Hunting Sense

Writer’s will discuss anything. Here’s a thread that’s started about poaching at a writing forum called, not ironically, Writingforums.com.

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In the spirit of giving, we’ll be sharing our Hallowe’en with our forest friends.

No, we won’t be dressing up and trick or treating in the woods. We will, however, be ‘treating’ the local animal population to a pumpkin feast.

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On November 10th, The Washington Post reported a sad case of a young deer whose curiosity almost got the better of him/her.

The poor thing had apparently been visiting a local gated community when it got tangled up in a child’s plastic pumpkin. It appears the handle had gotten looped over its horn-buds or ears, and the poor creature had been stuck like this for at least 6 days–threatening its life from starvation and dehydration. Officials were unsuccessful in getting close enough to tranquilize the young deer, but intended to keep trying.

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Cliff had mentioned a little while back that while on a road trip, we were listening to a radio show about hunting, and that I’d be making a post about it at some point.

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The closest I’ve come to shooting a weapon is at Bass Pro Shop’s ‘for fun’ range. I wasn’t great at it, but I’m sure I was better than this guy.

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When my mother sent me these pictures this morning, I thought Cliff’s blog was the perfect place to post them. I’m not sure if Cliff has mentioned it, but my family are horse folk (specifically, Quarter Horse folk). And since deer are a big part of Cliff’s family, these pictures just seem to fit us to a tee.

Enjoy!

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DISCLAIMER: The following posts may be offensive to some hunting ideals. I state upfront that it is only my opinion, and does not necessarily reflect the opinions of your regular blogger.

Reading this post may cause: Increased blood pressure, headache, bouts of outrage, numbness, intense dislike, heart or kidney failure, and a desire to thoroughly throttle ‘the wife’. If, at any time, you find yourself suffering from any of these afflictions, please discontinue reading immediately, take a deep breath, and go for a walk…except in the case of heart/kidney failure. For those, see your damned doctor–something is seriously wrong.

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This past weekend, four out of five members of our family stayed at my mother’s house, taking care of the farm, while the fifth was gone to a horse show. While we were there, Cliff took our boys for a walk in the back forest–a lovely diversion for them and some quiet time for me!

He showed them deer trails and the places where deer had bedded down, and while breaking off branches from the pines to make the going a little easier, he explained that they could be creating paths deer might use because it was now easier going for them, as well. He explained that, just like humans, deer like to take the path of least resistance. All very cool information, but it got me thinking.

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Some of you might have noticed Cliff has been less than active the past couple of days. I take most of the responsibility for that (some falls to my mother, though). For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been battling…well, we’re not really sure, as of yet, but it looks like I might be diabetic. (We’re just now waiting for the results of blood work.) The poor man has been practically waiting on me hand and foot, due to extreme fatigue on my part, fevers, and my wildly fluctuating blood sugars, which have made driving a no-no, work near impossible, and child care a one-man show. Coupled with that, his mother-in-law has kept him busy doing renovations to the house, pushing to have them finished before the oldest two children return from a month long US vacation tomorrow.

Between the 5 hour trips to the ER (where they told me they couldn’t find a thing wrong with me after running two, count ‘em, two, tests), trips to the family Dr. for both myself and our youngest, cooking, cleaning, yard work, and being the only functioning parent, the guy just hasn’t had the time he’d like to spend on his blog. For that, I’m sorry.

If all goes well, by Monday, he’ll be back making his regular postings, so stay tuned, folks.

Thanks,
the wife

From the wife

So, this morning we were having one of our (arguably) intellectual ‘conversations’, and this is the question I posed:

In our society, and based on Maslow’s hierarchy of needs, is hunting going the way of the appendix? Is it becoming something that was once needed for our survival, but will eventually become a thing of the past, something merely read about, perhaps studied, but ultimately dismissed as something humans once needed and now no longer do? And as such, are hunting advocates (perhaps knowingly) fighting a losing battle?

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This is a discussion Cliff and I have had several times. I maintain that fishing is a form of hunting. He says they are two different things. So, here is my perspective on it:

You decide to go fishing. You could randomly pick a spot, drop in your line and hope you get a nibble. And you could by chance catch a fish. You could also randomly walk into the woods, set up a treestand and hope a deer walks by. But [I'm guessing] more often than not, there is planning involved in both activities. You learn the habits of your prey, where they’re likely to be, what will attract them, etc., with both activities. Both take patience, skill, and a modicum of luck. And in the end, the concept is the same, [hopefully] — to kill something for consumption…or possibly display (you mount a deer with pride; you mount a big-assed fish with pride). The best times for both activities seem to coincide, as well.

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Since I’ve stolen Cliff’s computer this morning, he shouted from the other room, “If you’re going to be on there, write a post, would ya!” So, here goes…with all 13 seconds of thought about what to write under my belt.

Yesterday, we were on our way to my mother’s to do a little work for her. The drive there is pleasant, passing through, and by, some nice country scenery. I’ve gotten used to the slight swerves of the car as Cliff readjusts the wheel due to scanning the treelines off in the distance for deer–I no longer clutch the dashboard or the car door, a feat unto itself, I think! I’ve even caught myself looking for deer as we travel. But during yesterday’s drive, he treated me to something new…and slightly more…yucky.

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From the Wife

The other day, I wrote the 12 tips for hunters. My mother-in-law, God bless her soul, sent me an email that had me laughing so much I had to share. Hopefully this will give you an inside look at Cliff…and maybe show you why he is the way he is.

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A few tips for you hunters out there. Memorize them!

12. Do not love us up after a hunting trip until you’ve showered! – Seriously, you stink, and no, it doesn’t smell all ‘manly’.

11. Do your own damned laundry! – if your hunting pants stand up on their own, I ain’t touching them.

10. Handing us a bloody hunk of deer meat is NOT the same as bringing us flowers no matter how much you think it is.

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Another post by the wife

Right off the bat I’m going to point out that I am not now, nor have I ever been, an American, but I’m embarrassed for Cliff, as an American, when I see wingnuts like Dan Simpson spouting their verbal diarrhaea to the masses. Let’s take his ideas point by point (it’s easier to swallow drivel that way).

Now, how would one disarm the American population? First of all, federal or state laws would need to make it a crime punishable by a $1,000 fine and one year in prison per weapon to possess a firearm. The population would then be given three months to turn in their guns, without penalty.

3 months, eh? (note Canadian lingo). How generous. For the sake of extreme generosity, let’s say there are only 1 million of the suckers floating around between Canada and Mexico. That would mean 11,111 firearms would need to be turned in each day all across the country. Anyone see any red tape/logistic problems there? From what I understand, a trip to the DMV would be a vacation compared to a trip to turn in your guns. FYI, there are an estimated 193-250 million firearms in the good ole US of A. Crunch those numbers.

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