As I hit a landmark day, my 50th Opening Day hunting, I look back at all of the changes wrought over the years. 

I first was involved with hunting at 6 years old, when I would hunt with my dad. My job was to jump on the bushes to scare out the rabbits. 

It was great fun for me; I loved spending time with my father and felt important contributing to the hunt. I couldn’t wait until I was old enough to start hunting. 

I loved the challenge of tracking game, closely observing nature for signs of the passage of wildlife, and anticipating the moment when I finally discovered my quarry. 

When I turned 15, I desperately wanted my own gun to begin practicing my aim for deer hunting. I could legally hunt once I turned 16. 

My dad wouldn’t buy me a gun so I had to do odd jobs to make money to buy a gun. I finally earned the money to buy a Remington 6mm rifle Model 700 for $200 and a 3x9 power Leupold scope for $110. 

Today the rifle with scope would cost over $1,500. Once I finally turned 16, it was December and the end of deer season so I had to wait A WHOLE YEAR to be able to hunt my first opening day. 

Back then, in the mid-70s, opening day was a Monday and school was closed for the occasion. It took me 3 years to get my first deer but that wasn’t so unusual for the time. 

My first deer was a 3-point buck. The only restriction at that time was that the antlers had to be 3 inches long. Nobody got big deer back then, if you saw a deer with an antler, you started shooting. It was big news if someone got a big buck. 

It’s amazing to me how much things have changed over the years. I’ve been hunting the same area all of these years. It grew from an open field, to scrub brush, and now the area is all woods. 

My first opening day, you would hear gunshots throughout the day. Roscoe was a hopping place, hunters were everywhere. You had to wait in line just to get a slice of pizza, opening day weekend was such a big event. 

The younger generation doesn’t want to hunt, they’d rather play video games and stay in their climate-controlled house. Now, opening days are very quiet with a few shots here and there. 

Although that means there are bigger bucks now a-days. We let smaller ones walk by. In the past, there were no bears, no coyotes, no turkeys, no black squirrels, no ravens, no bald eagles, and no fishers in this area. There were very few rabbits and no doe tags. 

Herd management has changed. Now an antlered deer has to have at least 3 points on one side. 50 years ago, there were 4 of us who hunted our 80 acres. If one us got a buck, that was a good year. Now there are 6 of us… that hunt 600 acres and pass up 8-point bucks looking for that big one. 

After hunting so many years, I’ve hunted opening days that were snow storms, perfect sunny days, windy, calm, heavy rain, subzero temperatures, every condition you can imagine. 

So, when the sun comes up on opening day – tomorrow, Saturday, November 18 –  it’ll be my 50th consecutive opening day. 

I’ve never missed one. 

Don’t look for me, I’ll be in the woods. 

Gone huntin’!