However, unlike hiking and photography, which are usually things I do spontaneously without any planning involved, hunting and fishing take a lot of planning and researching (and cash) to accomplish. I can’t simply go out to some public land with my rifle any time I want and shoot an elk. That method of hunting was outlawed well over a hundred years ago, after it almost caused every big game animal in America to go extinct.
Nowadays, I have to apply for a chance to draw a tag for a specific area in the state in April, which means I have to have my hunting grounds picked out and hotel/cabin reserved by March at the latest.
All that year, I have to be diligently practicing shooting my weapon-of-choice, so when I’m actually aiming at game, I can be as accurate as I possibly can. As someone who lives with a very anti-gun mom, I’d have to drive across town to my grandparents’ to get my gun, and then drive a long way to some public land in the middle of nowhere to shoot unless I want to shoot at a crowded range (which honestly sucks), and then bring the gun back to my grandparents after a full day of shooting, and finally go home (unless, of course, I choose to stay with my grandparents for the fall, which would make getting to college every day an even greater headache).
Even worse, there’s a good chance I wouldn’t draw a tag during the first raffle (which happens in April), which means I’d have to log into the Colorado Parks and Wildlife website the literal second leftover tags went on sale in June, wait forever to get in, pray to God that the website doesn’t crash as I’m desperately searching the catalogs for my wanted tags, and miraculously reserve and purchase a tag before someone else gets to it. So far, I’ve played that game twice and lost it both times.
Is it any wonder why I’ve decided to sit out the past couple hunting seasons while already torturing myself with college?
When it comes to fishing, while it’s not nearly as logistically nightmarish as hunting is for a city-dweller like me, I haven’t been a very successful angler for a long time. Granted, I’m not the most experienced angler out there. It takes a lot of research and patience to successfully lure in a fish, because every lake, river, and reservoir’s different from the others, and contain different fish that are used to eating different things. Plus, I’m not exactly willing to spend shitloads of free-time and money on lures that may work for some places near where my great uncle Courtney fishes, but doesn’t even get a nibble from the fish around me.
So again… is it any wonder why I’ve stowed away my fishing poles and gear, and didn’t even bother to renew my fishing license this year?
