“Hunting Season”
By: Rob Harrell
September 10, 2015
It’s here. The time of year that you have been waiting for that has been lingering for and eternity. You have been working all summer on food plots, tuning your bow or rifle, investing in new tree stands, strategically cutting shooting lanes, and checking those trail camera photos religiously. And now you are on the brink of what it’s all for. Hunting Season.
When I was just a boy, my Dad would disappear for a week or two every November with a bunch of guys who I hadn’t seen or heard of all year. This group happened to be a bunch of old high school friends that settled down, got married, had kids, and ultimately had grown apart as best friends. But like some sort of magnetic pull, my Dad and his friends would meet back up in Mid-November at some hideaway in Northern Michigan for a ritual that I had not yet understood. This ritual would ultimately become my greatest passion.
After growing older and being able to go on my first few hunting trips with my Dad and his friends, I quickly realized that this wasn’t about being on vacation or away from the everyday work week grind. It wasn’t about getting away from something. It’s about going to a place that brought him peace and tranquility.
Amenities are typically poor, the cabin shows signs of neglect, and modern conveniences are forgotten. The same stories are told year after year, but yet the laughter and reactions are as if your buddies are hearing them for the first time. Each person typically has a “job”. Some sort of expertise that they bring to the table for the others to rely on. A cook, a butcher, a self-proclaimed “Gunsmith”, and of course the cleaner (usually the new guy).
What brings this camaraderie and brotherhood out in each individual? It can only be Hunting Season.
I, myself, now live for this time of year. The anxiety and build up fuels this passion of mine. A majority of my vacation days are spent during hunting season and planning for next year begins with every seasons end. The infectious cycle is in my bloodstream and I do not seek a cure.
Hunting in general has changed over the years and even more drastically in the last 20 years. The tools and tactics we use are better, our knowledge of the species has improved, and the popularity of hunting is flourishing amongst our youth. With all of these things in place, harvesting mature animals with record book genetics, has never been higher in the history of this land. You’d think these would be contradictory to each other, but this is the beauty of hunting. This is what drives me as a Hunter and as a man who appreciates every aspect of what Mother Nature has created for us.
Now that I am older and have a family of my own, I understand what Hunting Season is all about. It’s not about being off work, it’s not about being at the top of the bragging board, and it’s not even about harvesting an animal. Being in a place with your closest friends and some long lost buddies, who all share the same passion as you, is the reason you are there. Initiating in new members to this secret society and building memories for future generations to listen to and share is all part of the lore of Hunting Season.
To this day, my 58 year old Father has not shot a whitetail buck. He has never had the biggest deer on the buck pole. He hardly remembers the couple doe’s that he was able to shoot. But still, I recognize him as the best hunter on the planet. All because he exposed me to the greatest sanctuary on earth. Where all people, no matter how rich or how poor, how old or how young, come together and for a moment in time are all equal. Are all Hunters.
Enjoy your Hunting Season in whatever way brings you the most joy. It’s one of the rawest forms of happiness left on this earth and we only get so many of them. No matter what species, always try to remember why you are a hunter and what it means to be at a hunting camp.
