by Wm. David Waterman

Created on: February 04, 2009

I had arrived! I was working in a sporting goods store and was going on my first solo deer hunting trip. Life could not not get any better for a country boy! Planning for the trip destination took but a moment of consideration by my choosing northern Minnesota. This choice was arrived at by listening to clients coming in to shop for sporting goods where I worked.

I am rather amused by the fact that hunters always seem to be looking for the ultimate hunting somewhere other than where they live. So the hunters from one area will expend a great deal of money and effort to go elsewhere(other than where they live) to hunt. While the hunters from that other area are also on the move to find their ultimate hunting experiance. Of course in this process of hunter migration copious amounts of ammunition, guns, camping supplies and fuel are purchased which is a great stimulus to the economy during hunting season!

My preparations included talking to customers at the shop about my destination, the recounting of tales of monster bucks residing in that area and the sure knowledge that I would be successful. This of course is very important to a deer hunter as it reinforces the conviction that a deer will actually bagged. The speaker is usually more interested in convincing himself of sure success than convincing the listeners. Further preparations included changing the oil in the old Ford pickup carrying an equally ancient overhead camper, checking the hoses and belts, and checking the tire inflation after throwing the spare in the floor of the camper. A supply of canned food and some frozen foods were gathered together and also stashed in the camper.

A great deal of consideration went into choosing the proper rifle. But when a Pre WWII Mauser hunting rifle with double set triggers was traded in at the shop where I worked I hurried to the owners and laid my life savings on the line. I had to have that gun! The rifle was a sporting rifle chambered in 30-06 caliber at the factory when it was manufactured and was just beautiful in my estimation. I had to have it!

This particular year that I was hunting in northern Minnesota was known for peat fires that were smoldering across large areas of forest land producing alot of smoke. It had been dry for a few years and the peat in the forest areas that often was several feet deep was burning slowly and smoldering for months. The areas where the fires were most active were off limits to hunting, so I decided to hunt in the Upper Red Lake

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