It’s That Time Of Year Again

(Originally published in the Merritt News - Othmar Vohringer The Outdoorsman)

© By Othmar Vohringer

As you read this the 2011 fall hunting season will be open for exactly eight days. This is the time many hunters have anticipated like children anticipate Christmas. The closer the hunting season opening date comes the more time we spend preparing and dreaming about the endeavors, adventures and good times we will spend in the great outdoors with friends.

This year is going to be a very special hunting season for me, probably the best of my life. My brother from Switzerland is arriving here in two weeks to stay with us for a month. I haven’t seen him in almost twenty years. As a child my brother rarely joined my father and I on hunting and fishing trips; he was always more interested in extreme sports such as car racing, freestyle mountain climbing, extreme mountain biking and things of that nature. It is with the latter that he made a living as a custom mountain bike builder and racer. Some of the videos I’ve seen of him racing down steep mountains are hair rising to say the least.

Besides our reunion and meeting his sister-in-law, my brother wants to know what Canada is really like. He has talked of planning to hike across the Northwest Territories, Yukon and Nunavut and hopes to accomplish this within the next five years. With that said, part of my brother’s visit is for him to learn how to hunt and fish in order to become completely self-sufficient in the wilderness.

To that end I’ve been busy over the past few weeks scouting especially hard and selecting hunting spots. While I am really looking forward to going hunting and fishing with my brother in the coming weeks there is an unfortunate thing about the timing of his visit in that I am currently experiencing some pain related to an old neck injury that has affected my right arm and sensitivity in my right fingers.

For quite some time I was unsure if I would be able to shoot a regular bow because pulling back the string of a bow requires both strength and sensitivity which was lacking. However, after several practice sessions I am now able to pull the string three times on my bow before the pain interferes. Luckily all I need is one shot to dispatch a deer and in the worst-case scenario I can use my crossbow. Despite it all I will be able to teach my brother how to shoot a bow and how to bowhunt.

As time progresses I’ll keep you all up-to-date on what is happening.In the meantime I wish you all a safe and successful hunting season.