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By Don Therre

(Editor’s note: The regular firearms season for deer hunting in the North Country opens Oct. 21. North Syracuse resident Don Therre shared the following story of his successful, solo tent camping/hiking trip to Cranberry Lake in early November.)

“As I gathered items to pack for my annual solo tent camping/ deer hunting trip to Cranberry Lake, NY in the Adirondacks, I came across my father's old hunting knife in a sheath. I showed it to my wife and said, “I'm taking my father with me this year. Maybe it'll bring me some luck.”

"This was my 25th year of hunting there and had never taken something like that with me before.

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“The weather was supposed to get very cold with high winds and some snow. My wife did her best to make me put it off for a week. For a few seconds I gave it some thought as I'm almost 63. No, I'm going as I knew the rut was picking up and colder weather might have the deer up more also.

“The boat trip from the launch to the tent site (about 8 miles) was uneventful. I quickly set the tent up, put my gear in and went hunting. I saw many fresh scrapes and a couple of does – a good sign.

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“The temperature went from close to 40 down to single digits with the approaching cold front. The wind all night was blowing up to 40 miles per hour. It wasn't a great night to be in a tent.

“The morning brought lighter winds and 1 ½ inches of snow. I first wanted to check the swamp out to see if there were deer in the pines. I walked up a trail and found a spot on the edge of the swamp where I could cover some area.

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“It was so cold I only sat for an hour and went back the way I came. A single deer had crossed my tracks within a hundred yards and I never saw it. Was it a buck? As it was headed towards where I usually hunted, maybe I could head it off.

“I climbed about a mile up the hill and found a big rock along a ridge I could sit on and cover a wide area. The day before I had found some fresh scrapes near here. A few deer had moved through before I got there. I remained confident. I sat for an hour or so and ate lunch but hadn't seen anything yet. The sky was sunny with clouds but still deceivingly cold. I needed to get up and move around still-hunting. Once warm I would go back to the rock.

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His father's old hunting knife.

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“Right behind where I was sitting, a deer had climbed the slope sometime earlier. I slowly made my way up looking ahead and stopping every 20 – 30 feet. I had gone about 150 yards and was on top of a rise with a depression in front of me. While stopped, I scanned around. There he was trotting broadside to me, nose a foot above the ground in the depression twenty-five yards away.

“He went behind some small trees and I picked a spot where he would go through. He entered and I fired. He turned and ran back towards where he came from. A few seconds later it was over and he was down. I finally had my mature Adirondack buck.

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“I took a few minutes to let it all sink in. Thankful for my bounty and the experience. It had happened so fast. Hopefully my father was looking down and smiling.

“Now the work would begin. It was already late in the afternoon and I was approximately 1 ¾ miles from my tent. Now to field dress the deer. I looked in my pack and my folding knife was missing. I must have left it in the tent. So I left the deer and went to the tent. No luck.

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"I remembered I had my father's knife. I took it out, it was a little rusty but I sharpened it and headed back up the hill. I got the work done and started the drag out. I got down to the snowmobile trail that I would follow. Taking my time, it took around 4 ½ hours to reach the tent with a deer estimated at almost 180 pounds.

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“The wind for the last 36 hours had come from a direction that kept the water from freezing. During the night it changed and I woke up to a large portion of the flow of the lake I was on was frozen. This obviously complicated leaving to go home.

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“I was able to break the ice first with an ax and finally with an oar. My motor took a couple hours in the tent to thaw out. Once the boat was moving I was able to break the ice and reach the open water of the main lake and get to the boat launch without incident.

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“As I reflect on this year's trip and the awesome memory made, I had some questions.

"Did my Dad's knife bring me good luck? Why did my hunting knife only reappear after reaching the tent? I found it in my pant leg that was tucked inside my hunting boot. Was this the last time for me doing this alone? If it was I sure ended on a high note.

“Next Fall will surely bring the yearning to go again. I'm not sure I can stop.”

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