Sunday, January 04, 2009
Outdoorsmen eternal optimists
Mark Taylor
Mark Taylor's Outdoors column and notebook appears regularly in The Roanoke Times.
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It sure was an interesting year.
Some stocks were up, but many were down.
Banks got hit hard.
And there were those bailouts.
At least when stocks are down, you can sometimes bring in more fingerlings to shore up the population.
And banks are always going to get hit hard because that's where the fish are, especially in the spring and fall.
As for bailout tools, I've still found nothing better than a Gatorade bottle with the top cut off.
What? Did you think I was talking about something else?
OK, it really was a wild year out there in the real world.
But who better to handle the stress than those of us who love getting out in the wild?
Not only do our outdoors adventures provide something of an escape from everyday pressures, but outdoors enthusiasts are probably as well-suited as anyone for dealing with those pressures.
We are eternal optimists, the ultimate half-glass-full set.
We have to be.
Otherwise, we'd never be able to endure those long hours on the water when it seems the lake doesn't have a fish in it.
Those brutally cold days on the deer stand when not even squirrels are moving.
Those tough hikes to our favorite ridge top rock outcropping only to find the vista totally socked in by fog.
The ski slope snow that's so icy it's more like a tilted hockey rink.
We endure because we know that eventually there's going to be a payoff and it's going to be awesome.
That ridge top view is going to be spectacular, the ski slopes will be covered with 18 inches of fresh powder, a trophy deer is going to walk right past our stand and the bass of a lifetime is going to blow up on our Zara Spook plug.
Best of all, we often get to share those experiences with those dear to us.
In the outdoors we also learn that true rewards rarely come easy.
Sure, we get lucky from time to time. That's part of the fun.
But consistent success comes from consistent effort, not shortcuts.
For whom is the reward greater?
The angler who works all season to solve the challenge of catching a big wild brown trout he knows inhabits a logjam-choked hole in a public river?
Or the guy who pays $60 to fish a private creek and catches a 14-pound brown stocked that morning?
The hunter who kills a mature doe with his longbow?
Or the poacher who shoots a trophy buck at midnight with the help of a spotlight?
Most of us know the correct answers.
We also know that, while our adventures may provide a temporary escape, they aren't an excuse to allow us to bury our heads in the sand, either.
We still need to pay attention, and hope it will help us as we face the many real world challenges ahead.
Optimism is also a key to dealing with some of the serious conservation, environmental and management challenges we face outdoors.
Voluntary activism, undertaken with the same vigor we exhibit when pursuing our recreational passions, will continue to help us along as we address issues such as balancing energy demands with wildlife conservation, growth and development with environmental impact.
Like last year, 2009 promises no shortage of drama.
Already, this year has provided some for me.
Sitting on my deer stand on New Year's Day, I caught sight of a movement in the woods ahead.
Two nice does were moving my way.
Quickly they made their way to the peak of the small field next to which I sat, standing still and skylit on the horizon in the dusky late-afternoon light.
It wasn't a safe shot so I had to wait. But soon they spotted me and ran into the distance.
A disappointing turn?
Absolutely not.
An exciting taste of the good things to come.
