I notice THIS, every time I'm in the outdoors!

Psalm 19 (NIV)

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.

When I first started hunting deer, I would always hear deer walking all around me, but could never see them.

It didn't take long to realize that squirrels rustling through the dead leaves on the ground can sound like a herd of deer in the early morning quiet. Them things can be noisy!

Relatively quiet sounds travel a very long way on a still morning.

I notice THIS, every time I'm in the outdoors!

Psalm 19 (NIV)

1 The heavens declare the glory of God;
the skies proclaim the work of his hands.
2 Day after day they pour forth speech;
night after night they reveal knowledge.
3 They have no speech, they use no words;
no sound is heard from them.
4 Yet their voice[b] goes out into all the earth,
their words to the ends of the world.
In the heavens God has pitched a tent for the sun.
5 It is like a bridegroom coming out of his chamber,
like a champion rejoicing to run his course.
6 It rises at one end of the heavens
and makes its circuit to the other;
nothing is deprived of its warmth.

I've learned to listen to nature, they will tell you more about what's going on, who's in the woods, and where they are. From the crickets chirping to the birds, and squirrels, they are all communicating and if you listen closely, you will "see" the prey long before it gets to you.

A few years ago I was walking to my bow stand well before the sun come up. It was dark and I wasn't using my flashlight because I was walking down a plowed field about 30 yards off the tree line. There was a thunderstorm several miles out and the lightning would light up the field every now and then. I made it about half way to my stand when 2 hoot owls began cutting up. Thinking nothing of it, I kept walking. The farther I walked the louder and more abnoxious they got. I began to get that creepy feeling that something was watching me but shrugged it off and continued walking. In the next 10 steps these owls were basically screaming and was the craziest thing I'd ever heard so I stopped walking and took a step back because my brain was screaming at me that something was wrong. Then with a slight flash of light from the storm I made out a black siloett about 40 yards down the tree line and the owls and EVERY single living thing in a 3 mile radius went 1000000% silent and every single hair stood on end on my body. Lightning flashed again and this SOB was only 20 yards out coming straight at me in 2-3 seconds. It looked like it was floating across the field as my initial thought process was, deer, coyote, or hog... But as he got within 15 yards my absolute WORST fear was realized, it's a Fu**** CAT and it looks like it is 10' long! I start backing up waving my bow in the air and trying to scream at it but my voice will not work from being so scared. As I start waiving and flailing my arms like a crazy person, it slows down and is litteraly 6-7 yards in front of me. My voice finally cracks and I yell like I aint never yelled before and I take 2-3 steps at him. He stops, takes a step back and make 2 hops and he's back in the woods 40 yards away!!!! I fall to my knees violently shaking and hypervinelating and digging for my light, knife, and anything else I can get my hands on! I gathered my self and the owls relocated back in the woods and hooted a few times as they flew away and the bugs began to chirp again. Like a hero or retard I decided to go on to my stand "prob because it was closer than the truck lol" It took my a solid hour to fully gather myself. A few weeks later I got a pick of the joker sneaking through my pinch point and confirmed my run in. That's been 4 years and I've yet to see him since, "Thank GOD"
But I truly believe the owls saved my life that morning and if I wasn't paying attention, I woulda been a gonner!

AMEN!

There are things that we outdoors people have learned that most other folks are totally unaware.

For example, the origin of distant sounds, such as trains or highway traffic, can appear to be closer than they really are when the wind is blowing the sound towards you. And likewise, relatively close sounds can appear much more distant when the wind is blowing away from you.

You feel coldest when the temperature begins to warm on those very cold mornings.

My dad, a lifelong cattleman always said the same thing. Personally, I think if cattle are laid up it means they have good grass and they're finished grazing for a while. Can't argue with results though. Dad was a great fisherman.