Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Hunters enjoy return to Camp See No Deer
Archers take liking to white-tail woods
We’re midway through archery deer season, and it’s high time to file a report from Camp See No Deer, the little woodlot where we bowhunters enjoy quiet and solitude that’s occasionally interrupted by a wary white-tail.
The big news at Camp See No Deer is our return from a hunting hiatus last season and the evolution of our little piece of paradise. Over the years, development has put the squeeze on our deer hunting. There are fewer acres that we’re comfortable hunting on, with new homes on some sold property close to Beaver Lake.
The generous landowner who graciously lets us bowhunt on Camp See No Deer land never said we had to stop hunting. Last season, it just didn’t feel right with a half-dozen new homes close by. The last thing we wanted was to shoot a deer and have to retrieve it by trespassing on someone else’s property who we don’t know. So it was self-imposed exile that we stayed away, resigned to the fact that our beloved Camp See No Deer was no more.
Around the middle of summer, an owner of one of those new homes stopped to visit yours truly while he was idling down our country road in his ATV.
“You’re welcome to hunt when bow season opens in the fall,” he said.
The area has way too many deer, he rightly said, and some of them need to be thinned out. I mentioned that even if I got the five deer I’m legally allowed, it wouldn’t amount to much thinning.
His home and others are on property that was once part of Camp See No Deer. I voiced concern to my new neighbor about trespassing in the event I needed to go outside of Camp See No Deer to recover a buck or doe.
Come to find out, he said, that all the other folks in those new homes are summer people. By October, they’re all gone to wherever they go for the winter.
I still wasn’t sold, but felt excitement about bowhunting again. To seal the deal, I checked with each year-round homeowner close to Camp See No Deer to get their OK, not to hunt there, but to come on their property if need be. They all said yes.
My neighbor even walked the woods with me while I picked out a good spot for my ladder-style tree stand to make sure it was on his land or Camp See No Deer grounds. I spotted a familiar cedar tree next to gnarly oak that drops a bushel of acorns each fall. Miracles do happen, and I’ve put venison on the table with my stand fastened to this tree. It’s good to be back hunting.
Camp See No Deer has evolved, and so have I. After 30-plus years of bowhunting, most of it has become treestand meditation for me. I don’t get as excited about taking a shot as I used to. That’s not to say I won’t.
That evolution seems to follow a path other long-time hunters experience in four phases. One, you want to shoot a deer. Two, you want to shoot more than one deer. Three, you want to shoot a trophy buck. Four, you enjoy the hunting success of others more than your own. You’re eager to share what you’ve learned to help younger hunters get their deer.
Without realizing it, I’ve happily moved into phase four and enjoy hours of tree stand meditation once again at Camp See No Deer.