Many of you, I suspect, won’t hop out of bed and head to the magic green box to get your morning paper this morning.

You’ll be like me and end up reading this after spending the early morning hours tromping (silently, of course) through the woods of Maine.

I hope you were successful.

I hope you had fun.

Most of all, I hope you were safe.

With apologies to the crowd of youngsters who enjoyed their special day last week, and to the archery buffs who have been in the woods for weeks now, when most Mainers say “deer season,” this is what they’re talking about.

November. Cool weather (honest, it’s coming). Maybe even a fresh dusting of tracking snow to make things interesting.

Just not today.

Today, it’s warm. At least, that’s what the weather-guessers predicted Friday, when I was “researching” this column.

That didn’t stop us, though. Did it?

When the alarm started wailing at 4 a.m., we snapped full awake and hopped to the floor eagerly … or at least as eagerly as it’s possible to hop to the floor when a jarring mechanical shriek wakes you in the middle of the night.

We grabbed all the gear we spent the last week assembling … then checking … then repacking. We hopped into our trucks. Then we headed to a hunters’ breakfast to join our orange-clad brethren.

We saw a few friends there, but saw many more folks we didn’t know. At least, we didn’t know them before we sat down at those long tables and introduced ourselves. Not before we swapped a few quick personal facts.

Not before we breathed in all those familiar aromas that only exist in this kind of place, on this kind of day: The boot grease and bacon. The lingering scent of cigarette smoke and pipe tobacco. The murky odor of a hunting jacket that’s been “fermenting” in a bag of leaves for the last month … just so the deer won’t know you’re coming.

Not before we sat … alone … silently, and had time to realize something: We’re all in this together.

All of us woke up in the middle of the night.

All of us were heading somewhere special this morning.

And all of us are after the same thing, in a way.

It’s not really the deer … though we’re certainly hopeful.

It’s not really the kill. Nor the rack. Nor even the meat we hope to put on the table.

It’s just being there.

Again.

Sitting in a tree stand, or leaning against a tree, as the morning’s first rays peek through the branches. Listening as the squirrels scurry about, convincing you (just for a second) that a buck’s going to appear.

Feeling the familiar heft of your grandfather’s .30-06 as it nestles against your back on the sling he bought years and years ago … when he was your age.

It’s seeing how much things have changed since last year … and how little things have really changed since you were a kid.

It’s just deer season.

And you had to be there. Didn’t you?

Just like last year … and the year before.

Just like next year … and the year after.

It’s just deer season. Enjoy it.

In the same vein, a flood of Youth Deer Day stories arrived this week after the state’s second annual all-kids hunting day last Saturday.

Tatum Welch, a 14-year-old from Newport, may have ended up with one of the more entertaining hunts. The Nokomis High freshman had plenty of opportunities to bag a doe early in the day, but held out for a buck … and she’s undoubtedly glad she did.

Her father, Barry Welch, reported that Tatum’s patience paid off in the afternoon, as they sat in a seat that overlooks a field.

“At a quarter to four, a doe and a lamb came into the field,” Barry Welch said. “At about quarter after four, a doe and two lambs came into the field.”

Then things got interesting.

“At 10 past five, nine more deer came out, all at the same time. I’m 47 years old, and I’ve never had 14 deer in front of me during the hunting season before.”

Among the deer was a brute of a buck that Barry Welch estimated weighed more than 200 pounds. Despite her dad’s lobbying efforts, the buck didn’t pass Tatum’s test.

“It had a five-point antler on one side and kind of a big, straight post on the other. She didn’t like the rack,” he said. “She said, ‘I’m gonna shoot the one on the left.'”

That’s just what she did.

Tatum Welch’s choice – her fourth deer in the five years she’s been old enough to hunt – was a 150-pound seven-pointer.

For the record, the Welches are quite a hunting family: Tatum’s older sister, Lindsay, has twice achieved Maine’s hunting triple crown, bagging a bear, a moose, and a deer … all in the same season.

While many youth hunters take advantage of the fact that they’re allowed to harvest does, many others end up with bucks … and some end up with brutes.

Take 14-year-old David Foster Jr. of Kenduskeag, for instance.

Foster’s father, David Foster, said he and his son knew there was a monster deer somewhere on or near the 88-acre plot they planned to hunt.

“There’s a big buck we’ve been watching and the townspeople have been seeing,” the elder Foster said.

“He’s been one of those ghost deer,” he said. “The silhouette of his face was always lurking around the bushes. This time he must have had sleepy seeds in his eyes because he was just as shocked as we were when he stuck his head out.”

David Foster Jr. shot the deer with a .30-06 from 75 yards. The trophy: A 10-pointer that dressed out at 250 pounds.

The Fosters hunted out of a stand that has produced in the past: David Foster Jr. shot his first deer in the stand just an hour after the stand was completed four years ago. And his second. This one makes three.

This year’s monster did present the younger Foster a small problem, however.

“He said, ‘How do we drag this one out, Dad?'” David Foster said.

The answer: With a four-wheeler.

Another reader checked in to tell us that his niece enjoyed her Youth Deer Day adventure.

Danny McPhee took niece Brooke Price of Baileyville hunting in Canaan, and the photo he included showed a beaming Brooke with her buck.

McPhee’s e-mail was short and to the point.

“[Brooke] shot this six-point buck [which weighed an estimated] 150 pounds,” McPhee wrote.

Price shot the deer with a .243 Handi-Rifle Ultralight from a distance of 100 yards. McPhee said Brooke’s success has provided some inspiration to another member of the family.

“This was Brooke’s first deer, but her 9-year-old sister Taylor says that next year is her turn and she is going to shoot one bigger than Brooke’s,” McPhee reported.

Brooke is in the 6th grade at Woodland Elementary School in Baileyville.

Finally, legendary Maine guide Wiggie Robinson – the Baron of the West Branch – e-mailed with another success story.

Wiggie’s great-grandson Billy Bernier Jr., an 11-year-old from Millinocket, had his pick of three deer when he picked out the largest doe and shot her with his .308 rifle.

Congratulations to all the young hunters who participated, whether a deer crossed their paths or not.

You were out there, after all. You weren’t in bed. You weren’t watching TV … nor playing a computer game.

You weren’t watching life go by. You were living it.

Outdoors.

I figure that’s a pretty good way to spend a Saturday.

John Holyoke can be reached at jholyoke@bangordailynews.net or by calling 990-8214 or 1-800-310-8600.