If you are in a tree at fifteen feet, and your target is 120 feet, or 40 yards, in front of you, then the actual distance that has an effect is 39.69 yards, or 119.05 feet.
Yep. It is hunting season. Be glad I don’t live in Montana, because otherwise you would be getting a lesson on where to aim at an elk standing 240’ below you. I did, in fact, get the whole, albeit interesting, dissertation.
I was trying to come up with material for a post, and casually asked my son James if he had any ideas. He thought for a moment, and then said, “You can write on the (something something) velocity vs. (something something) distance (something something).” It is a very scary moment when you realize just how smart your child really is. I have no idea what he suggested, but he will get full credit for trying to help.
In his defense, he and his Dad are in full hunting mode. My once clean dining room table is now the drop off point for stray arrows, spent shells, back packs, thermoses, jackets, guns and an orange vest or two. Conversations are solely committed to which stand to hunt; pros and cons of firearms vs bows; and then pros and cons between compound or cross and the model and caliber of rifle.
Although I have no interest whatsoever in hunting, I do feel my boys’ pain when they come in empty-handed. What makes it worse is the evidence of deer on the camera cards. It was even more painful when a 10-point showed up in full glory in a frame that was time-stamped for Saturday at a prime shooting time. Unfortunately for James, Katie had come to visit and he preferred to stay at the house to visit with her – the better choice as far as he was concerned, regardless of the missed hunting opportunity. Last night there was a half-hour discussion on where best to hunt to try and see that 10-pointer again. And I imagine there will be a full-out search for him, too. Poor deer.
Adding insult to injury, The Country Boy’s buddy Johnny called and asked him to help get a 7-point out of the woods. Both boys went to help, and although they were excited for Johnny, they were a bit despondent about their own lack of sightings. This is the song and dance I have to listen to each year about this time. What I have a hard time getting them to understand is, they will eventually get a deer or two, but it usually happens later in the season.
There does seem to be a certain correlation between deer hunting and Life. All too many times we hurry up and prepare ourselves for something great. Each morning we are ready. As the sun travels from East to West, we wait. We are in a hurry for it to happen, yet have to endure a lesson in patience. Then suddenly, the great thing we have been waiting for happens, and a moment later it is nothing more than a memory.
Maybe it is time we just enjoy the waiting. There is so much beauty – out in those woods and in Life – we will miss if we are too focused on the trophy. I wish them the trophy buck this year. But I also wish for them greater things – a love of Nature; an appreciation of the beauty surrounding them; and the wonder of Life itself. And of course, I will throw in a consolation prize of a Lemon Jello Cake. Now that, my dear readers, would be a successful hunting season.
Have your own hunting stories to share? Comment below – I would love to know how other Hunters and Hunting Widows fare this season. Want to bake your own Lemon Jello Cake? Join me in the Kitchen ( https://www.thefarmwife.com/category/simple-life/kitchen/ ) for the recipe!
