soeffinhappy

For the last three days I've been spending my time reveling in the beauty of nature. While hunting in the mountains of Tioga county, my soul was cleansed in pure waters of the earth. Now I feel like a man reborn. Many people are against hunting but I always feel that they're missing something. I always feel that if they would just come out and feel that cold, clear air in their lungs, see way the sun and the snow and the trees all come together to make so breath-taking an image, and hear the utter stillness of the woods, they would change their tune. For me, hunting has always been about spending time in nature first, and about killing second. Spooking the game doesn't bother me. I'm content to sit and listen to the trees creak in the wind. On the first day, I got up to take off my rain jacket and stood, mouth agape as a buck with antlers on only one side of his head ran straight at me. He slowed down less than 25 feet away, looked at me for just a second and then bolted off into the forest. I barely heard a sound the entire time. About a half hour later, I heard rustling sounds behind me. I slowly turned my head to investigate and saw four deer, one of whom was a buck. While turning my body, the barrel of my gun brushed against a twig, making it twang back and forth like a doorstop. The deer saw this from two hundred yards away and escaped soundlessly. I somewhat regretted getting my deer the first day, it meant that I wouldn't be able to sit and see more the rest of the week. The next two days I drove the deer for my dad and my uncle though. This was just as enjoyable, even though I saw no game. Walking leisurely through the mountains, crossing brooks, and looking down shear dropoffs, I was stunned by the healing power of nature. Having come from the soil and the leaves and the trees, Man feels closer to his maker when he returns to those things. Indeed he is. Looking up from the mountaintop at the sun shining through the clouds, you feel truly closer to God.
There is a stillness that exists in the woods that is broken by man's presence. Everything in the woods moves but all this movement lacks the noise that you hear in the city. There are sounds, but they are somehow quieter than the sounds of the buildings and cars and people. You don't dare speak in a voice louder than a whisper, for fear of offending the gods who lord over this hallowed place. You hear a rustle behind you and are shocked to find that it wasn't the wind, it was an animal four feet tall with antlers as wide as both my hands, and weighing two hundred pounds or more. These animals move through the forest like ghosts, barely disturbing a twig. Mother Nature is truly awe inspiring.