As my ocean kayaking season winds down with the shorter, cooler days and decreasing water temperatures, I recently embarked on what may have been my most enjoyable day of the entire summer in an area I’d thought about exploring for a long time but just never got around to it.

Thickening clouds roil over the barren tablelands, blotting out the remaining blue skies and greatly reducing the possibility of views from the top of Katahdin. No matter; it’s always a thrill to be high on the mountain whatever the weather, which will do as it pleases in this harsh Alpine environment.

Bowhunting for deer has one mystique impossible to deny. Simplistically speaking, an archer needs one tree large enough for a stand in a 15-acre wood lot and patience to sit still for long vigils, until a whitetail wanders past in bow range. That’s it for diving into the sport.