Silence is Golden

Seldom has there been a day on stand that I wasn't entertained by the far off sounds of cars passing or children at a local school house playing. Deer seem to adapt to places like that, where the sounds come and go at relatively the same time every day. There is of course that golden moment that happens right around 9:00am where everything seems to stop and the chill of the morning cuts through the hunting attire that you chose for that day.

Not so much with Saskatchewan, The chill is there from the time you rise out of bed to meet the morning and pretty much stays there all day-you have to dress right. However something is missing once on stand and your guide has departed, something most take for granted as we accept it as the norm-there's no outside noise. Oh, there is the sound of an occasional logging truck in the distance-sometimes 20 or 30 miles away however other than that-silence.

I read a story about an Indian Chief once, he said that one must listen to one's self to find out how ignorant one is, if one listens to one's silence the torment will rise and be heard. I'm not sure exactly what he was getting at but I do know this-in the silence of the Saskatchewan Deer stand every noise is multiplied and your thoughts seem as though they are out loud and can't be silenced. Matched only by anticipation there is a constant battle to not fall within yourself and feel your every thought.

Northern Saskatchewan is Hollowed ground in my eyes, yes-there's probably been someone else in the stand that your sitting at one time or another however there's no guarantee that the deer before you have ever been there. You may well be encountering Whitetails who have never encountered a Human before. And so it is-Saskatchewan.

It is in that Silence where I find myself coming to grips with the past, exploring new thoughts and ideas, find myself fighting off the urge to take a nap and all at the same time feeling the chills of morning and anticipation as they run from your toes to your head and back. It's within the silence of the northern woods where one can come to terms with one's self, kind of settle the past a bit and at the same time find hope for the future. A time when your thoughts seem to scream and your sandwich bag sounds like a paper bag being crumpled.

The silence of Northern Saskatchewan is more than just a hunting land, it's a refuge-a refuge from all that was and all that will be, a space in time to sort things out and make decisions, a place to settle pasts and plan futures. Yes, the silence of Northern Saskatchewan is Golden!

If you travel to Saskatchewan and you don't use that time to the fullest you'll have missed something. A mount on the wall is the obvious goal, however the piece and serenity it brings when the week is truly lived will show in your heart for ever.