EDITOR'S NOTES: Deer season is just weeks away  

When the late summer nights start to feel cool again, I know deer season is right around the corner.

If you plan to be outside on any public land, you’ll want to keep the following dates in mind.

In North Carolina, hunting season begins on Sept. 11 for bow hunters only. Muzzelloader/black powder hunters can head out on Oct. 2 and rifle season (technically called “Firearm” season) begins on Oct. 16.

Although I’m a relative newcomer to the area, I always get a little nostalgic when I start to see ads for blaze orange clothing, ammunition and other hunting gear.

I’ve got an overnight hiking trip planned into North Carolina’s backcountry in a couple of weeks, and I am sure that once I step off the blacktop, I’ll encounter a hunter or two, at least it’s a very real possibility.

Hikers and backcountry enthusiasts — some of the friendliest folks you’ll ever run into — sometimes are disturbed when they see rifle toting hunters on their beloved trails and wandering through their unspoiled forests.

Most of my hunting these days is done with a telephoto camera lens, and most of the wild food I bring home has been handed to me through the window of a Wendy’s drive-thru.

But I’ve found over the years that there’s plenty of room for everyone in the woods, whether you’re hunting with a long lens or a long gun.

When I was still in my teens living out West, my Boy Scout troop decided we would all go get hunting licenses and see if we could bring home a deer or two.

Five of us boys, including one of my best friends, Evan Jackson, his dad and our Scout leader Dennis Scott ended up in Mr. Jackson’s 1975 Chevy station headed for Craig, Colorado. After a couple of days of walking, scoping and walking, we packed up for home.

It was late in the day when we set out on the rural state highway headed for home. It wasn’t long before I heard Mr. Jackson say, “Now what’s all this?”

I looked up to see what I thought was a small fog bank ahead and a car with its flashers pulled over on the side of the road. It was cool out, so it made sense that there might be some patchy fog, but then I saw the huge deer on the side of the road and realized what had happened.

All that fog was a bunch of deer hair. That stupid buck had decided to cross the road at the exact same time as the car ahead of us was traveling along that backroad highway in the middle of nowhere.

We pulled over as well, just to make sure everything was OK. When it finally got to its feet, the deer took off down the highway, broken legs and all.

Three of us quickly found the guns from the back of the station wagon, dug out the ammo from the trailer and began jogging down the side of the road.

Mr. Scott was the first to shoot. Miss. Between the three of us we got about four shots off before the animal finally dropped.

It was a memorable trip for us young hunters, but I have to say one of the best parts of the trip was driving through the Wendy’s restaurant on the way home. And so a tradition was born.

Every year I enjoy the start of the deer season, and I have no doubt that beginning with North Carolina’s Youth Hunt on Sept. 25, many more memories and traditions will be born that are every bit as rich as mine.

David Kennard is the executive editor of The Robesonian. Contact him at dkennard@robesonian.com.