I am about to embark on my hunting trip for week. I am leaving Saturday morning and I am excited to get to the woods and hear nothing but the sound of the remaining leaves fall to the earth. I am ready to sit by the hot fire when its cold at night. I am ready for some alcohol induced laughs with my friend who is going with me. Bob, a co-worker of mine for the 28 years that I have been working at the plant, was the reason I started bow hunting in the first place. We have been going hunting together for over 26 years now. We share the love for bow hunting equally. We have shared this passion for so long now that we have many many memories that we share every time we go camping. (yes, the same ones over and over sometimes). We have traditions which we have created, one of which I am proud to say that I created myself...We have a stick that gets passed around to whomever shoots the biggest deer...a stick you say? Well its not just any ordinary stick....this stick is one that I created one year while sitting at camp whittling away on it. I love nothing more than carving on wood while I am sitting in camp. I was so into it that I even missed some nights hunting because I didn't want to lose my creative juices. (those juices may have been alcohol) but none the less...I was into it!
The winner of the stick gets to keep it for the year and also holds bragging rights. Bob has had the stick for 3 years and I have had it for 3 years also...so there is alot riding on this year. Although we both enjoy the peacefulness and tranquility that the woods brings, we put hanging a deer on the buck pole very seriously. The reason why we take it seriously is because we have went years without a deer being hung. I for one went over 16 years before I shot my first deer with a bow.I think it made me appreciate the woods more, always thinking that this could be the night I get the BIG one.
Another tradition started long ago was that we always take a sip off the bottle when someone shoots a deer. We hide it in the crevasse of a maple tree that is in the middle of our camp. Its usually a bottle of R&R whiskey and its making me want to hurl just thinking about it right now. :) (I am not a whiskey fan)
I have always said that my main purpose for going up North wasn't to shoot deer, its main purpose is to relax, no phones, no having to babysit 180 people, nothing to bother me at all....stress free baby, that's what its all about. Its all about doing whatever I feel like doing. Its about the camaraderie that hunters share together. Its about making new memories, and if we happen to shoot a deer in the middle of all that....then that's just a bonus. And if I happen to shoot a bigger deer than anyone else at camp...Bigger bonus because I go home with the stick.
I just got a chuckle from that last line I just wrote. It just reminded me of a childhood memory....I remember walking home when I was a kid and trying to make up songs...and I remember singing this..."I'm taking a stick home with me...I'm taking a stick home with me."
So maybe its destiny?
Heres a few pics of just some of the items that I carved on the stick. (that Im taking home with me)
The winner of the stick gets to keep it for the year and also holds bragging rights. Bob has had the stick for 3 years and I have had it for 3 years also...so there is alot riding on this year. Although we both enjoy the peacefulness and tranquility that the woods brings, we put hanging a deer on the buck pole very seriously. The reason why we take it seriously is because we have went years without a deer being hung. I for one went over 16 years before I shot my first deer with a bow.I think it made me appreciate the woods more, always thinking that this could be the night I get the BIG one.
Another tradition started long ago was that we always take a sip off the bottle when someone shoots a deer. We hide it in the crevasse of a maple tree that is in the middle of our camp. Its usually a bottle of R&R whiskey and its making me want to hurl just thinking about it right now. :) (I am not a whiskey fan)
I have always said that my main purpose for going up North wasn't to shoot deer, its main purpose is to relax, no phones, no having to babysit 180 people, nothing to bother me at all....stress free baby, that's what its all about. Its all about doing whatever I feel like doing. Its about the camaraderie that hunters share together. Its about making new memories, and if we happen to shoot a deer in the middle of all that....then that's just a bonus. And if I happen to shoot a bigger deer than anyone else at camp...Bigger bonus because I go home with the stick.
I just got a chuckle from that last line I just wrote. It just reminded me of a childhood memory....I remember walking home when I was a kid and trying to make up songs...and I remember singing this..."I'm taking a stick home with me...I'm taking a stick home with me."
So maybe its destiny?
Heres a few pics of just some of the items that I carved on the stick. (that Im taking home with me)
2 comments:
haha - i laughed SO hard at your "song" :)
I LOVE IT.
I can TOTALLY picture you as a little boy walking home, completley content with a stick in hand and a mindless song being sung :)
Boy, this one leaves alot of open room for some good family jokes. I'm going to use this one, but for now I'm keeping it in my back pocket to use 'later'.
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