Whatever Takes Us Away

Since my youth I have loved and enjoyed being in the outdoors; fishing, hiking, exploring or just playing around in the woods. In recent years I have picked up the hobby of hunting, mostly for deer, and this by means of bow and arrow. My first year found no success, but good excitement and plenty of deer sightings. Last year I was successful and managed to take two deer, one buck and one doe. This deer season has been challenging, with plenty of deer sightings, however, I have been largely unsuccessful. I did manage to take a great deer in November, but have missed enough to make this season a frustrating one.

This year the state of Ohio increased the number of deer a hunter could harvest, double in all areas of the state from previous years. That said, where we live in the southern part of the state I could, in theory, harvest six deer from October through January. My problem this season has not been the inability to locate them, though their patterns have been much different this year, but my inability to judge distances in order to accurately place my shots. If my count is correct I have missed six shots due to distance. This is my frustration. These shots have all been short of the intended target, some as close as fifteen yards, most from 30 to 45 yards. I know there are products out there, laser range finders for example, that will help reduce greatly my inability to judge these distances, and in the off season I do plan to acquire one - I hope this will increase my chances of taking more and better deer.

My frustration was increased even more over the weekend as I cleaned out our refrigerator and freezer. Last year, with two deer in the freezer, that meat accounted for about 85% of my family's red meat intake. As I cleaned out the freezer I realized that I only have five packages of ground venison, not nearly enough to get through nine months of eating, especially when we have FOUR kids and our pseudo-adopted fifth - all who really do enjoy the venison over beef.

Thankfully, Ohio has a long bow season. I still have three weeks to try to get at least one more deer from the woods into my freezer. The good thing now, is that the deer where I am hunting are finally starting to get into a regular pattern and I should be able to take at least that one additional deer. The season is long, hunting can be frustrating, but it is worth the time spent when, at the end of the season, I can say that I provided for my family, myself and others - and with God's help I will do just that.