I Went for a Walk

I went for a walk today.  Well, it didn't start out as just a walk.  I went out the door with hopes of catching some Steelhead Trout today, but no such luck.  Becky and mom were going shopping today so it  provided the perfect opportunity to relax down by the river for a few hours.  At about nine this morning we were loaded up and ready to go and I dropped Becky and Micaiah off at mom and dad's and then headed for the river.  I parked my truck and donned my chest waders, hat, gloves and blaze orange vest (today is extended deer season here and I didn't feel like getting shot) and then carefully made my way down to the river.  It was about fifteen degrees, but quite honestly it didn't feel too bad in the sunshine.  I fished for probably an hour until I got snagged and broke my line off.  I took some pictures while I was down there and man was it peaceful.  Before I headed back to the truck I decided to follow some of the deer tracks that were down there.  I let my mind wander and tried to imagine where that deer was going.  What was she up to?  Was she just looking for some food under the snow that blanketed the ground?  Was she headed to bed down for the day?  After following the trail for a little while I'm not sure where she was going, but she was definitely searching for food.  She had uncovered some clumps of grass to nibble on.  She had also totally messed up this one area and all of the leaves were on top.  It took me a minute to figure out what she was doing, but then I realized that all of the commotion took place under a few big oak trees.  She must've remembered those trees and the acorns that were buried under the snow.  After she left the oaks she headed over onto a sandbar in the middle of the river.  I followed her trail through there and she nibbled on the ends of some small scrubby trees.  I followed her until her trail crossed the river completely and off to the other side.  It was actually a lot of fun.  How do I know it was a "she"?  Well, the thing that made it obvious, other than that her prints weren't that big, was that every time she urinated the spot of urine was in one spot directly between her two back feet.  Female deer almost always stop and squat to pee, whereas males will often do it on the run and it's all over the place.  I just recently read an article about tracking deer and that was one thing that I remembered.  So in the end I came home with nothing but a few pictures.  No deer, no fish, but I got some good exercise, cleared my mind and tried out my tracking skills.  A skill that a century ago most men probably had and thought nothing of.  It was just common knowledge.