It's that time of year

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InstinctiveArcher
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It's that time of year

Post by InstinctiveArcher »

This is my time of year. The hunters time of year. The time of year where every breeze carries on it the scent of fall. The geese and ducks are beginning to congregate into huge flocks, the deer are beginning to trade in their red coats of summer for their heavier, gray and brown coats, and the leaves on the maples are beginning to show faint hints of red and orange around their edges. As I sit here, taking this all in, I once again think about how blessed I am to live where I live, have the opportunities that I do, and to have been raised in a way that has allowed me to experience nature in a way that few people ever do. I can't imagine living any other way, nor would I want to. I think that lots of people who have grown up in a similar setting would agree. It's a good, clean way of living.

As mentioned, fall is the hunters time of year. A time where he can go afield to clear his mind of all the troubles that plague him from the outside world. It's in these places that are of the grid that we find solitude with companionship, and peace within the excitement of pursuit. Going afield brings around a sharpening of the senses. A greater attention to details that would go ignored by others. The call of a bird means something. The way a branch is leaning alongside a trail means something. The changing of the woods and waterways around him mean something. Everything has meaning, and everything is read in a way that only someone who has an intimate connection with the natural world would understand. Being a hunter allows us to gain this insight that many people never will experience or comprehend. It's a primal feeling, one that stirs something deep inside that seems to have gone dormant in most of society today. It doesn't take much when afield to trigger this feeling, instinct if you will. The sight of a fresh track, the leaves slowly rising back up after being trodden on not to long ago, the smell of the quarry. It begins a firing off of signals so intense that they are almost to much to handle. That's what I live for, and I feel safe in saying that that is what most people who feel as passionately about hunting as I do live for as well.

Then it all comes down to that one moment. The culmination of everything that you have invested into the hunt. Every drop of sweat, every minute spent shivering in a tree, every stroke of the file on a broadhead or final adjustment on a rifle scope. It all comes down to that one moment where you are within striking range. When you feel a surge of adrenaline rushing through your veins and every sense is honed in on that living, breathing mass in front of you. As you bend your bow or raise your gun, it's as if the whole world slows to a stop. Everything begins to happen in a daze. The gun kicks, the arrows arcs through the air towards the target, and suddenly the world rushes back in on you.

It's at this point that emotions go off the track. All the hard work, blood and sweat, countless hours logged in a tree, or slowly working through the timber culminate in the prize that lies at the end of a red tinted trail through the undergrowth. You might cry. You may shout for joy. You may give thanks to the Lord and to the animal who gave it's life. But no matter what, you feel humble. Humbled that the game had been won on playing fields not often tilted in the hunters favor. Humbled that you have the opportunity to go afield and be blessed enough to experience such a deep, primal feeling, almost ritual. The cycle that has played itself out for thousands of years has just been completed again.

Thanks for sticking with my ramblings. The fall seasons are upon us and I am chomping at the bit to be back out in the woods doing what I love most. Matching wits with one of the most amazing creatures placed on this Earth. I needed something to occupy myself, and this is what came out. As I look at my bow hanging in the corner, broadheads sharpened to hair shaving sharp, I can almost smell the aromatic scent of dying sweet ferns and pine needles. I can feel a cool breeze blowing across my face, and in my minds eye I see white tails flashing through the trees. Yes, this is the best time of year. The hunters time of year. Nowhere does hope bloom more eternal than in the heart of a hunter, and it will continue to now, just as it has for thousands of years. Shoot straight and good luck this season.
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In hunting, impossible doesn't exist any more than a sure thing does. - Tom Miranda
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Violator31
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Re: It's that time of year

Post by Violator31 »

Well said. All of it.
I always feel bad for those who have never hunted.
One thing that I absolutely love about hunting is watching the woods wake up right before your eyes. The 1st stirrings of birds. Those Opossums & Raccoons sneaking back to their trees to sleep. Those blasted Squirrels that somehow know if you are Deer or Squirrel hunting. Those beautiful first sun rays finding their way through the leaves. With all of that going on, you hear that faint little snap of a twig & you are at full alert.
One of my favorite hunts ever was one rainy morning. It had been raining as a steady drizzle. Now it was more of a heavy mist. I was on the ground overlooking a river bottom. A big gust of wind kicked up & what looked like thousands of rain soaked golden yellow, brown, & deep red leaves blew down the ridge. Since they were so heavy from the rain, the leaves looked like they were dropping in slow motion. I sat there in complete amazement. When we got back to the car I told my Son "I could just about quit hunting for the season & say it was a successful year." & I told him about it. He smiled & said "I hoped you saw it too.".....that, right there is when you know he is on the right track.
It's always good to talk to others cut from the same cloth. It's just easy.
Good luck this year.
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Hifisch
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Re: It's that time of year

Post by Hifisch »

Thanks for sharing your thoughts and experience with us. This is indeed well written. Take care of it and our world, I wish you some decent hunts this season. :)
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