Last week, I was finally successful in hunting after two years of grinding and feeling like I'd never see an animal down with my bow.
It was not, however, without its difficulty. In fact, I went through both internal and external hell as, though I thought my arrow broke perfectly and was sent flying through the mule deer's vitals, it was further back than I would've liked. Because of where it hit, the deer booked it, ran far further than my seasoned hunting friends had predicted, and I lost the trail as the sun sank behind the mountains.
With the area I was hunting also home to bears and lions, and me without my camping gear, I was forced to back out and head home for the night. It was a long and agonizing ride back from where I shot the deer. I cursed myself, cursed the hunting gods, and cursed not having any of my camping gear to stay near where I shot the deer.
Worse yet, back in my garage was my Can-Am's Roofnest roof-top tent. It would've been perfect in the moment as I could've set it up within a few minutes and just stayed put, making the heart-wrenching ride home unnecessary.
I'm an idiot.
Now, I have to say that I haven't been able to do overnight hunting this year as I've been in charge of taking my kids to school each day. My wife started a new gig, which means we've split the duties and, given I could use the space on the Can-Am's roof rack for more gear, I pulled the Roofnest off. And the day I shot my mule deer was indeed a Monday evening, so school drop-off was always going to happen the following morning.
But I think it's safe to say that had I had the Roofnest on the Can-Am, I probably would've figured something out with my wife so I could stay close to my hunting area. And it would've been perfect as, even in the mental state I was in as the sun set and everything went dark, I could've set the tent up in a minute or two and tried my best to relax within its confines. It also would've allowed me to focus more on the task of finding the deer the following morning, reducing the time at which the meat could've spoiled.
It just would've made everything that much easier, faster, and likely caused less nighttime indigestion.
Again, I probably had to come home to do my fatherly duties, but having the option to stay put and back out in the middle of the night would've been awesome. And that's literally why I installed the Roofnest in the first place, as I spent a couple days in the woods tracking elk last year. Even during a storm, it was solid and a perfect spot to be.
I still have a couple of tags in my pocket, so I might have to re-install it. It's better to be safe than sorry, right?
