The Offseason.

2018 Season

This past year was tough, no hunting lease equaled no outings close to home.  It also meant I didn’t take my kids out for the first time in 3 years, and believe me, they asked often when they were going deer hunting.  Tag soup on an expensive and time consuming Colorado hunt was tough to swallow and I am still harassed regularly by my wife for no meat in the freezer after that ordeal.  The one highlight was a successful mule deer meat hunt to Texas with my cousin where plenty of good times were had.  This was easily the least time spent afield I have had in 7 years and a good practice in patience considering the constant desire to go hunt.

 

Convention Season

Someone once told me you can always do something for a cause you believe in, usually in the form of time or money, give which ever you have at the time.  I believe in conservation, as humans expand further and further into former wildlife habitat, we must take a role in providing adequate habitat for our neighbors.  At various times in my life, I have had time or money to give, rarely both and sometimes neither.  Recently, I have given most frequently to RMEF and Delta Waterfowl.  Last year I was able to serve on the committee for our local RMEF chapter but this year time was something I could not give.  I was able to round up ten buddies and attend our local Delta Waterfowl dinner and have a hell of a good time last month.  We tried our hand at the live auction, bought raffle tickets and drank plenty of beer.  I got the chance to describe a hunt with a great new outfitting group out of Garber, OK called FowlCo Outfitters that is bringing first class bird hunting to Oklahoma.  In the end, we provided habitat and more to ducks from our flyway all the way across the country.  I would encourage everyone to give what you can- time, money or something else, but don’t assume the game you love to pursue will survive without your willingness to be part of the equation.

 

Looking Ahead

Normally this is when I would start training for next season’s hunt and chasing gobblers but the hard training for the elk hunt wore out what was left of my knee cartilage and I get to spend turkey season on crutches recovering from knee surgery.  That said, no recovery goes well without a goal, so I have booked Africa for October this year and will let that be my driving force to rehabilitate quickly so I can outrun the cape buffalo, or at least not be the slowest guy in the group.  The next few installments will be more on booking and planning that trip.  I think Africa is an attainable, once in a lifetime trip for almost everyone.  The more you know about how to plan and prepare, the more realistic that dream can be.