All the natural signs point to the obvious: Autumn is rapidly taking control of the land. You can smell it in the brisk air and hear it in the melodic barking of Canada geese as they continue to fly south, often in the dark of night.

The cool, musky scent of decay is a sign of the times. The changes of season also have dramatic effects on birds, fish, whitetails and on the slowly growing Adirondack moose population that is increasingly calling this land their own.

While I doubt I will ever see an Adirondack moose hunt over the course of my lifetime, I’m thrilled to know they are out there. I’ve witnessed more than a half-dozen, and I’ve witnessed a lot of sign.

Over the weekend, I returned to the location of my initial sighting, which occurred more than 25 years ago. Although I have no current moose sightings to report, I did have an opportunity to enjoy a few days of gadding about the woods and waters.

The course of my route allowed me to pass through five ponds, where the fish were active, the weather was fantastic and fellow paddlers were few. As the old hermit Noah Rondeau once claimed, “I find that I am very good company.” Of course, he made the statement after spending more than five months alone deep in the woods at his hermitage in Cold River City.

As luck would have it, I ran into a few folks I knew. But other than sharing a bit of time fishing the same secluded bay, my rustic little camp was graced with my own snoring and a few flocks of low-flying geese that nearly clipped the tips of the towering white pines.

Although the purpose of my trip was strictly the fishing, the weekend also offered sportsmen/women a unique opportunity to pursue an Adirondack McNabb. Fashioned on a similar Scottish sporting accomplishment, the fabled Adirondack version of the Scottish McNabb, the pursuit entails taking a brace of grouse on the wing, a brook trout on the fly and a whitetail buck.

The opportunity only rolls around every few years, when the grouse, deer and trout seasons all overlap. It is further compounded by the fact that whitetails are only to be taken with a bow or a blackpowder rifle.

Of course, traveling solo, even with limited gear, the likelihood of hauling a whitetail through the carries was unlikely. However, it was obviously not beyond the capabilities a father-son team I ran into. I watched them land a few trout, and they had their “smoke poles” for the long 5-mile return trip. I wished them well as I packed up my meager camp and headed out.

The fishing was just as good as it’s always been. The weather was fair, the company cordial and I landed and released more than enough big fish to satisfy my expectations.

Although there will be numerous opportunities to fish for bass and salmon, the lure of the deep woods will now beckon sportsmen and women to return to the familiar haunts of the hunt. With the annual big game season already underway for archers and blackpowder enthusiasts, it’s time to expect the sweet scent of woodsmoke floating on the brisk mountain air.

Fathers and their sons, daughters, friends, neighbors, co-workers and first-timers will all troop off to the woods for the traditional opening day of deer season, which arrives at sunrise on Saturday, Oct. 22.

It has always been an exciting time, filled with great expectations and the shared knowledge of the many hunters who have passed this way before. For many, it is a legacy that’s been passed down for generations. It is a combination of the many jokes, smokes and chilly mornings they will share, and the care that is taken as they prepare.

Each camp has their own way of doing things, with “watchers” set off in the stillness of the early morning to set up on watch at assigned posts at the Big Rocky, the Hole in the Wall, the Dismal Swamp, Morning Glory, the Lost Runway, Crack in the Rock, The Lone Mistake and the Quicksand. Each camp has a few, and hopefully, there will be additional sites added this season.

Deer hunting is an activity that requires great patience and the ability to sit perfectly still, but always at the ready for long hours at a time. It is a challenge, even for those who are fully accomplished. It is an activity that requires participants to fully develop the complete use of all their senses, and to be attentive and tuned into their surroundings.

It is a difficult task to maintain constant attention and be focused on every sound, scent and movement when your toes are numb and there is a stiff wind blowing in your face.

Primarily, the hunt is pursued for consumptive purposes, in an effort to put food on the table. But it is much more involved than that. Hunters often claim the experience of being totally immersed in the hunt provides them with a unique opportunity to clear the mind and refine their senses.

While on the hunt, it is important to be in tune with your surroundings. It is also vital to control your scent, which typically alerts deer to your presence from as far as a quarter-mile distant.

