November woods and fields look so drab now compared to summer, but curious eyes see plenty, beginning with deer signs such as heart-shaped tracks, buck rubs (bark “rubbed” off small trunks) and scrapes in soft earth.

I was settled in my tree stand awaiting the dawn’s early light when I heard the distinct sound of a deer’s hooves approaching on dry oak leaves.

There are iconic images associated with the outdoors in Maine. A large brook trout sipping a fly. A burly bull moose feasting, chest deep in water. A landlocked salmon leaping, and of course, a large buck, slipping silently through the forest on fresh snow.

With opening day out of the way, the most popular greeting in Maine now changes from “How’s it going?” to “Git yer deer yet?” Once your reply becomes “yes,” the next question becomes what to do with your deer.

My passion for bicycling across November’s brown and gray landscape grows, and in the Belgrade Lakes region, a huge plus strikes me as obvious, particularly on weekdays. Traffic proves so much lighter compared to summer and leaf-peeping time.

Brandon Zalegowski is a clerk at the Middle Road General Store in Sidney. His duties include weighing the deer that hunters bring to the store’s tagging station.

With the start of the 2011-2012 ski season now less than a month away, my thoughts have turned, as they always do this time of year, to the abundance of wonderful fall hikes on the mountains that once were active ski areas and have reverted to their original wooded state.