Drove up to Vermont last weekend.

[First-light]

Along the way we saw so many deer in Connecticut on the side of the highway. They were good size also. There were a "few" trees in Vermont changing colors. It was a nice ride for sure.

[tj1187]

Talked to a friend in the Northeast Kingdom the other day and he said trees were starting to change.

[wdswtr]

We have some starting to change here.  I thought it was pretty early myself but here is what I was told by a scientist.

  Certain areas of the state the softwoods budded a tad early last spring, then we got a week long cold snap and the buds retracted.  It was pointed out that you could tell which trees this happened to by looking at leaf sizes.  The stress this causes makes for rather smaller leaf sizes and tends to make them start to change color sooner than most years. 

  When I was told this it came as no surpirse because I have pointed out several time how my soft maple trees have leafs half the size than normal.  I can only assume since they are smaller that the photosyntheshis process that makes the sugars in my maples I will be having a very low sugar content this next spring for maple season.  I hope not.

[VT Outfitter]

It wont be long now, it was 50's yesterday and certainly felt like fall. Just a teaser day I am sure, plenty of August left for hot temps.....I took advantage of the cool day to start setting stands for archery season. Is it considered a date if your wife goes with you and the kids stay home? It is fun and easy to cut shooting lanes with two people, she is on her 4th season of archery hunting with some misses on yardage guessing. She is like a sponge in the woods, soaking up any information she can. It's so much fun watching her take notice of deer trails and selecting a tree location. Reminds me of when I first started bow hunting at 12 years old. My guess is the learning curve never changes regardless of age when you start. Some mistakes everyone just has to make to learn to become a good bow hunter.