I can't begin to count the number times I've read the phrase "and the blood pounded in his ears". Almost every piece of adventure fiction seems to have it somewhere. It's a great line that evokes a strong image in your mind. For many years I thought it was little more than the poetic license often used by good authors. That changed the day it happened to me. That moment when I said to myself. "Wow! I can hear the blood pounding in my ears. Come to think of it I think my heart is going to break my rib cage it's pounding so hard. I can't believe that deer can't hear it."
I should probably pause in my story and tell you why we're here. I decided to start this blog to chronicle my new adventure. To be truthful I would have to say it's a bit of a renewal with a lot of expansion. Many, many years ago I studied and passed my hunter safety course here in Ontario. My father used to hunt but he stopped before I was born and my one grandfather who hunted died in 1975. I had no one left in the family to mentor me so I plugged along on my own. Primarily I hunted ducks with my grandfather's old shotgun and a wonderful Labrador Retriever I named Jigger and trained myself. I tried deer hunting once or twice with a bow I bought but never had much in the way of success. I did manage to actually see a deer once. He was a speck off in the distance. Not very useful for what I had in mind. Life moved on. I finished University and hunting fell by the wayside as other priorities and an unsympathetic wife interfered.
Now I find myself in an entirely new situation. A middle aged man on the road working a fair amount. I've decided my mid-life crisis is going to involve two things. One is to get back into some semblance of physical conditioning and the other was to start hunting again. It has been a bit of a task getting started as all of my old stuff is, well, old. My knowledge was virtually non existent and my time available, like so many of us, was sporadic. I always had a dream to wander off into the bush with a gun and my wits and see if i can live off the land. With small children that probably won't happen any time soon but in the meantime I want to master the skills I would need. And this is going to be the chronicle of that journey.
This particular deer hunt tale ends moments after I heard the sound of my beating heart echoing inside my chest. It was, finally, favourable as my new bow propelled a broadhead tipped arrow towards it's intended target. I can't say that the tail was an easy one or that I was even certain of success. I had only 2 days left of a bow season that was fraught with uncertainty and frustration. That, however will be a tale for another day. So welcome to my blog. I hope you enjoy it.
