Our Outdoors: Headed Into Halftime

Halftime Herald. A mule deer doe greeted the author on his way down to his bow stand. Simonson Photo. By Nick Simonson Into the southern breezes my lab and I set out, the final hours of the first half of upland hunting before us just ahead of the noon start of North Dakota’s 16-and-a-half-day firearms deer season. Though tag numbers are down, and gun hunters likely wouldn’t be out in the full, orange-clad force from past seasons on the first afternoon; in years like this where I don’t draw a tag, I generally grant deference to my brothers and sisters in arms even if I can’t join them, and wrap up my uplanding ahead of what is easily recognized as an unofficial state holiday. While I still planned to spend some time on stand with my trusty compound bow in hand, draping a layer of orange over my usual camo, my normal November ritual is to keep my pheasant hunting to those weekday mornings during deer gun seasons so as to not disrupt the opportunities of those looking to fill their tag on