Humbling thought

predator · Nov 9, 2004

There I was, finding myself humbled by a thought forced upon me by another hunter. It had never ever occurred to me before, and when it hit, it was like a hammer. It was one of those simple little passings from one predator to another, the ole' hey-how-was-yer-day, see-anything type. Only this guy had a raghorn bull in the bed of his truck, and I did the typical inner "geez, I wouldn't have shot that little guy" thing. This guy was tickled pink, and it showed. I remember that feeling, how my guts felt positively alive and I couldn't stop the smile from cracking my face ear to ear, even though it was so cold my tongue almost froze to my teeth.

The man was from N. Carolina, and he shared with me how grand it was to make a dream of hunting elk out West come true. How he only gets to hunt things like whitetail, squirrel and ducks back home.

That's when the hammer blow shook my core. How in the world had I never considered it???

HOW LUCKY I AM.

Think about it, we who have the privilege of living in the West. We who can hunt not one big game specie, but several- EVERY SINGLE YEAR. I can hunt elk, deer, pronghorn, and with luck bison, sheep, moose and goat. Not to mention the various grouse, dove and holy moly what about the migratory ducks and geese! Bear, cougar, the list goes on and on, and doesn't even list squirrels!

I'm up to nearly 50 days afield, and have the rest of the year and into the new year left to play. Mr. North Carolina just spent 3 days of what he had dreamed about for 5 years, and it completely blew me away.

The Pred is humbled this morning, and glad for it.

BCbucks · Nov 9, 2004

LAST EDITED ON Nov-09-04 AT 11:16AM (MST)[p]LAST EDITED ON Nov-09-04 AT 11:14?AM (MST)

Now that makes me even realize even more -

How LUCKY I AM to be living in British Columbia with its long and fantastic game seasons !

WITHOUT a draw - and liberal game season from August through December (with some other exceptions that go through the winter months) I can hunt trophy

Mule deer bucks - I can shoot 3 (yes - THREE!!)in this province !! I have from September till December to do it.

Whitetail buck - 1

Moose - 1

Elk - 1

Caribou - 1

Bison on draw (already got it)

Sheep - 1 - inside of a day I can choose to hunt Rocky Mountain Bighorns, Stone's Sheep, or California Bighorns. Dall's are on the draw though but easy 2.3 to 1 odds (easy).

Mountain goats - 1

Blackbear - 2 a year -

Grizzly on a draw

Wolves - 3

Coyotes -

Big cats - cougar, bobcats and lynx

All the duck, goose and upland bird hunting I can handle.

The only thing ... we don't have to hunt is the Antelope

You're right Predator !! Indeed very lucky to live in the west !!!! Particularly British Columbia !!

We in BC can forget and take it for granted that we can step out of the truck practically in our back yard anywhere and be hunting many different species at once or focusing one animal at a time.

What say BCboy - we got it pretty good don't we. Need to have a pretty big appreciation for the hunting we can do.

BCboy - did I miss anything ????

dakotakid · Nov 9, 2004

You are so right "P". I feel lucky every day that I am able to live where I do and do the things I do. Some arent as fortunate.

Mike

woodruffhunter · Nov 9, 2004

BCBucucks,

Thanks for ruining my day!

cbryant11 · Nov 9, 2004

so whats the cost of living like in bc cause iam on my way

cbryant11

rost495 · Nov 9, 2004

Thats super in B.C. The only sad thing is how your firearm rights have been trampled on and stomped in the dirt.

I only hope that we in the US learn our lesson before they figure out how to whittle away to the end all of our rights.

Had a good friend up in Kimberly BC. Got to hunt there once. It was all good.

Best, Jeff