Got a week free? Go elk hunting. Just a few days? Get out after deer. A morning or afternoon? Go try to knock down a duck or bag a blue grouse.
It’s all open. From squirrels to elk, the seasons are open for nearly every game animal. The only season that isn’t open is pheasant. Pheasant season doesn’t open until November, or later this month if you hunt Springer, but there’s plenty of other game to go after in the meantime.
And this year, there’s an additional reason to get out in the woods. Actually, there are several reasons. It’s an election year, so there’s all the squabbling and mudslinging going on in the political world. Combine that with coronavirus and the misinformation being hurled at us from both sides of the argument, and it’s even more reason to turn off the TV and get out of town. Besides, the one thing both sides agree on is that putting distance between yourself and others does help slow the spread of this virus, and I can’t think of a better way to practice social distancing than hunting.
If you like to hunt both mammals and birds, you can do something different every day. Take a weekend and go antelope hunting, then take a day off during the week and switch to one of the grouse varieties. Spend a day or two hunting chuckars and Huns, then grab the rifle and spend a week chasing elk and deer. Or knock the dust off the decoys and sit in a duck blind for a morning. The only thing limiting what you can hunt is the amount of time you want to spend at work.
I hope your boss is understanding, because if you work for someone who doesn’t allow you to take a few extra days off during hunting season, you probably won’t be very productive, anyway. You may show up to work at 8 and stay until 5, but your mind’ll be wandering the hills for a good portion of those hours.
No, this is the time of year they make vacation time for. Get out and use some of it.
