Hunting Season

Right now in the states of Michigan and Wisconsin, we are in the midst of the fire arm deer season. It is probably one of the most anticipated outdoor sporting events in the late fall around these parts. Thousands of people take to the woods and venture to their respective deer blinds and have the ultimate goal in mind; a deer with a nice set of antlers. I am probably in the minority for guys my age that live around here that do not hunt. I have nothing against the sport of hunting and feel it's important to keep the deer herd in check. Otherwise we'd be slamming into them more often with our vehicles. Hunting just hasn't been something I've been interested in. That is basically my explanation as to why I've never hunted.

No one in my immediate family hunts either, which probably explains my lack of interest in the sport. I have uncles on my mom's side that hunt on their own property. I have an uncle on my dad's side that also likes to hunt but lives way down in Florida. The deer down there don't live up to the beasts that thrive around here. My dad did do some hunting with his father when he was a kid, but hasn't been interested in doing so since. He is a fan of most animals, so I have to believe it would be very difficult for him to shoot an animal like a deer. As for me, I don't think it would be as big of a deal to shoot a deer. When we had pesty racoons invade our bird feeders back home, traps just weren't doing the trick. I got out my dad's .22 and prepared to shoot a big monster of a coon that was perched on one of the feeders late one night a few summer's ago. All it took was one shot; bam, and it was down to the ground. Even for a critter like a racoon, the adrenaline that races through your body up until you pull the triger; it's a feeling unlike any other. Of course a racoon is no prize, but for the sheer thrill of hunting these creatures is amazing. Now compare that to hunting deer and I'm sure it has to be ten times better.

Back when I was in seventh or eighth grade, I took a hunter's safety course. I mainly took it because my best friend was also in the class, but a part of me then was interested in going hunting someday. I remember being a lousy shot then, using a .22 and not even able to hit the target near the edge of the woods on the school's property. My aim has improved quite a bit since then, but my interest in hunting has definitely fallen off. Just the thought of sitting out in the cold in adverse weather waiting for the smallest signs of life in the middle of the woods just doesn't intrigue me. Maybe I am not supposed to think that way; maybe I am supposed to be in it for the thrill of the hunt. And I do see these people with monster bucks portrayed on television and in the newspaper and seeing the trophy they're able to display for years to come. Now that part would be pretty cool. But I guess I'm not really up to gutting a deer and dragging it out of the woods. But if you're hunting deer, you can't have it totally easy.

Maybe someday, when I have my own place and if there's enough land in the back where I can do some hunting, I just might have the interest to search out that ultimate buck when I don't have much else going on. And there's more than just hunting deer, too, such as birds, bear, etc. In the meantime, I'm just going to stay in the warm comforts of my apartment and hear of all the other people and their success stories. At least I can be happy for them and their accomplishments.