Seriously... What Was I Thinking?

I don’t know what I was thinking.

Instead of hunting every day since the season opened like I’ve done for the last 20 years, I took on a building project.

In September.

It might have simply been an effort on my part to prove to my wife that I can do more than hunt in the fall. Now I’m paying the price. After pounding nails for three weeks I can’t hit the broadside of a barn, let alone a bird on the wing. My dog’s motor is stuck on high, and neither of us is in shape.

Dot quit after hunting two hours last week, apparently discouraged by my poor marksmanship. I tried to explain to her that when...