Saturday, November 11, 2006

It's That Time Again

Those who've known me a while know about my yearly fall ritual.
Living, and growing up, in southern California doesnt offer much opportunity for outdoor pursuits, unless one wants to surf, or hike forset trails devoid of much wildlife. Camping in the desert ugliness is appealing to some, but not to me.

Fishing is popular, but all the lakes have cement bottoms, charge steeply for access, are stocked regularly like aquariums, and for me, just not much fun.

About 15 years ago, I gained, through Dad's marriage, access to much acreage of prime Georgia deer habitat. What's even better is that I was granted exclusive access to these beautiful acres, and all deer within.
I promptly took up hunting, and suffered the often humiliating learning curve that goes with it.

Earlier this past year, a developer made an offer on the land Dad couldn't refuse, and along with the contract came a hunting/firearms restriction til the close of escrow. My fun times were dashed away with the stroke of a pen. I knew this day would come, but I wasnt ready to give it up just yet. Needless to say, the begining of fall didnt bring the same level of excitement and anticipation this year as in years past. Nope. Instead it brought on a small dose of depression. Just when I was starting to get good at this thing, and able to carry myself through the woods with the air and confidence of a seasoned predator, I was being relegated back to foam-tray-meat-eater status. The empty game freezer was to be my destiny this year.

Last night, the phone rang. It was Dad. The developer pulled out just weeks from closing, citing the current housing market.
So what does this mean? I asked.
"It means grabba your gun and get your ass out here",Dad says.
Dad says the deer are thick this year. Thicker than he's seen it in 5-6 years. And the developer was so kind as to clear a few extra trails through the thickest woods while performing his geological studies.

Happy Days are here again.
Til next season, anyway.

9 comments:

kingdavid said...

Gino: c'mon now, your faith has to grow after this divine act of God. You must have been praying something like this would happen. Now be a good steward of the earth and thin out those herds. Personally, I'm not a hunter; not because I wouldn't shoot em, but because I wouldn't eat em. I never have developed a taste for wild game. If it don't moo or oink, I don't eat it.

Anonymous said...

Good luck and have fun! Maybe all the deer from my area went to yours, because I haven't seen very few signs of them around here. :(

Trisha

Gino said...

kingdavid:
you've never tasted my venison pot roast. one bite, and you'll never go back.

trisha: i hope so. KS deer are much bigger than GA deer.

Kal said...

I don't mind the deer we get from time to time, but the friggin' turkeys wandering down the middle of the road get annoying.

Gino said...

hehehe...
we got turkeys on that land also, but i've never suceeded in calling to any of them.

Mercy Now said...

Just curious, what do you use? 308, 30-06, or a spear:o)

Gino said...

hmm...
i just answered that!
LOL

and you?

speaking of spear: its now legal in a couple of states.(TN,NH i think) would be a cool thing to try.

kingdavid said...

On my way in to work this morning I saw a woman who had bagged herself a deer; looked to me like she was using about a 2005 Chevy Lumina. I gonna see if I can bag one this year with my 2000 Saturn SL.

Mercy Now said...

I thought about a 308 but really have little practical use for it down here where I live. FL is not known for good huntin except for turkeys and wild boars, two games that I rather pass on. I do have other collectables tho like Glocks and Berettas that are fun to take to the range.