GUEST COLUMN: Hunting

submitted by Anthony Gunderson

The days were getting shorter, and the weather began to get colder. Winter? Yes, but something else, something I look forward to every year, hunting season. I can still remember being twelve and living in Rapid City, that year was my first deer. I came down to Baker, like many hunters from all around do and learned how to shoot a gun. I can still remember my grandpa steadying the gun when my hands started to shake when I saw the deer that would be mine. I ate that deer, and deer meat is still one of my favorites. That was the past, lets take a glimpse into more recent years.

Every hunting season bring with it new challenges, some deer, lets says whitetail, are not doing well, so one might not want to hunt them. Other deer seem to come out of nowhere and appear in groups, but you must remember hunting season has not come just yet. You count down the days until you can hunt an animal, and in the meantime you discuss the hunts of the past with other hunters in this sport called hunting, which I love, and it starts to make sense. When you talk to an old hunter, let’s take one I was talking to the other day, you notice two things, the drive, and the humility. The drive to wake up at six in the morning and walk in the bitter cold just for a glimpse of a deer or antelope. The humility to not talk about the hunt endlessly but be proud of what you had accomplished. Some hunters come back at night without an animal at all but are giddy to tell you about what they saw. I have seen many deer and many winters. Men and women, young and old, start to roam Baker and talk about land where they can hunt. You walk into a convenience store, you see the license plates of hunters from North Dakota, Wyoming, and even Nebraska. You feel, even if you have roots in Fallon County, that you are glad people from a few states over want to hunt in Southeastern Montana. They know the deer are here, I’m sure there are many deer in those states, but there’s something about Fallon County that brings them here every year.

They say in acting, there is no such thing as a one man show. In hunting an animal, you can be the solitary hunter looking for your animal, until suddenly, maybe while taking a bite of your sandwich you see a buck. I’ve heard of more fascinating things happening during the hunt, getting a buck before nightfall, or when you think you can’t move anymore, maybe it’s the cold, and even your feet are freezing, it doesn’t matter that you’ve just bought top notch boots, and you see the elusive buck. It’s worth it to see that animal it all its majesty, even when you feel like you can’t move another muscle, that you want to get back inside the truck and warm up, listen to the classic rock station, and do some indoor hunting, as they call it. But first there is getting ready for the hunt, as important as the hunt itself.

In my experience I’ve always shot with a rifle, some people use bow and arrows to track down their prize, but I’m fine with something a little less complicated. Not that a rifle can’t be complicated. Especially for me. I have an inability to close one eye and must use a red dot to shoot at a target. At first you try to shoot in the middle of a piece of paper at the gun range, sometimes you miss, other times you don’t. It takes practice. You will shoot longer distances as you put in the time to hone your skill. There is a chance the deer can be far away, better make sure you can shoot as far as the deer may be. As you get to the shooting range, you get better and better, you might complain about the cold, the protective gear for noise you have to wear, but you know why you are doing this, you are keenly aware of why you keep going to the gun range and shooting at targets. I remember this, your target is not stationery, it might move, in fact it can run.

There is the matter of getting prepared, but in a different sense. You put on your clothes, but remember that you need a jacket, maybe two. I once had a parka, the same kind the military issues to people when the temperature is below zero. I can’t remember what I did with that parka, so I wear two big jackets. The warmth you feel is fleeting, it can get so cold in the winter. There is the matter of boots, I learned the hard way. It was a week before hunting season and me and my dad were scouting for deer. I was wearing my favorite tennis shoes; they quickly lost their status as anything I would wear again. As I walked in the snow, my feet were getting wet and cold and my dad, looking at my shoes and shaking his head, but absolutely right, I was not prepared to hunt. When I purchased an eighty dollar pair of boots I knew it was a good choice when I went back to scout. The biting cold on my toes, the wetness was gone, if you’re going to hunt be prepared, they are not bad looking boots either.

Deer season opens, and you think you are prepared. Maybe you are and you forget to bring some coffee with you, or you didn’t think you were going to be outside for four hours. Not just outside, but tracking, walking, not even seeing one deer as those hours passed. Hunting is a waiting game. I haven’t played chess in many years, and I got the sense that it was a game that required many hours, maybe even years to perfect. Does anyone ever become a great hunter, or do you simply get lucky year after year. It depends on who you ask.

The seasons arrives and you go out into the wilderness, you call a friend to ask if you can hunt on his land. You have your rifle, boots, and orange vest. You may have got there in the afternoon and the prospect of being there till the sun comes down enters your thoughts. You spot an animal from a few hundred yards, and you look in your scope; it’s just a rabbit. Then you wait an hour, and then a few more. You’re on your belly or putting a foot on the other side of the fence, and something happens. Every hunter knows the feeling. You see a buck; unlike any you have seen in the wild. Maybe you have seen him on television, but this is different, this is real. How far away is he? Or you ask yourself, how close is he? You line your scope as the animal stops walking and stands for a moment for reasons only a deer would know. The animal is about to move in a few seconds, I’ve got to make my shot. You look at the deer, and he looks at you. Then all that hard work seems to matter very little, you take your shot and go home. It was a good hunt.