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OUTDOORS: Leaves are appreciated when colorful or brown and dry
by David Thompson
Colorful fall leaves will soon be appreciated, while old, dry leaves on the ground are ignored. The latter leaves, however, aren't overlooked by hunters.
One mid-October afternoon I was bowhunting deer before owning a manufactured tree stand. I found in the woods where a tree had partially fallen and was wedged in a notch on a standing tree. I climbed up the leaning tree to the notch, where there was a place to stand and watch for deer. This "tree stand" was about 12 feet off the ground.
Twelve feet was low for a tree stand used for archery deer hunting, but it still offered a better view of the woods than if I'd stood on the ground. It was my first year bowhunting deer, and I made plenty of mistakes. One mistake was not using a safety harness that modern archers know to always use when hunting from a tree. Fortunately, I did not fall.
After standing there for 20 minutes, I heard dry leaves crunching. Looking in that direction, I saw a buck walking toward me. Every time he took a step, leaves under his feet made audible sounds. That was the first time I'd ever heard a deer noisily walking in the woods.
It was a four-point buck, known as a forkhorn, that was 18 months old. He stopped and stood 15 yards away. At that time, it was legal for hunters to harvest forkhorns. Today, with antler restrictions, a four-point buck is not legal for adult hunters to harvest.
Something that I remember well about that hunt was hearing the deer coming toward me as it walked through dry leaves that had fallen the previous year. Different species of oak trees, along with red and silver maple trees, tulip poplar trees, and hickory trees, had contributed leaves to the dry carpet that covered the land.
On a different deer hunt, I heard but could not see what sounded like a buck chasing a doe during rutting season in November. Again, the land was dry, and the running deer made noise as they kicked up leaves. If the woods had been damp on either of the hunts described, deer walking or running would not have been heard.
It is common for a hunter in a dry woods to hear one or more turkeys walking through the leaves. Turkeys feeding can make more noise than deer because turkeys use their feet to rake leaves in order to uncover acorns and other food. It is common as well to hear squirrels moving on dry leaves as they travel from tree to tree or search for nuts to eat.
Dry leaves in the woods make it harder for a hunter to still-hunt, which is a method of slowly walking and then standing still to see game ahead. When leaves are damp, a person can easily walk silently. Even then, game close by almost always detect a quiet hunter's movements.
In October and through much of November, deciduous trees and low-growing shrubs retain once-green leaves that have become brown, gold, orange, red, or yellow as they die before dropping. A leaf drops when the bottom of its stem separates from the twig on which the leaf had grown in early spring. The green leaf lived there through summer and produced food for the tree. By autumn, a decrease in sunlight and lower temperatures prevent a leaf from manufacturing food, and it dies. The place where the leaf had been connected to the twig forms a barrier on the twig that protects it through winter.
One October, while archery deer hunting, I watched a doe as she fed on yellow poplar tree leaves that had just fallen. The leaves were limp. The doe was close enough that I could see her deftly use her tongue to pull one leaf after another into her mouth for rapid chewing. The woods at that place were covered with yellow leaves, and she ate as many as she wanted. Deer eat lots of acorns in the fall, but they also consume leaves.
Fox squirrels and gray squirrels eat buds and young leaves on trees in the spring. By autumn, squirrels feed heavily on mast (nuts). I don't see them feeding then on what appear to be succulent hardwood tree leaves that are becoming colorful. Deer, on the other hand, eat certain tree leaves even though acorns are available.
Some tree leaves apparently taste better than others to deer. Leaves with a high sugar content may be an appealing factor. (I don't plan to taste-test leaves to provide a firsthand report.)
Leaves in the fall provide wildlife shelter and cover for hiding. Big game and small game seen by a hunter are often partially or completely hidden by leaves.
The archery deer hunter avoids hunting where leafy branches will deflect an arrow. Where cutting an open lane for shooting is permissible on private land, branches can be removed or trimmed. (Regulations prevent cutting trees or branches as well as shrubs on public land.) At many hunting spots in woods, cutting just a few branches will open a shooting lane. Without an open shooting lane, an archery deer hunter will lose chances to shoot.
Squirrels are regularly seen on leaf-covered trees at this time of the year. That foliage provides protection from hawks as well as hunters who are required to wear fluorescent orange clothing. A squirrel hunter who carries a .22-caliber rifle will lose shooting opportunities because of leaves. It won't be many weeks, however, until the same trees are leafless.
Leaves that drop during hunting season are on the ground where they will decompose to nourish the soil. Not a single person goes to the woods to rake leaves that become valuable humus there. Meanwhile, numerous people do rake leaves in their yards, package them for removal and pay to have them hauled away. The alternative is to make a place in the yard where raked leaves can be contained with wire and converted into humus for use in flower beds and boxes and in gardens. The easiest option is to let the wind blow away the leaves in your yard.
Pennsylvania's woods and backyards feature colorful foliage on trees. Gold, orange, red and yellow leaves are prettier than those that turn brown. Enjoy them before they fall and become dry. Of course, dry leaves make it easier to hear bears, deer, squirrels and turkeys sneaking through the woods. You could hear a big buck crunching dry leaves as he approaches your tree stand or your stand on the ground. Rely on your ears when leaves are dry.