Well, here we go again; tomorrow is another opening day of deer season.  Today will be spent looking for all the paraphernalia which will be needed for tomorrow’s hunt……drag rope, knife, florescent red clothes, slugs, flashlight, compass, hand warmers, thermos,  and, oh yes,  the gun.    A trip to the supermarket may be necessary to buy fresh sandwich bread and lunch meat.    If there is still some Thanksgiving turkey left over, that works too.   

We’ll go to bed early tonight in order to get a good night sleep, but it won’t happen.  Because of the anticipation of the hunt, there will be the usual trouble getting to sleep.   Sometime in the middle of the night we will get up and look for something that we forgot to get ready, such as the hunting license which is still in the pheasant hunting vest, or perhaps the location of the key to the gun lock.

While trying to fall asleep, we will recall some of our past hunts.  We may recall missing a nice deer because of buck fever, or the jammed shotguns, getting lost in the fog, long deer drags, drenching rains and fogged up gun scopes, the penalty that we paid for not sighting in our guns in advance, sliding off a mountain road.   We will remember deer hunters that we shared the sport with over the years who have since passed beyond the ridge.  Oh yes, we will remember some of the deer that we shot, especially the big ones.

The alarm will go off around 4:00 AM and while still half asleep, we will get up, stumble around the house and wake everyone up.   Our bird/rabbit hunting dogs will look at us in disbelief as we go out the door without them. (illegal to hunt deer with dogs).

Hooray!  Opening day has finally arrived.  Good luck to all.  May we all have a safe and enjoyable deer hunting season.  *****

Incidentally, to help you have that safe hunting season, you might want to click onto the MassWildlife web page, then click onto the hunting information page, then scroll down to the paragraph entitled Effectiveness of Blaze Orange.  Click onto the underlined words “the right amount and kind of blaze orange”.   It is a 5-minute safety video which provides tips about how wearing the right amount and kind of blaze orange can keep you safe in the field.  It is useful for any outdoor user who is in the woods during hunting season.  Viewers may be surprised to see what a difference it makes.  Personally, I dress from head to foot in the stuff during deer hunting season, just to be on the safe side.  *****