By: Ted Nugent
Oh my God, glory glory hallelujah, here it comes! The moment of truth is glowing on the ever-approaching horizon and is nearly upon us, and the bloodbrotherhood of reasoning predators of the mystical flight of the arrow everywhere are dangerously cocked, locked and oh so ready to ROCK doc!
I know! I know! Many bowhunters across America celebrated the mythical season of harvest opener in numerous states many weeks and even months ago, but come on! You must admit that early seasons being as exciting as they are, they surely do not compare with the magic month of October!
We salute the many states that sensibly open their early archery deerseasons in the month of September, some even in July and August for goodness sakes, but with the historical traditional opener kicking off either on the closest Saturday to October or on October 1st itself, we all must admit that good old October fall days feel, smell, stimulate, inspire, motivate, electrify and call our name like the ultimate real McCoy of hunting season excitement just a little more powerfully.
Being so fortunate to be born in Detroit Michigan, the land of Fred Bear, way back in 1948, October 1st will always be the day of days for this old bowhunter. Even though we can still expect plenty of undesirably warm days, October nonetheless is the month when the weather and spirit at least starts to feel like hunting season.
Those first fiery gold, orange and red colors that burst forth from sumac, hickory and sugar maple trees are already shining and glittering, bringing a tsunami of visual stimuli to go with the cool, crisp delicious autumn air and the telltale sounds, sights, smells and flavors that is our magic time of year.
Those forever fields of green corn and soy beans are now getting all golden, and the symphony of grinding combines are firing up for the amazing annual harvest all across the hinterland.
Breathtaking skeins of waterfowl and increased wildlife activity all around kicks our hunting hearts into high predator gear and the American army of bowhunters lead the charge for life, liberty and the pursuit of backstrap happiness dreams throughout the heartland.
All that dedicated summer scouting and practicing represents a serious investment in our wildlife conservation bank account, and everybody I know is super psyched for the greatest hunting season of our lives to make some hard-earned withdrawals.
Craving my bowhunting time more today than in all my 60 plus year gungho bowhunting life, I continue to expand my bowhunting paradigm and modus-operandi so as to constantly test and push myself for more gratifying and successful time afield.
Since we all know that hunting, like archery and marksmanship overall is 90% mental and 10% physical, to be successful we must think outside the status quo box and never stop learning new strategies and methodologies in our never-ending quest for hunting fun, sport, meat and trophy fulfillment.
I recently re-read the amazing two books on Fred Bear by his longtime associate and BloodBrother Dick Lattimer, I Remember Papa Bear and Hunt With Fred Bear (iHunt Communications!) and even though I not only had read them back when they were originally published years ago, but I also personally lived out most of the experiences and adventures that were written about in those wonderful books.
The fascinating and detailed documentation of the great Fred Bear’s legacy by a man who intimately knew and loved him brought back into blinding focus the spirit of what we are and should be as bowhunters.
In a world more crazy and scary than maybe ever before in history, such a down to earth reminder via the pioneering footsteps of Fred Bear goes a long way into getting our minds right for this very special time of year for us and our families.
As the samurai warriors lament, too many minds can cause our arrows to go astray!
I would highly recommend every bowhunter in the world, hell, every body in the world should read these two books to help refocus us as we step away from our everyday modern lives back to the purest of primal screams that is the bowhunting lifestyle.
I believe the books are available through the Archery Hall of Fame (Archeryhalloffame.org) and would go a long way in getting us back into that pure, original bowhunting frame of mind.
Archery Hall of Fame director Diane Miller would be happy to assist you at info@archeryhalloffame.org.
Happy October American bowhunting BloodBrothers wherever you may roam. May the wind be in your face, the sun at your back, and may the Great Spirit of the Wild be forever at your side. Aim small, miss small, pick a spot, and may your mystical flight of the arrow be pumpstation bound for the best season of your lives! Backstrap like you mean it. Conservation and balanced herds are up to us!
Join me and a few million of our closest friends from around the world each day at facebook.com/tednugent for hunting updates, photographs, shared stories and allthings Spirit of the Wild celebrations. It’s like the ultimate electronic bowhunting campfire! Hope to see you there.