The season started off great with a nice big tom during the soggy spring turkey season. I then spent the sumer working my tail off on household projects to make sure that I could enjoy the hunting season.  Heading into fall I had a milestone dove shoot that I will remember forever.

Then my luck ran out…

I usually hunt squirrels a LOT during the early fall and always put a couple in the freezer. This year despite plenty of acorns on the ground and my hunting buddies all having luck I was striking out. This was the first puzzle because all the conditions were right for successful hunts. The only explanation I can come up with is that my favorite spot has been discovered by someone else and they’ve cleaned out the woods. Very possible and the price for hunting on public land.

Deer season was another disappointment and it ended with me resolving to find a new spot before next season. My uncle’s farm is just too unreliable and I miss having venison to eat. This was all compounded by the number of mind-numbing hours I spent in the stand determined to take a whitetail.

Goose season seemed to start on a good note. I killed a goose on opening day and there were plenty of birds in the area. But they refused to fly over the farm for most of December. We logged close to 40 hours in the field with nothing to show for it.

On NYE we tried for a mixed bag, hunting doves at dawn and rabbits afterwards. The doves wouldn’t cooperate and landed outside of gun range to feast on corn. The excellent rabbit spot we found on the WMA last year had been mowed (why, oh why would they do that?)  We went home skunked.

This past Saturday I’m hoping we finally headed back in a positive direction. The geese were finally flying and flying low at that. Two limits and we left the farm all smiles. Murphy posed with our haul. He earned his pay for the day by knocking down a crippled bird with a hard charge and then standing on it until we could finish it off.

As of this writing the 2011-2012 season ends in exactly 50 days. There’s a lot more hunting to do but I sure hope it’s more consistent. Either way, we’ll be out there doing what we do.

Since I started blogging four years ago I have written about whatever subjects interested me on a given day. Much of that was politics and policy but I have also covered hunting, gardening, cooking, art and culture. This was keeping with my vision of ‘living the strenuous life’ as conceived by one of my heroes, Teddy Roosevelt. In the last year I joined The Outdoor Blogger Network and this has brought in new readership for my outdoor-themed posts. As readership has grown it seemed clear that The Big Stick was becoming a bit complicated. I thought it unfair that outdoor readers would have to wade through posts on politics and education policy to read about my latest hunting trip. By moving my political and policy writing over to the League it will allow me to narrow the focus of this site and (I hope) create a better experience for readers.

The simplest explanation of the changes is this: If you come to The Big Stick for politics and policy, please visit me at The League of Ordinary Gentlemen. If you come here for everything else, stick around. My political and policy writing from 2008-2011 will be archived at a companion site. Visitors will be able to click on a page entitled ‘Archives’ at the top of this site and find the link there.  All content and more importantly, all comments and conversations, will be stored there for reference.

As always, thank you so much to my readers. This site has been one of my proudest accomplishments and being able to share it with others is a high honor.

And so it was with that level of frustration that I drove out to the property this morning for the goose opener…and all is right with the world again. Everything that I hate about deer hunting, the boredom, the frozen toes from lack of movement, the lonliness…goose season is the opposite. I can move around. I can unwrap a granola bar without feeling like I just ruined my hunt. I almost always see birds. I can hang out with friends and the dog. It’s the hunting that makes my heart most happy in my mid-thirties.

The birds started flying at a predictable 7:30am. The first group landed on the lake next door and I made a mental note to be ready when they left in an hour or so. The geese weren’t very vocal today which threw me off my game a bit. I had two groups catch me off guard, one while I was adjusting the decoy spread and one while I was letting Murphy stretch his legs outside the blind.

At 8:30 Murphy’s ears perked up and he looked out towards the horizon. Four birds were about 1000 yards out and coming in our general direction. I hit the call a few times and flagged and then dropped to a knee to wait. The took a line straight towards us and came in for a fly-by.

Boom-boom-boom.

Usually for me the third shot is a frustration shot if the first two are misses. This time it was money. The big Canada goose crumpled and landed with an audible thud. For the first time ever I shot a goose on opening day. Pretty cool stuff.

