Published: November 20, 2008 11:37 pm      

Is it deer season yet?

Well, there a lot of deer seasons. In Maryland, things get under way real early, with the bow hunt beginning Sept. 15.

But the real deer season in the minds of a lot of hunters is the traditional hunt with centerfire rifles. So, the answer to the question in the headline is “pert near, but not plumb.”

However, ask that question tomorrow in West Virginia and the answer will be a resounding “Yes.”

As I write this column on Monday, Nov. 17, the people who predict the weather for a living are saying that sometime during the next 36 hours a whole bunch of snow will be dumped on a number of West Virginia counties. Among those mentioned are Mineral, Grant and Pendleton. With 12 inches of snow being predicted for Garrett County in Maryland, I have no idea why Tucker and Preston counties are not being included in the dire warning. But then as a friend of mine would say, meteorologists have the only job in which you can be right half the time and get full pay.

Anyhoo, there may be snow in the Mountain State hollow you hunt come tomorrow morning or, if the forecasters are wrong or some serious sunshine comes out later in the week, there may not be.

It doesn’t matter. Those of us who hunt will be out there rain or shine, wind or heat, blizzard or dust storm.

George Carlin, in his role as Al Sleet, meteorologist, would say, “Hi there. This is Al Sleet, your hippy dippy weatherman, with your hippy dippy weather, man. Tomorrow there will be a rainstorm coming in from the northeast and a dust storm coming in from the southwest. The forecast is for mud flurries.”

Well, I’ve experienced just about every kind of weather there is on opening days of deer seasons, with the exception of mud flurries, though I have gotten muddy in other ways while out there.

I have told hunting friends that I get more excited seeing a buck during firearms season than I do during the bow hunt.

While bow hunting, I realize that I often have to watch a buck for a long time, waiting for it to come into my effective range, about 30 yards. Thus, I seem to be much more calm waiting for everything to line up correctly.

While hunting deer with a rifle, I think I realize that once I see a buck I can effectively make that animal mine at long distances. Centerfire rifles are amazing tools that do exactly what they are designed to do.

I have one hunting companion in Lewis County, W.Va., who feels the same way. Because of that, he puts only one cartridge in his bolt action rifle, which forces him to take his time and select a good shot.

I shot a nice 8-point in that county in 1992 and I only had one cartridge in the rifle, but that was because the ejector wasn’t working correctly and using a clip was meaningless. I must not have selected a good shot, though, because it took me more than one shot to kill the deer.

Have fun out there.

Contact Outdoor Editor Mike Sawyers at msawyers@times-news.com.