Published: December 05, 2008 12:24 am      

Hunter up!

In spite of philisophical differences, let us move forward together in our love of deer hunting

I have always liked Jim Shockey’s hunting show on The Outdoor Channel, but after the episode I viewed a week ago today I’m sold.

Shockey said that hunting is not all about antlers, but more about the experience of the pursuit. As you know, I’ve always preached that, so it is good to hear someone of Shockey’s status espouse that view at the national and international level.

Of course, Shockey has a lot of big-antlered animals in his game room, so maybe it’s easy for him to say that. I don’t even have a game room, but it is still easy for me to utter that philosophy.

During this recent montage of hunting that took place in November, I told my closest hunting companion that I have tried to become a trophy hunter, but just can’t do it.

The kill is the punctuation mark at the end of the hunting sentence. The kill is the extra point of the hunting touchdown. The kill is the dessert table wheeled up to your booth (treestand) after the lengthy and pleasant meal you have shared with friends and family.

“I hunt not to kill, but kill to have hunted.”

Jose Ortega Y Gassett, Spanish hunter and philosopher

I told another hunting companion this year, as we walked before daylight up a long and wooded West Virginia logging road, that I am just as happy bagging a forkhorn buck as I am downing an 8-pointer, that I am as thrilled with a jakebird gobbler as I am with a longbeard... and I meant it.

When hunting on lands where the owner has set more stringent rules than those imposed by the state, I abide and am happy to do so. Just as there is more to hunting than a 10-pointer, there is more to hunting than a 4-pointer too. When hunting on lands where anything deemed legal by the state is fair game, I abide and am tickled, quite frankly, that a drag rope around the neck of a spike buck still causes a surge of thanks and accomplishment to course through me.

Call me crazy, but if that buck is pulled through the woods after dark during a nasty late November rainstorm, it makes my success even more rewarding (as long as the drag is mostly downhill). I have no problem with trophy hunters and ask only that they have no problem with me and others who approach the hunt in our chosen fashion.

We are all in this hunt together. Let’s not let the ginger quill vs. salmon egg conflict drift into our world.

I think the fact that I enjoy caring for and then eating deer meat is what makes every deer seem like a trophy to me.

For a few years now, we have had a couple Sunday out here in Almost Maryland to hunt deer. One Sunday is for bow hunting and one Sunday is for rifle hunting.

I have killed a number of deer (and other game animals) on Sundays in other states, but a week ago today I shot my first Maryland Sunday deer, a spike. I had mixed feelings, not about the size of the antlers, but about bagging it on a Sunday. I wanted to thumb my nose a little (at those who have restricted us from hunting on Sundays) and I wanted to bend a knee a little (to those who have made at least some Sunday hunting available).

Hunter up!!

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