Big Buck Season
Saturday, September 28 is the opening day of hunting season in Central Oregon. As a kid I remember it being a very big deal. My dad always had buck fever. Hunting magazines near his chair, guns, backpacks, orange coats and supplies laid out ready to go. We bought things for lunches we normally never did like snack pack pudding, ding dongs, and orange crush. Hunting camp always included my grandparents and different sets of friends and relatives. Whoever came, was always in good spirits and always had a story of a past hunt to share.
This year is different, but memories of past hunts keep coming up. Friday night, my son Teddy and I will join my parents in deer camp. We took the trailer out last weekend and scouted for deer. All four of us have buck deer rifle tags, and for the first time, I'm really ready to "harvest" a deer. My odds aren't that good, but I'm ready to give it an honest try with early dawn hunts and long days sitting in the sage brush scouring the desert for a mule deer. Scott won't be coming with us. My daughter Luci is a junior at Bend High and homecoming festivities haves been scheduled for the same weekend. A sure sign that Bend has changed in demographic makeup over the past 30 years. I wonder how those mountain bike riders feel when they see hunters in the woods off of Century Drive in late September?
The past three years I've hosted a Women only Big Buck contest at Cowgirl Cash. It is an event to remind customers that my store is owned by a local Bendite and tap into new customers. I've seen the changes Bend has undergone in the past 40 years. I embrace the changes, but lets not forget our roots. Yes, lets get outside, lets eat organic and local and sustainably. Lets appreciate the change of the season and gather with family. We will be doing all of that this weekend, but we'll be hunting for deer. I will still celebrate ANY women who brings a buck into Cowgirl Cash. I want to see your deer and hear your story. But this year I hope to share my own Big Buck story.
