Taking Chances Finding the Good in "Meh

Leaping from bed, running out the motel door and racing the crack of dawn, you rocket toward the storied covert recently profiled in a magazine story, only to find six other trucks parked, idling, awaiting the arrival of shooting hour.

- Scott Linden

The barking dogs might as well be taunting you for your tardiness, laughing at your lack of initiative and dearth of originality.

Mental and physical scars like that punctuate my time afield, and I have more than a few regrets, but all have led to one conclusion: Nothing ventured, nothing gained, especially when you want to share a field with your dog, a friend and ... nobody else.

So you find a different species-it's all good

Jazz iconoclast Thelonius Monk said, “The cats I like best are the cats who take chances.” I took that philosophy to heart in my music career, and now I’ve embraced it in my hunting life. Wanna be one of those cats? In jazz, there are no wrong notes, only opportunities. So why not seek roads less traveled, places others shirk and take a chance on “so-so” hunting spots?

Why Not?

A more adventurous mindset leads to wonder, death-defying predicaments and disappointment. But you may end up richer for them, sometimes finding unmolested birds and stunning beauty. What you won’t find are hordes of blaze orange-clad competitors.

Author and bird hunter Thomas McGuane said, “I’m always surprised to rediscover that there’s something kind of scary about life; and that the feeling we have that we’re in charge is probably ill founded.” Tom was right. We’re seldom in charge; hunting is crammed with variables out of our control: other hunters, Mother Nature, my dog’s sketchy points. What if your next great hunt occurs after you roll the dice and hand the truck keys to fate?