Missing Home

[Mike P]

Missing Home


It is going to rain for the next few days. I will not hunt. It's not that I will melt. I have the gear to hunt any weather conditions. I will not hunt because I will not risk losing a blood trail to the rain drops. Been there, done that. It will not happen again.

I read the Cincinnati Enquirer morning newspaper and had my coffee with the blond Swedish woman. I listened to her talk of holiday schedules and gift choices for all the grandchildren but it was the way men listen to women they have lived with for forty years. I heard her. I had a general idea of what she was talking about. But my mind was elsewhere. I was thinking about Texas.

I go through this withdrawal every year. It sets in about three or four weeks after I return from the ranch. I remember how eager I was to leave those many years ago. And in a poetic justice sort of way, I now must contend with that same eagerness to return.

It will not happen. My life is here in southern Ohio. And it is a good life. I live well with close friends and enjoy immensely my wife's relatives. It does provide that need for family that brings one that peace that only family can provide. And the kids and all the grandchildren are a short five hour drive away and that allows us to see them a minimum of once a month. And did I mention the deer hunting here? Yes, I guess over my time here with you guys it probably slipped out occasionally. The only way I am leaving southern Ohio is when the urn with my ashes arrives back at the ranch to be spread over my favorite hunting spot.

And here I am just a short time after being back at the ranch having those thoughts again. And I dream about moving back, building a house, and spending the rest of my days hunting the land where I was born. You see, that magical land offers a hunting experience you can only find in the southwest. It is unique. And the deer are so vastly different there from the deer here in southern Ohio. All the animals are.

In Texas, the animals respond. Most all of them do. You call to them and they come to investigate. When you rattle deer down on the ranch I guarantee you that half the time you will see a response. The bucks come in. So do the doe's. It's a fight. And the Texas animals love to watch and get involved. It is in the water I think. That's the only way I can explain the behavior of myself and all my brothers growing up. If a fight started between two of the brothers you could be pretty certain within a scant few minutes the other two would soon be involved. Why add the occasional cousin and friends from school and you had the makings for a great "free for all." Yes, I am certain it is in the water. Come to think of it, they should have the water tested at a certain ranch over in Crawford. Sorry, I couldn't help myself with that one.

The coyotes come also. We killed eleven of them in three days on my recent visit. And if we had been more serious about it, we could have killed a lot more. But it is just so hard to hold the crosshairs on a fleeing coyote when you are laughing hysterically. The coyote hunts at night with the brothers, and yes gasp, with the beer were anything even remotely related to serious hunts. You would be serious enough when the dogs started coming in. But when the shots started to go off it was like amateur night at the local comedy club. I do not know what it is about brothers that make them revel so much in their sibling's failures. But it is a fact. One of the greatest joys of life is watching your brother (s) screw up. It is a gift from the hunting gods and must be celebrated with extreme vigor. And every missed shot was greeted with laughter and insults saved up for years waiting to be unleashed. One would suspect that the beer had much to do with these misses but I am certain that sibling peer pressure was much more the cause.

I miss mom and the boys. But I talk to them often and it is not those pangs I feel now as I sit in my office and pound the keyboard this rainy Monday morning. I miss the ranch. I miss the land of my youth. It is hard to understand now how I was so driven to get away from that place and see this wondrous world of ours so long ago. It has taken all this time to finally see how wondrous was that very place I so desperately wanted to leave. And I now long to return.

These withdrawal pains will go away. They seem to disappear when I get up close and personal with a huge and mature Ohio buck. And they will be but a memory when I celebrate Christmas with my children and my grandchildren.

Early Christmas morning I will talk to mom on the phone. She will be spending Christmas with my brother Matt. There will be no one hunting that Christmas morning on a little forgotten cattle ranch outside of Brady, Texas. And when I hang up the phone I will feel that pang again.

Then a little one will come and sit on my lap and all will be well in the world.

[huntman]

There is something about the way you write that makes people want to read.

[VixChix]

Awww... Mike.... now I'm homesick too!

[subneural]

There is something about the way you write that makes people want to read.

Amen!

[Kelley]

There is something about the way you write that makes people want to read.

Amen!

Xs 3 Mike!!!!!!!!

Kelley

[maple]

Great post Mike, as usual. There's something to be said for a man who can type with more that 2 fingers, your words can keep up with your thoughts. It makes for an excellent transfer of ideas. Keep it up. It's always enjoyable.

Some of us have to be satisfied with thinking as slow as we type, which can be realllllllllly slow.

Maple

[one shot scott]

I respect your decision to avoid hunting in wet weather Mike P, I beleive its for good reason. However I just finished reading my latest edition of bowhunter magazine, and in it they advertize a liquid to spray on the ground to recove a blood trail. It claimed that it works even in the rain for washed out blood trails. Kind of like a C.S.I thing. Could be a gimmik, I dont know. Have you or anyone else here tried this product? I would love it if it works. I hate losing precious days of hunting time because of Mother Nature.

[Doe Master]

That was a good read Mike

Thank you

[mikew]

That was a good read Mike

Thank you

Ditto!

[DanO]

Missing Home
I miss the land of my youth. It is hard to understand now how I was so driven to get away from that place and see this wondrous world of ours so long ago. It has taken all this time to finally see how wondrous was that very place I so desperately wanted to leave. And I now long to return.

Your writings are neat, Mike P, because everybody can relate to your prose. Home is always where you grew up and for hunters it's where we first experienced the passion of hunting. Great read ....... pass me the kleenex!

Dan O.

[hetichunter]

Your writings are neat, Mike P, because everybody can relate

You hit the nail on the head there DanO! He is able to tap into our emotions and feelings and it is a talent that few have.

Did ya notice when you read Mikes stuff that you feel you are like there with him on those hunts or seeing things through his eyes and feeling what he feels.

This forum is really blessed to have him post his stuff here. I tried twice to get him to post his stuff on two other forums but he wont do it. He will only post here at excalibur.

Thanks again Mike for another really kewl post.