There are many reasons I’m thankful for being born and raised in our wild and wonderful state and being able to witness the change of seasons is one of them. The first official day of fall arrived on September 22 and you can definitely feel the change. September is one of those transitional months where things in nature sense that summer’s over and fall is here.
The word used to define this is photoperiodism which is the response of an organism to seasonal changes in day length. One of our most notable changes occurs to our trees as they sense the shortening of the days and the leaves turn into a beautiful array of color. There is no better time to be living in almost heaven than during October when our leaves reach full peak.
Although I’m worried this year as we’ve hit a dry spell and I’ve noticed some of the leaves drying and wilting up on some of the trees, especially the hickory trees. A maple tree beside my parents’ house has already dropped half of its leaves along with the poplars. Drought conditions and frost aren’t what you want if you’re a leaf peeper. Hopefully we’ll get some much needed rain soon but it’s going to take a good amount to do anything at this point.
The lack of rain has also caused the bottom to drop out of our creeks and rivers as they’re running as low as they have all year. On our last visit to the river we found all of the trout bunched up and clinging to the bottom where spring seeps provided some relief from the heat. What’s up with this heat wave that won’t seem to go away? I’m not a fan of 80 to 90 degree temperatures but at least the humidity has dropped some.
I can’t wait for frost and cooler temperatures! The deer are sensing the change as I’ve seen several bucks that have lost their velvet and are sporting a nicely polished rack now. As the days continue to shorten it will trigger the rut and you’ll know where to find me as I love being in the woods during this magical time of the year.
As you can tell my thoughts are shifting from fishing to the upcoming deer seasons which started on September 24 with the archery and crossbow opener. There are acorns in my area so make sure you get out and scout before climbing into a tree stand or ground blind. Squirrel season is in so take your shotgun along for a hunt.
I suggest going first thing in the morning or right before dark until it decides to cool down. Hunting while it’s scorching hot isn’t as much fun and I don’t know how those folks down south tolerate it. I guess that’s why the good lord put me here instead of there.
The bees are another organism that’s affected by the shortening of the days. I swear it makes them go crazy and it never fails that during this time of the year I find myself battling it out with the yellow jackets and hornets. Those hornets get clumsy and you have to watch for them bouncing off of stuff and then landing on and stinging you for no reason.
Just the other day at the farm there were these dang yellow jackets that just wouldn’t leave me alone. They kept landing on me and trying to get up my pants leg. One even landed on my neck which freaked me out. In the end there were 3 less of them as I found a board and started swinging.
Take a look around and watch the seasons change. It’s a great time to roam around our beautiful state as there’s a lot to see and do.