It requires constant vigilance, for the slightest evidence of an animal. It my be the tell-tale flicker of a white tail, the horizontal saddle of its back, the glint of a polished rack or even the two brown eyes that are staring at you as you step out from cover.

It can be also be a frustrating and endlessly consuming task, especially during periods of meager snow cover. In such conditions it is difficult to find them as they blend into the woodland background.

Although deer runways will reveal their travel corridors and snow cover provides even more vital information, the most successful hunters are those who are both patient and skilled. Luck is certainly a factor, as a buck can make a mistake at any time, however, it takes a skilled hunter who knows how to take advantage of the very few opportunities he or she will encounter.

Although I have been hunting the same woods for 25 seasons or more, I am constantly discovering new runs, rubs, scrapes and such. It is all part of the game in which the deer will always have the home-field advantage.

Some of the best hunting information, I’ve learned by mistake. I’ve also learned a lot from fellow hunters. I believe hunting is actually a human instinct that we all carry in our genetic makeup. However, due to the civilized nature of our nature, we have allowed our predatory instincts to atrophy.

Quite possibly, the best way for any hunter to advance their knowledge base is to spend time with other hunters, especially the old timers. And if can’t be accomplished through actual field experience, it’s always possible to review maps and journals. But hands down, the finest and surest method to improve your knowledge of wandering whitetails is to take the time to visit with the true experts.

Don’t waste your time with the ones who are to be found at the local bars. Rather, stop over at a local retirement village, or an “old folks home,” as we always called them. Bring along some jerky, some loin straps and maybe a few brookies from the freezer. Nothing is better for an old hunter’s soul, or a young hunters mind.

I have several topo maps that were given to me from old hunters. The map legend details where each buck was taken, with relevant weight and rack size. Several of the maps cover the St. Regis area, while others are from down the Sacandaga way and over near the Indian Lake region.

The topography of the old maps provides evidence of deer funnels, their safety routes and their feeding areas. But really, there is nothing better that the time spent in the field.

Quite often, these older, experienced hunters (male and female) are happy to have someone who is willing to check in on their old hunting grounds, and their old trout ponds as well.

Two of the best offered up these words of wildwood wisdom. Move as slow as you can, or don’t move at all. Don’t expect to see a whole deer, learn to identify their parts or pieces. The shape of an ear, the black spot of a nose, the flicker of a tail or the glint of a black hoof. Look for the symmetry of a horizontal of a backbone, or a cluster of legs.

And as one gentleman advised, you must learn how to to shoot well on the run. Not as you are running, but at the running deer. Often it is a skill that is never considered. He didn’t shoot while he was running. He practiced by shooting at balloons with a .22 caliber rifle on windy days.

“Them damn deer never stay still for very long, and if you do happen to see ’em, you’d better be able to take ’em on the run.”

He continued to point out funnels and squeeze points on the local landscape, and safe havens, which offer the deer concealed escape routes.

He also advised me to investigate around old farms, foundations and homesteads that we occasionally stumble across in our regular wanderings.

“If there’s evidence of old wire fences, a well or a foundation, you can bet there’s at least one apple tree nearby,” he claimed. “And where there are apples, there will be deer.”

The late Andy Morford, from Lake Placid, continued to hunt whitetails well into his 80s. He was a very wise hunter. When he knew he was no longer able to chase after them, he learned how to pattern the deer, by taking up a downwind watch.

He was also willing to stay on the hunt, long after other hunters had retired to the easy chair over at Mahogany Ridge. I suppose Mr. Morford learned how to be a successful hunter while growing up on a farm with native “big horned” Adirondack beef than milk cows. He knew that sometimes it’s easier to get more when you’re willing to accept a little less. He continued to hunt on his old stomping grounds in Lake Placid, as well as in western NY with his good friends, Capt.’s Ernie and Carol Langtaing, of Captain Ernie’s Charters, LLC. Mr. Morford offered proof positive that there’s a lot more to taking whitetails than setting out the watchers and drivers.