The Do's Does and Don'ts of Hunting

I am a hunter. I don't excuse myself or really feel the need to. This weekend was the general weapon buck hunt's opening weekend. I had a good time with a friend from school and my wife. This being my second year in a row hunting I feel like I have come up with some good ideas and advice for hunters.

Do's
I have determined that the most important part of hunting is not actually worrying about hunting. You need to be in it for the experience. Did I shoot anything this weekend? No, I didn't even chamber a round in my rifle. I did see around ten shooting stars while spending the night in the back of my truck parked high in the mountains. I did climb up and down two mountain peaks and see a good amount of wildlife. I did get a lot of good exercise, so much that I was totally exhausted today. Overall the hunt was a fantastic experience of being in the outdoors, and observing the beauty of nature.

Does
For those who aren't familiar with the term, a doe is a female deer. I was lucky enough to acquire a hunting permit for a buck (male deer with antlers at least five inches long). So seeing doe, though exciting, really wasn't the purpose of my hunt. It actually can be really frustrating. For example, when you are coming down a steep mountain at the end of opening day hoping beyond hope to see a buck and not go home a failure you suddenly see a deer way below you. Excitedly, you put your rifle to your shoulder and look through the scope, and what do you see? A nice looking deer, that just so happens to lack antlers. Bah those blasted antlers. If I hadn't seen bucks in the wild before I would think that they were made up by the government to create revenue from all the suckers (me included) who buy hunting permits in the hopes of bringing home food for their friends and families.

Don'ts
As to the don'ts of hunting, I have decided that if you are serious about harvesting (a more polite way of saying shooting) a deer, you should not go hunting with me. I have become very good at finding doe and moose. I even saw grouse this weekend, and let me tell you that can definitely scare you when you are simply walking through the woods looking for deer and a bird suddenly spooks and flies away. The noise is pretty inspiring, but also takes you by surprise. Anyway I am very good at finding really cool wildlife, as long as it isn't something I am trying to hunt. Another don't is don't forget to eat something at 5 am when you are about to spend two hours hiking. It tends to make the hike much less enjoyable. You can trust me on that as I speak from experience.

All in all, hunting ain't too shabby. I'm not very good at it, but really enjoy spending the time hiking through the woods with friends and family. I might even be successful someday and bring home some meat, but that might just only be wishful thinking. My hunt isn't over yet, I still have till next Saturday, so maybe my next post will be all about how nasty it is to gut a deer. You are probably now joining those other people who hope I don't shoot anything, except you just don't want to read a post about gutting a deer. I forgive you for thinking that way, but hope that you fail in something you are really excited about . . . yeah, it doesn't sound very polite when I say it that way huh? That's what I think about all those who tell me they are glad I didn't get anything.