Being a sportsman isn’t about harvesting the biggest whitetail buck or the biggest fish known to man.  It’s about enjoying the great outdoors in the manner of your choosing. Like observing wildlife and learning an animal’s body language and signals.  Whether it’s a rutting buck chasing a doe ~ head lowered and lip curled or that big bass homing in on that new lure ~ being a sportsmen is enjoying the whole experience.

Being a sportsman is also about going out into to the outdoors and listening to the birds singing and the turkeys gobbling or the bass splashing or the deer grunting... you can sit back and be thankful for what our father in heaven has given us all to enjoy and be able to embrace his love for each of us.

When the leaves start to change and the nights get cooler and the days get shorter we know that bow season is just around the bend. Out of all of the seasons bow season is our favorite.  We find archery season a lot more fun and challenging.  It really becomes fun right around Halloween because then the rut is in full swing in our part of the state. And that means the bucks are so preoccupied trying to find does in estrus they become almost oblivious to their surroundings, sometimes even a hunter J. 

After archery season then comes our second favorite season ~ regular season for shotgun and muzzleloader. This season is still very challenging but not quite as challenging as archery season.  During shotgun season the deer are more cautious of what’s around them due to increased pressure from the hunters in the woods. The downside is they become very weary and skittish. The upside is that you may see deer that are not usually on your property ~ maybe even a nice buck.

After shotgun season comes the second or “late” season, which is for archery and for muzzleloaders.  This season is a little more challenging because the deer keep their distance after running every time they hear something amiss out of the ordinary.  So it’s really hard to capitalize on this "late" opportunity to harvest a deer.

After the second season is over winter really sets in for our part of the country and nature balances out the heard by eliminating the weakest animals. The winter of 2002-2003 was particularly long and hard which drove the animals into their "winter yards" which meant our front yards here in Alfred. It wasn't uncommon to see deer, turkey and other critters in the front yard eating bird food. And if they didn't find it on the ground... the deer would bump the feeders (5ft off the ground) with their heads to shake the food out and onto the ground.

Then spring comes and the flowers start to bloom and the snow melts and the birds begin to sing to announce the pending spring turkey season. In the spring you can only harvest a tom because all of the hens are nesting over their eggs.  After sitting and calling and sitting and calling a big tom might come strutting in ~ full fan making it all worthwhile.

With summer comes fishing season and that is 'reel' fun when you feel that big bass or what have ya bites down and this pure adrenaline rush fills your heart just the same as if it were hunting season or any other outdoor sportsmen experience. And that friends, is what being a sportsman is all about.