I’ve got hunting on my mind. Not only did Montana’s deadline for elk and deer permits arrive this past weekend, but we attended two sportsman’s banquets.
These sportsman’s banquets are a thing in the spring, I guess. I never heard of them growing up in the city, but it seems all the local churches in the west host a banquet every spring. It has to be in the spring because no one would go during hunting season, during the long winter ski season, or during summer’s camping season.
So, spring becomes the unofficial annual hunting banquet season.
Procrastination Has a Strong Presence with Hunters
About a month ago, my hunting buddy, J, reminded me it was time to put in for elk and deer. Montana has general hunting areas where residents can use a general license to harvest an animal. Those permits can be purchased at any time.
But if you want to enter a lottery to hunt a special district, you must apply early and then stressfully wait a month and a half to find drawing results.
J would ask me if I put in for tags every week. Finally, last week he said, “This is the last time I’m going to ask you. I’ve done what I could.”
And, in typical Melanie fashion, I put in for tags Friday because I thought that was the last day I could. Turns out, I could have done it Saturday. Had I known, I would have waited until Saturday.
The good news is that I am not alone. The bad news is that the Montana Fish Wildlife and Parks website crashed on Friday. It couldn’t stand up to the power of procrastinators.
It took me an hour and a half and getting kicked off the website three times to get my tags. And then, when it came to getting Rick’s, I got a message saying, “Your payment was successful, but your order could not process.”
Nice move, MT FWP. Glad you got our money but couldn’t give us what we paid for. We’re still working through this issue, but I’m hopeful for a resolution.
Sportsman’s Banquet Season
Rick’s parent’s church’s banquet featured a wild game potluck-style meal followed by a door prize giveaway, a field first-aid lesson, and a gospel message from one of our favorites, Mike Fisher from Cody, Wyoming.
The next night, we drove to another banquet about three hours away. This one featured Shoot Straight TV’s Chad and Marsha Schearer. Let me tell you, it was a blast. I laughed so hard and was inspired to up my hunting game. If you see they’re coming to a banquet season event near you, make it a priority to go.
On the way out the door, we stopped at the merchandise table. The little girls wanted necklaces, and the big girls wanted elk reeds to practice calling in an elk. And what did Buddy Boy want? He was plumb happy to walk out of there with his plastic fork that he then slept with and took to church the next day.
Gearing Up for Hunting Season
It’s early, no doubt, but I’m feeling inspired. One of the things Chad Schearer encouraged us to do was make our dream hunt a reality.
My dream is to hunt caribou in Alaska. Rick’s is hunting moose in Alaska. While taking a dream hunting trip doesn’t even feel like a possibility right now, it may be something we decide to make a five or ten-year plan for instead of keeping it forever in the out-of-reach dream category.
If you could hunt anywhere in the world, where would you go?
For this year, I have solid dreams for elk, deer, and antelope. We’ll also keep putting in for Montana moose, sheep, and goat. We’ve been applying for moose tags for 14 years. I figure the odds are good that one of us will draw a tag by the time we die. [insert chuckle and eyeroll]
We have a solid six months until hunting season, but summer flies, so it’ll be here before you know it.
