You Know it’s Opening Day When…
Opening day is right over the horizon for this pair of pheasant hunters.
The moment I received my first plastic-packaged, economy-sized bundle of boxer-shorts for Christmas, I knew the days of sleepless Christmas Eves and giddy Christmas mornings were over. There seemed to be an instantaneous shift in the dates I circled on the calendar and dreamt about months in advance. Good-bye holidays, and hello opening days.
So as I was recently lying in bed, visions of roosters were flushing ahead. Minnesota’s pheasant hunting opener was almost in sight and I couldn’t wait for my pup to put some birds into flight… Okay, I’ll stop. But honestly, being awake all night in anticipation of the season we’ve all been not-so-patiently waiting for got me thinking… You know it’s opening day when:
- While you were physically at work last week, you’ve been mentally absent the past three days
- That quiet, little gas station in the Middle of Nowhere suddenly has more traffic than the Vegas Strip
- You find yourself rubbing dirt on your shiny new chaps just so no one can possibly confuse you for a rookie
- There’s so much unnecessary gear packed in the back of your truck, you had legitimate concern over suffocating the dogs
- Various blaze orange militias have been staking out properties so early in the morning that even duck hunters would blush
- Three generations of family members can come together at one spot and not argue
- Your normally quiet and well-behaved bird dog sounds more like the Tasmanian Devil is waiting to be unleashed from your kennel
- The second your boots touch grass, you get an ear-to-ear smile and instantly know you did it – somehow managing to survive another off-season
Whether you’ve already been chasing birds, your season opens this weekend, or you have to wait until November (sorry, Kansas), how do you know it’s opening day?
The Over/Under blog is written by Andrew Vavra, Pheasants Forever & Quail Forever’s Marketing Specialist.
Tags: October, opening day
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You wake up multiple times in the night, frightened that you slept through your alarm, which you don’t end up hearing anyway because you’re already dressed and downstairs by the time it goes off.
When my wife has a big Pot of Chili on in the morning for after the hunt feast, my Viszla is waiting by the truck when it’s still dark out, my guns are standing by the door and my phone is ringing with the rest of the group calling to see if I’m out the door yet…
The weather is beginning to cool. The smell of freshly cut corn fields linger in the air. You arrive at what you thought was your honey hole only to find a barrage of orange . As you get out of your car your smiling from ear to ear its OPENING DAY.
you wake up and go down stairs with the same expectation and excitement as you did when you were 6 on Christmas morning
When your springer brings you his e-collar with a big grin on his face.
Your retriever and hunting companion chooses to sleep on top of the hunting clothes that you brought up from the basement and set by the door. Making sure that he doesn’t get left behind.
When my yellow lab Sunny Boy dashes into the truck before dawn when I open the front door to get the paper..
I WAKE UP IN THE CAB OF MY PICKUP.MY BEST FRIEND SHADOW IS ASLEEP ON THE FLOOR.THE SUNLIGHT AMPLIFIES AGAINST THE FOGGED WINDOWS.THE SOUND OF QUIET FILLES MY SENCES WITH DELIGHT.IVE BEEN HERE BEFORE ,I TELL MYSELF.GIDDY WITH ANTICIPATION WE EMERGE FROM THE CAB OF THE TRUCK. OVERWHELMED WITH THE EXCITMENT OF YET ANOTHER FIRST DAY HUNT.
AS SHADOW LOOKS UP AT ME WITH CONFIDENCE AS IF SAYING “WE GOT THIS DADDY” LETS FLUSH SOME BIRDS.
+ You dream about roosters and hens the night before, like teenage boys dream about supermodels and sports cars. I know this girl does.
When you travel 1,800 miles to get home, kiss your wife hi and goodbye, and the only thing that wasn’t pre-packed from the week before is your first bird dog anxiously awaiting her first season.
When you wake up cackling at the site of sunrise.
Your dog is licking your face super early in the morning to make sure you get up!
..when all the drunks wear blaze orange.
Its 5:00am , you haven’t slept all night, You have a cup of coffee in your hand and a smile as wide as a picked cornfield.