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   Sitting on the porch drinking coffee and watching the hummingbirds a couple of days ago brought back memories of spending time on the porch in the early morning hours with a friend of mine. Bart lives in Louisiana where he was a crop duster pilot and hunting guide for geese and ducks. I hunted with him in Louisiana a couple of times, and he came to Iowa to bow hunt deer a few times. He is an avid hunter as well as a great guy to hang out with. The first year he hunted Iowa, his brother, Kent came with him. I think it was the second day out, Bart got a trophy buck. Since he and Kent rode together, he could not go home until Kent got a deer or they ran out of time.

   We made the most of the remaining portion of Bart’s hunting trip. Each morning, we would meet on the porch with a cup of coffee. He said he enjoyed the bucolic scenery and camaraderie as much as the hunt. He brought Community Coffee with him, as in his opinion, that is the only good coffee brand made. He made a believer out of me, and it is now the only kind of coffee at our house.

   The wildlife cooperated by being out and about on these days. We watched the deer come and go during the morning. We knew where Kent was in his tree stand so when we saw deer moving into the timber in his direction, we knew he was at least seeing deer. The hummingbirds were enjoying the last days in Iowa before they migrated to Louisiana and Texas. Swarms of the busy little birds fought over the feeders over our heads on the porch. Trumpeter swans would leave the lake right after dawn to feed in local corn fields and return throughout the day after their feasting on spilled grain.

   One morning, we brought the spotting scope out with us to better identify deer that moved across the hill on the far side of the lake. We were well into our second pot of coffee and watching a flock of turkeys chase grasshoppers when we noticed a larger than normal deer sneaking up the far side of the dam as he headed for the top gate. His nose was close to the ground while he tracked a doe that had come through earlier. With the spotting scope, we could tell it was a good buck. Good enough, Kent would take it if he had the chance. The buck continued up the hill and into the timber, heading straight for Kent. Bart and I were both getting excited as we waited with anticipation for a call from Kent. The call never came. The big buck must have turned somewhere between Kent’s stand and where we last saw him go into the woods because Kent never even saw him.

   Several more enjoyable mornings were spent on the porch drinking coffee and swapping hunting stories before the call came from Kent. He had a deer down and could use some help if we were not too busy. We jumped in the Ranger and went to load out the deer. He had a nice trophy also.

   Kent’s kill brought an end to the morning coffee times, but we enjoyed each minute we had. Both hunters had great success and we all enjoyed the time we got to enjoy the outdoors, either hunting or just watching wildlife from the comfort of the porch.

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