Hunting Days

Now, this could very controversial in the realm of gratefulness and there are varying ways of looking at it.  One could be grateful that there is only one week of gun season; or one could be grateful that they get one week of gun season.

I'm not sure where I come out at on the whole hunting thing: I really don't mind that D goes hunting. When we lived in the central part of the state, hunting meant I would likely see D less, but he had a really cool tree stand that you could heat and so Thanksgiving day became a traditional "wife-goes-hunting-with-man-hunter" day. I would go with him, struggle up the tree stand, get cold, talk too loud, not creep around quietly enough and sometimes wonder why in the world I came with. I would bring a book or try to find good Black Friday deals, etc.

This year? This year is different.  He didn't go racing out the door in the blackest of the night, nor did he do a sleep over in his tree stand like last year.  He left with his jug of hot spiced apple cider, multiple layers of clothing and went to sit in an open tree stand that friends from church graciously offered to him.  I expect to see him back mid-morning to lunch sometime and then I'm guessing he will go out again tonight.  He might go hunting in his old stomping grounds come Thanksgiving, but this year? This year, I will likely stay home-- no tromping in the woods for me this year.  (I just realized that the last three Thanksgivings, I have been pregnant--wait this is supposed to be a grateful post)

If he gets a deer, the big question is always, what are we going to do with it.  I am intent on trying to empty our freezer and get rid of meat that has been sitting in there for way too long.  But I do like to make jerky and beef sticks with venison if he gets one.  And I sure don't want to help butcher a deer this year.  I'm pretty positive that would come under things you can't do on limited activity.  I think our conclusion might be that we would like a couple of pounds of  meat to do beef sticks and jerky with and the rest we would give away.

You can only hunt bucks up here this year, so D likes to lie in wait for the big ones, so unless some staggering 10 or 12 point impressive buck shows up, I'm not too worried I will have to deal with venison issues this year.  Now, that might be something to be grateful for :) :)

Two big differences between this year and other years: 1. I think if he goes hunting this year, I will actually see more of him than I do when he is working.  Other years, I would say I saw less of him, especially on Saturdays.  2. He doesn't have a lovely warm hunting shack to hunt from this year.

I try not to worry about the whole hunting thing and especially if they do drives, etc.  I try to remember that he is capable of looking out for himself and God is with him in the open stand as much as he was with him in the heated shack.  But I still tell him to text a little so I know he's okay.  I still need to work on the holding my loved ones with an open hand and not hanging on too tightly.

So to conclude this: is hunting season something you are grateful for or something you dread?  What are your thoughts on all of this?  And do you eat venison or turn up your nose at the very idea?