lanyard wrote:I need one of those "Ghosts of Hunting past/present/future" things, where I turn my life around and go back to being the hunter/angler I once was rather than a suburban d-bag.
It's tough once you "lose it." I thought I'd do all kinds of duck hunting this year.....first year in either four or five where I was totally legal, nothing I had to worry about in terms of buying a license, possibly getting checked, legal to drive.....totally back to normal....legal with the same rights and privileges as every law-abiding citizen. So I figured I'd be getting the itch and hunting a lot....get myself back in the game after involuntarily being benched on the sideline. A lot of guys fall out of hunting by choice......call it a change of priorities....work, family, caring for parents, etc., but ultimately they have the option to buy a license and go hunting, but they choose not to....or to hunt much less.....maybe seldomly when the rare opportunity arises, or if nothing else.....go the minimum amount required to keep up traditions and more importantly relationships that were forged afield they still value, very much.
Me? I didn't really have a choice.....well, in some aspects I did.....made some bad choices that resulted in limiting my choices to hunt. Some of it is on me. I'm not going to go into why I think a significant portion isn't on me.....dealt with some stuff that I didn't do, but the way the systems we have work.....unfortunately a lot of it is guilty until proven innocent. Lost firearms privileges through the Civil Court system are absolutely that way......any woman in this country can go in and make up a bunch of shit about her man and without even getting in contact with him let alone a statement.....papers are rubber stamped as if you did what she's saying you did, and there is zero repercussions for them after proving they're liars who made it all up when you finally get a chance in court usually months to even over a year later. DWI that I fought and got off took over two years.....I literally had my license automatically suspended for a year and got it back before I ever made it in front of a judge......full year of lost driving privileges before the preliminary hearing where they go over the charges and make sure you understand them....not even offer up how you'll plead, but just showing up to say "yes" you understand what you've been charged with and what the possible penalties are.....jury trial took over two years to happen. I get found not guilty but I've already lost my license for a year, had my driving record severely **** for over two years where insurance is insane, any employment where you need a clean driving record isn't a possibility.....not to mention the shitload of legal fees paying a decent attorney.....all to deal with a bullshit case that "on paper" is supposedly like it never happened since I wasn't found guilty of it.....yet for not being guilty it sure felt like I was, had to serve three days, face all kinds of punitive shit like not being able to drive or technically buy alcohol, go into a bar......
So yeah, anyone who thinks our criminal justice system is innocent until proven guilty, and especially if they think that for civil court?
I hope you never have to find out how much so that isn't the case. Watch out for a woman scorn and don't walk home from bars....I guess that's what I learned from all of it as far as what actions I should try to avoid repeating.....
So long story longer, I get back in the free and clear and go ballistic on the ducks this year.....
.....shooting a whopping whole two mallard drakes, which I saw out front through the window, grabbed a shotgun, and jumped them out front. The first one I dropped the only one I could've dropped.....the other drake out of the trio were out farther and got up first.....the other one I shot out of a group of 8-9 that turned out to be tamies. Could've waxed all of them but when you water swat the first one and are expecting them all to flush and they don't....and then swim back at you when you retrieve the one because they think you have bread?
Makes it different.....like squashing ants....no sport to it
So anyways, don't feel too bad....I've largely lost it too. But I still like to ice fish a fair amount for some reason. I've got a good set up for it plus there's nothing else to do. I'd still choose sitting outside on a nice day not really doing anything over it if given the choice.
With hunting and fishing, waterfowl hunting especially......once you quit, or are forced to quit.....it's not coming back for most. Once you get out of the habit of getting up at 3am to freeze your fukcing ass off and possibly might not shoot shit......that part doesn't matter....if it was a guaranteed slaughter fest and amazing hunt......I still would choose to sleep in and stay in a warm bed.....then either go fishing or get drunk with some chicks and try to get laid. Honestly? Pussy is cheaper than hunting and more fun to me these days.....lot more time spent in warm beds versus being sleep deprived and freezing your ass off.
I get now get why waterfowl hunting is a dead pastime. We represent the last generation for it.