The rest of the day was filled with a few random groups and none within shooting range but I didn’t care. I was thrilled to have a bird so early in the season when I’m used to coming home empty-handed.

Let’s hope this is a sign of a great season in store for us.

First, a little background. I discovered politics on the web through chatboards. From 2004-2007 I spent time at a site that had a diverse and interesting membership. This is where I cut my teeth and sharpened my debating skills. In mid-2007 the site’s membership began to suddenly decline and by that autumn there were only five of us and we were talking in circles most of the time. Hungry for more challenging conversations I started looking for another site that had a larger and more active membership. This lead me to another chatboard which clearly slanted leftward. My opening salvo was ill-advised and over the next month I was public-enemy #1. In December of 2007 I was forced off of that site by the moderators.

In January 2008 I began blogging. The medium appealed to me instantly because I controlled my site. I wasn’t at the mercy of someone else and I could steer the ship in whatever direction my thoughts took me. Over the next 15 months I built a small readership and began to reach out to other bloggers who I admired. I took a lot of pleasure from forming these relationships because the blogging community seemed much more friendly and much less tribal (I realize this sounds a bit naive now but I still believe it to a large degree). What I never thought was that I would seek out and join another single-site community, especially one that was owned by someone else.

Enter the League of Ordinary Gentlemen.

I was fortunate enough to stumble upon the League at just the right time. It was in the early days when the writers were still trying a unique model of ‘series format’ posting. It blew me away because the conversations were so intelligent, so diverse and so polite. At the same time another phenomenon was happening which was equally exciting. The League’s commentariat was developing into a genuine community. I’m honored to have played a minor role in these early days. At that time I was still enthusiastically pushing my own brand of progressive conservatism and I found a group of people that were interested in looking at issues from new angles. This seemed like a perfect match and in the last 2+ years it hasn’t disappointed.

Mark’s piece does a far better job of discussing the evolution of the site than I ever could have. I’ve guest-posted there several times and having my byline on the League’s front page remains one of my proudest writing achievements.  Watching some of my fellow guest-posters become official League members is akin to playing minor league ball and watching your teammates get called up to the big leagues. You feel honored for having been there to watch it (and maybe just a little envious).

As much as I love the posts at the League for me the best part remains the commenters. This group is what keeps me coming back day after day. For the most part they defy definition. Just when you think you have one of them pegged they will make a comment that is so 180 degrees from what you thought they would say that you find yourself wondering if it’s the same person. I love that feeling because it keeps me on my toes and forces me to never assume. I still feel woefully out of depth discussing many subjects with this group. We’ve never laid our academic credentials on the table but I suspect it would be an exercise that would leave  me feeling very inadequate. I do my best to hang with conversations and I hope I occasionally say something smart.

At this time I guess it’s appropriate to raise my digital glass to the League. Thank you so much everyone for making me believe that a civil internet community is still possible and letting me join in the fun.

Anticipating a long and successful run for AMC’s ‘The Walking Dead’ I would like to coin a phrase today that I hope will enter pop culture jargon. The phrase is:

Zombie in the well

Going forward this phrase will be used to identify any plot points which involve the survivors putting themselves in harm’s way unnecesarily.

I will expect citations accordingly. Thank you, that is all.

Get your home in order

Shut down the yard for the winter. Lawn mowed, weeds trimmed, patio furniture and hoses put away. Winterize your home inside and out. Fix the things that need to be fixed. Buy salt for the driveway, make sure your generator and snow blower are working and cover your exterior faucets.

De-stress Your Work Life

If you can get caught up or ahead at work, do so now. Put in for those hunting-related vacation days if you haven’t already and have a list for the new year ready when Jan 1 rolls around. Dazzle your boss during the summer so he will get off your back during the winter. Clean out your email and make sure your Inbox is at zero every Friday when you go home.

Get plenty of sleep

Listen to your body. I only hunt afternoons and evenings on Sundays because that is my sleep-in day. If you’re hunting early on Saturday – it’s amazing how good a nap feels that afternoon.

