been about a 40-min­ute ride from Kenora. We arrive just as another hunting party is packing up and leaving. It’s the Halleys. They tell us they’ve taken three deer on the weekend, including two 10-point bucks. The boat with the deer has already left, but thanks to a digital camera, we see the photo proof. Planning by firelight It’s a beautiful, if somewhat blustery late autumn evening. Good for deer hunting. And the weather forecast is for cold, clear skies, with little wind overnight and into the next day.