Opening day of deer season is certainly not what it used to be. For one thing, there are less hunters. The old timers like me are aging out, and young people are generally less interested than their parents were. For another thing, the hunting activity is spread out between the archery season in October and a couple of weekends in September that are reserved for disabled veterans and mentored youth. The youths have to be accompanied by an adult mentor who is not allowed to carry a gun during this special season. I suppose it's for the best. When I first moved here, the woods were pretty chaotic on opening day. There were lots of guys wandering around out there with little or no training or experience. Nowadays it's a lot quieter and safer in the woods.
I have missed a number of opening days in my lifetime, mostly because of work commitments, but I always managed to get out for some portion of the 16-day season. Last year, after missing the first few days because of my wife's cataract surgery, I never mustered up the energy to go out after that. I don't remember all the reasons, maybe I wasn't feeling too good myself health wise. I didn't get my rye field planted in time, but I did get it mowed, so it wouldn't have been a total waste of time to go sit in the blind for a few hours. I just never got around to it. It looks like I might get the rye planted this year, and both of our health situations are about as good as they ever are anymore, so I might make it out after all. If I don't feel up to doing the work associated with it, well, there is no law that says I have to shoot a deer just because I see one.
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