 Take care of your gear

Clean your gun. Wash your hunting clothes. Wipe the mud off of your calls. Take care of your gear and it will take care of you.

Get your auto in good shape

Make sure all maintenance is current. Put on new wiper blades. Put on snow tires (if necessary). Keep a tow strap in the trunk. Put a $2 painter’s drop cloth in the trunk. Spread it out when the dog is extra muddy or you’re about to put a dead deer in the same place that the wife puts her groceries.

Keep your gear organized

This is a big one for me because I hunt several different animals during the winter. I like to know all of my upland gear (including shells) is together and likewise for my deer accessories, waterfowl equipment, etc. I accomplish this with simple 5-gallon buckets. I label each bucket for what goes in it and then the gear all gets stowed away for the next time. Items that I use for multiple game animals go in a separate ‘General’ bucket.

Respect the ‘honey-do’ list

One of the most important tips. If you keep up with your chores around the house (including changing diapers and handling bath time for those of you with younger kids) it’s amazing what your spouse will tolerate. Fall behind and you might be spending a prime weekend painting your guest room.

Variety is the spice of life

Hunting fatigue will sneak up on you. I fight it off by switching gears frequently and trying new stuff. A late-season dove hunt and squirrel hunting in the snow helped break up the goose hunting grind last year.

Have a Weekly Routine

Usually Sunday nights are when I’m getting ready for the work week so during hunting season I usually designate an hour every Monday evening to get my gear squared away. I dump the stuff that needs to be washed in the dirty clothes pile and re-organize my equipment for the next weekend.

Take Care of Your Pooch

Dogs get worn out during hunting season too, especially in cold weather or when covering a lot of ground. Feed them high-quality food as much as possible (fresh meat, vegetables and high-end dog food). Also, don’t feel bad about leaving them home once in a while. They will be upset for about 5 minutes and then they will go back to bed. Keep them warm in cold weather and cut your hunt short when they start to show signs of too much cold exposure.

Don’t forget your family

We’ve all heard the term ‘hunting widow’. This phenomenon is a symptom of a hunter who doesn’t have his priorities straight. Let’s remember folks – your spouse or significant other is like your rear echelon. They often do your laundry and keep the kids quiet while dad naps after a cold day afield. It’s your job to show your appreciation. Make sure you give them at least 50% of your weekend most of the time and if you need more, you owe them a good dinner or a movie (or both). Our simple rule at home is pretty much whenever I am not hunting or sleeping on the weekends during hunting season – I am at my wife’s disposal. That means errands and the dreaded trips to Target if need be – but in the return I get all the time in the field I need. It’s win-win.

As regular visitors to the site know, The Big Stick is a proud member of the Outdoor Blogger Network (OBN). This week they are celebrating their one-year birthday with all sorts of cool giveaways. OBN is a fantastic community for outdoor enthusiasts with a wide-range of blogs covering everything from skiing to hunting to camping to outdoor photography. If you like the outdoors – check it out. If you are an outdoor blogger, consider becoming a member.

Back in June the CBC radio show Q discussed the topic of discussion was what to do about the goose problem in urban areas.

Today, Jian talked to Jackson Landers, who argues the solution to the overpopulation of Canada Geese is to hunt them and eat them.

As natural predators disappear, many communities in North America are dealing with large numbers of the birds. They are blamed for fouling rivers, lakes and beaches. A large flock of them even brought down an airplane in New York City.

Last year, authorities in New York culled more than 150,000 of the birds. Their carcasses went to landfill. But this year, the goose meat will go to feed needy people in Pennsylvania.

I will offer up that goose is delicious (very similar to a good steak when cooked properly). They are also nearing numbers that would take their population from healthy to unhealthy with few natural predators and great expanses of public green space to use as habitat. In many places the birds are no longer migrating as they have enough food and good habitat to stay in one place year-round.

I say all of this as I count down the hours to my first goose hunt of the 2011-2012 season this afternoon. But there aren’t enough hunters to manage the goose population anymore. In lieu of persuading more people to shoulder a gun, humane culling and a good use for the meat is the best alternative.