Peg Herring's Blog - Posts Tagged "hunters"
It's Too Close to Halloween for This
Last night I was about to head to bed, and the chores thereto include letting the cat out for the night. When I opened the door, the most bloodcurdling howl you would ever want to hear sounded from my back yard. A dog, but a dog in a state of high emotion, for sure. It was...well, think Baskerville and you'd be close. I listened for a while, a bit of a chill creeping up my neck, but it is not unheard of for dogs to wander away from home and "visit", so I didn't panic.
Until the lights showed. Out my kitchen door, about forty feet away, is a shed, and suddenly I saw two lights in the woods behind it. They moved slowly around and around, shutting off for a few seconds and then coming back on. "Reflections of car headlights on the road," I told myself, but it was hard to see how something happening in front of the house could reflect around to the side, behind a building.
The lights kept circling. After watching for a while I gave up trying to figure it out and started for my bedroom. In the window facing the back yard was another light. This one shone straight up, lighting the tree branches high above. I could see the feet of someone holding the light. There really were people in my back yard.
Was I scared? Yeah, for a second. Then my husband came along, took one look, and said, "Coon hunters."
Yup. These crazy people hunt raccoon with dogs at night near cornfields. The animals tend to climb a tree to escape, so the hunters were tramping around my back yard, within a few feet of my house, looking for their prey.
The question is, what would they have done if they'd found it? It's bad enough that they made me think my home was under attack. What if they'd fired off a few rounds?
Until the lights showed. Out my kitchen door, about forty feet away, is a shed, and suddenly I saw two lights in the woods behind it. They moved slowly around and around, shutting off for a few seconds and then coming back on. "Reflections of car headlights on the road," I told myself, but it was hard to see how something happening in front of the house could reflect around to the side, behind a building.
The lights kept circling. After watching for a while I gave up trying to figure it out and started for my bedroom. In the window facing the back yard was another light. This one shone straight up, lighting the tree branches high above. I could see the feet of someone holding the light. There really were people in my back yard.
Was I scared? Yeah, for a second. Then my husband came along, took one look, and said, "Coon hunters."
Yup. These crazy people hunt raccoon with dogs at night near cornfields. The animals tend to climb a tree to escape, so the hunters were tramping around my back yard, within a few feet of my house, looking for their prey.
The question is, what would they have done if they'd found it? It's bad enough that they made me think my home was under attack. What if they'd fired off a few rounds?
Holy Season in Michigan
The joke here is that the first day of deer season is a holiday, and in truth it's pretty close. Schools are closed. Businesses that are sole proprietorships are liable to be locked up, at least until noon. And vacation time is hoarded all year long so that hunters can have The First Day off and as many afterward as they can afford.
Those who don't hunt don't get it. The chance to be cold sitting still for hours. The chance to be dirty in a camp with other dirty men and no plumbing. The chance to shoot something that requires dragging, hanging, gutting, cleaning, and sectioning. Many of us shudder and opt for heat, showers, and meat packaged by the people at the market instead.
Whatever you think of hunting, its pull is strong on many. Some primal urge leads people--no, it is not just men--to pit themselves against the creatures of nature. Is it fair? I can't say. Is it necessary? It depends on whom you listen to. One might descry the pack mentality, the stone-age urges, and the hedonistic tendencies. But those same things operate in shopping excursions, teenage parties, and most corporate operations world-wide.
At least the hunters are getting some fresh air.
Those who don't hunt don't get it. The chance to be cold sitting still for hours. The chance to be dirty in a camp with other dirty men and no plumbing. The chance to shoot something that requires dragging, hanging, gutting, cleaning, and sectioning. Many of us shudder and opt for heat, showers, and meat packaged by the people at the market instead.
Whatever you think of hunting, its pull is strong on many. Some primal urge leads people--no, it is not just men--to pit themselves against the creatures of nature. Is it fair? I can't say. Is it necessary? It depends on whom you listen to. One might descry the pack mentality, the stone-age urges, and the hedonistic tendencies. But those same things operate in shopping excursions, teenage parties, and most corporate operations world-wide.
At least the hunters are getting some fresh air.
