Getting busy with life, work and “stuff” really does put a damper on a lot of stuff. The other night over a burger fishing buddy Shane and I were talking about that very thing. Hell, we haven’t been out fishing together in probably two months. So, we decided to take a evening we both had free and head up into the mountains looking for bears.
There are a lot of people out there that don’t hunt, and I have to say, you guys are missing out. Quietly walking through the woods, keeping an eye out for animals, chatting with a buddy, it’s a great way to spend an evening. For centuries, friends and relatives have bonded over walking through the woods with a gun.
Both of us were in no particular rush, and honestly didn’t care whether we saw anything or not. It was just one of those days when you can be glad to get out of town. Walking up a forest service road, talking about everything and nothing, it’s days like that that make you appreciate where you live and the friends you have. It was just like a day out on the water.
We reached the meadow where a bear scared the living shit out of me a couple weeks prior and waited a while for the sun to go behind the mountains. Before my two year stint in the flat wastes of Texas, I had taken the mountains for granted. Sure, they were pretty to look at and I’d go hike or drive around in them a bit, but I didn’t really appreciate them as I should. Being young and stupid, I’m allowed a couple instances of that. But since getting back I made a promise to myself to never take it for granted again. Sitting there on a hillside watching the sun set, listening to the absolute absence of man made commotion, taking in the beauty of the fall colors starting to emerge… I made the right choice coming back home.
Once it got late enough, we set up our spot and Shane started calling. It’s an accepted practice to find bears, set up, and then try to call them in by mimicking the sound of animals in distress. Thirty minutes later, the eerily chilling call of a rabbit being ripped to shreds had yet to bring anything in, except a case of the heebie jeebies. We shrugged it off, enjoyed the view for a few more minutes, then headed out.
It’s a law of hunting that if you are looking for a particular animal, you will never see it. But if you are out unprepared, or out hiking or fishing, you will see more than you thought possible. For the past couple of weeks, I’ve been grouse hunting up in these woods, and have seen bears every time. Now that I’m going out with a rifle and bear tag, I’ll never see another one again.
Any sportsman, be he a hunter, a fisherman, or both, can appreciate time spent outside with good friends. Even if you think you can’t do it, carve some time out of your busy schedule to get out there. We all need it.
