I’m always surprised by the changes that take place this time of the year. A strange mix of emotions take hold on me and I’m just now starting to come to the realization of just how deep they run and just how fundamentally they can affect me.
While I love the dog days of summer I find that I am consumed by a strange internal conflict. This time of year finds many of us clinging to the last strands of summer while at the same time wishing the weather would take a turn for the colder. We’re wanting the days to get shorter and the leaves to turn while at the same time being disappointed at having to wear long pants again. Growing up I always loved hunting season but as I get older the obsession grows deeper and manifests itself in more pronounced ways that only those closest to us can notice. We ourselves are often so preoccupied with our passions that we fail to notice just how much it shows. When you have trouble holding down a conversation with your wife because you’re busy planning trips and mentally going over preparations you know you’re in, what I call, “the hunter’s rut”.
The hunter’s rut is when the male of the species is singularly minded and focused on his passions. His one-track mind cannot be distracted by such meaningless things as work or social commitments. The passions that consume most men the other 9 months of the year take a backseat to the blood pumping obsession. Hunting takes the driver’s seat and pushes out all other trivial thoughts of things like money, power, social success and even ###. There is only one thing we want and we’ve waited all year so don’t get in our way.
So the next time you see a rutted up buck or bull throwing caution to the wind, following his nose and ignoring his better instincts just remember that in the end you and he are not all that far off.
While I love the dog days of summer I find that I am consumed by a strange internal conflict. This time of year finds many of us clinging to the last strands of summer while at the same time wishing the weather would take a turn for the colder. We’re wanting the days to get shorter and the leaves to turn while at the same time being disappointed at having to wear long pants again. Growing up I always loved hunting season but as I get older the obsession grows deeper and manifests itself in more pronounced ways that only those closest to us can notice. We ourselves are often so preoccupied with our passions that we fail to notice just how much it shows. When you have trouble holding down a conversation with your wife because you’re busy planning trips and mentally going over preparations you know you’re in, what I call, “the hunter’s rut”.
The hunter’s rut is when the male of the species is singularly minded and focused on his passions. His one-track mind cannot be distracted by such meaningless things as work or social commitments. The passions that consume most men the other 9 months of the year take a backseat to the blood pumping obsession. Hunting takes the driver’s seat and pushes out all other trivial thoughts of things like money, power, social success and even ###. There is only one thing we want and we’ve waited all year so don’t get in our way.
So the next time you see a rutted up buck or bull throwing caution to the wind, following his nose and ignoring his better instincts just remember that in the end you and he are not all that far off.
