Geesssshhhhh,
Calhoun...
Looks to me like you might need a "hunting buddy" there on your place in Nebraska. Make me an "offer"... hahahahaha!!!
Nice view you've got... and a vintage "99" to round-out what a lot of us would call "THE" perfect hunting scene.
Deer Season at my bestest hunting buddy's cabin up on the High Plateau among the moutain laurel in the Moshannon State Forest in north-central Pennsylvania doesn't open until December 1st this year... a later-than-usual opening which means we'll probably have a
COLD week up at the cozy cabin. (THANK GOODNESS for fireplaces, eh?
)
Butttttttttttttttt... "cold" is better than "rain".
We'll be hunting at
"Dale K.'s" parents' farm on Opening Day this year. Dale posts on the "24-Hour Campfire" and occasionally posts here in our Forum as well.
I'm certainly looking forward to the "Opener"... can't wait to get out in the woods again... just a little over 90 more days...
To paraphrase a parable...
"When I was a young man, I thought and spake as a young man"... but now, I am approaching my 73rd year... and I have mellowed� considerably.
While I still hunt, I no longer "like" the killing, I don't mind if others do it as long as they respect the "life" they take... and they eat what they kill or, at least, see that it's not wasted.
But... for me... "hunting" is enjoying the
solitude and listening to the sounds of the north-central Pennsylvania woods up on the High Plateau among the pines and mountain laurel� the �moaning� of the wind through the bare limbs of the trees. It's sitting by a warming fire in the cabin's fireplace after the hunt with your favorite beverage in hand and talking about the day's events... or about hunting in general. It's
PARTICIPATING in the �tradition" of hunting and reveling in the camaraderie of my sons and my close friends at Deer Camp.
It�s the �clinking� sound of the cartridges as I put them into my rifle�s rotary magazine. It�s the �ta-chunk-clunk... click� sound of the action as I lever a round into the rifle�s chamber and set the safety. It�s the heft of my 55 year old Savage Model 99 lever-action rifle chambered for its 88 year old cartridge (the .300 Savage introduced in 1920) as I swing it onto my shoulder and settle the wide part of the carrying sling in �that place� that God put in a man�s shoulder for that purpose.
Yes, it�s a �man thing�� it�s �
tradition�� and thank the Good Lord we have it to enjoy.
You see� �hunting� isn�t about
DEATH, it�s about
LIVING� and
TRADITION� and those things that are so important, but so very private to us all� those things we rarely EVER talk about, but we honor so much. It�s a state-of-being� and a �feeling� more than anything else... and those of you who have felt it, down deep within your soul, YOU
KNOW exactly what I mean.
Good luck to you, my friend...
Strength & Honor...
Ron T.