Let’s Take It Nice and Easy

At 88 I agree with Frank Sinatra’s “Let’s Take It Nice and Easy.” I no longer have tolerance for arising before I feel like it, being cold or walking long distances. I usually get up with the light then casually have a nice cup of coffee while listening to country music. I eventually venture out within an hour. If it’s cold, rainy, windy, I don’t. And no more than consecutive days.

Unsuitable days, depending upon where I am, I will seek historical places or parks to visit. The South is loaded with Civil War sites and the North has Gettysburg and Antietam. Even just driving through scenic country. And, of course, scouting.

I hunt from ground blinds with a comfortable lawn chair. After a short walk and putting out a decoy, I begin calling gently with a slate every 20 minutes or so, eventually going to a diaphragm, progressively increasing aggressiveness. I’ve even been known to take a short snooze. If no response within a couple of hours, I’ll take a break to the cabin for breakfast. Afterward, I will return afield until quitting time in Maryland at noon. Of course, this all goes out the window if I get some action.

I generally retired from deer hunting two years ago except for early muzzleloading in October. I’ve never killed a Boone and Crocket buck, but that was never needed. I describe a true turkey hunter as one who eventually ceases killing jakes and stops counting gobblers. I did after 20 and have added a few more. Incidentally, I had a pretty good guide for my first one, Dr. James Earl Kennamer. In other words, I have had my “day in the sun.”

I doubt if I ever kill another deer, but encountering a tom that, as legendary former NWTF board member Gene Denton described, wants to be killed, is another story. Regardless, I am fulfilled and hope you likewise have or reach that point. I’ve loved every minute of it.