Scratch that itch

Hunting season opened last week and it didn’t take long for me to get my fix even though I had forgotten what it was.

I told myself it was simply the act of hunting, following the dogs, the weight of a shotgun in my hands, walking the prairie at first light, anticipating a shot. I had looked forward to all that for months. I didn’t need to shoot a limit, haven’t needed to do so for some time. I just needed to be out there.

Or so I thought.

What I actually needed was all that and one thing more: I needed to shoot a bird and watch it fall. Just one bird.

It rose from the sagebrush where the dogs had busied themselves, noses to the ground, tails a blur. With a familiar chuckle the grouse took flight, crossing in front of me. I raised gun to shoulder, swung, and squeezed the trigger, shot meeting sharptail in a puff of feathers at the edge of range. The bird crumpled and fell to earth.

The dogs watched it fall and Jem picked it up and brought it to me.

I didn’t take a lot of time to enjoy the moment. Saying a quick word of thanks to both my dogs and my maker, I stuffed the bird in my vest, picked up the empty hull, and moved on.

I’ve shot more birds since, but none stick in my head like that one.

Apparently, it was enough.

The itch has been scratched.

For now.

I can tell myself that simply getting out and hunting is enough. After all these years I’ve elevated the sport to a higher plane. It’s the act, not the actual harvest that matters.

I tell myself that until I haven’t shot a bird in a while. Then, like an addict who’s gone too long without a fix, the need begins to grow. The rest of it no longer matters if it doesn’t end with a bird falling out of the sky.

I wish I weren’t so shallow. But at least it’s an easy fix, especially this year. There seems to be a good crop of gamebirds, the dogs are healthy, and so am I. If I spend enough time in pursuit of them, I’ll have no trouble in scratching that itch.

And that’s a good thing. It never really goes away. I’m addicted to hunting.

Parker Heinlein is at

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