I have no earthly idea why I was reading AOL Horoscopes, but I was and ran across this: February 7 not only ushers in the Chinese New Year…but the commencement of a fresh 12-year cycle. Therefore, the Year of the Rat is associated with fresh starts, new opportunities and hard work.
Of course I had to put that in buck-hunting terms:
Fresh starts/new opportunities: Legendary KY hunter Harold Knight told me one time, “Man, you can be the best hunter in the country, but you’ll never kill a big buck if you hunt in an area that has no big bucks.” I thought that was silly and irrelevant at the time, but the man is right.
Say for the last 5 or 10 years you’ve hunted a spot with too many people…too much gunfire…or just a place with a poor herd/too many does. Well, heed the Rat, get off your butt and find new ground to hunt on this fall. It won’t be easy and you might have to pay a lease fee, but do it. Otherwise, you’ll keep killing does and 4s and 6s. There is nothing wrong with that if you’re after meat, but if it is a big rack you seek change it up.
Hard work: Hunters (including me) are lazier than we used to be 10 years ago. We are older, busier, have more technology to help us scout and hunt better, etc. Plus, face it, we sit on our asses, eat and drink too much and watch too much TV.
We don’t walk/scout new areas or move our stands as much as we should. I shot some of the best bucks of my life when I was in my 20s and early 30s by strapping a stand on my back and hiking a mile or more into a rough-ass spot that nobody else wanted to hunt. When I killed a 200-pounder, I sadistically enjoyed the sweaty, muscle-burning drag out, found it invigorating and satisfying--worth it after having just shot the life out of a grand animal.
Simple. If you and I would work out more and scout/hunt a little smarter and harder, we would as a collective group kill more big bucks this Rat fall and for the next 11 years.
Oh yeah, this was in the astrology post too: No matter what year you were born, you will make progress with new ventures. Drop tine maybe?
