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Keeping a Hunting Log

by William Scott :: Featured: March, 2003

Years ago my wife picked me up a novelty Hunting Log.  I am not sure how old it was at the time; the pages were yellowed and a little brittle.  The covers, front and back, were made of wood.  She had a smile on her face when she handed it to me and  said, "Here, this will look good in your gun room".  We had a chuckle over that; it sat in my gun room for years.

I was cleaning up the room one day and came across the log and looked it over.  I thought to myself, why not set up a note book like this?  I can look back through it and tell things like, what the weather was the year before; who I was hunting with; if we bagged anything , or if something funny or strange happened.  I found that keeping this has actually helped me, when I get ready to go rabbit hunting.  I take a quick look to see what the weather was, and how many rabbits I might have got, and where.  If everything is similar, then I usually make the decision to try the same spot that day.

I keep my log on all my hunting and fishing trips . That little log was meant for a novelty , but it sure has helped me.  I look back through it and have come up with things to write about, because it jogs my memory.  You sit back and think about things that happened while you were out in the field with your friends.  Maybe you might not want to write down everything but it does help to know where you went; what the conditions where; what you saw, and what you bagged.

Who knows, maybe when I've gone to the 'Happy Hunting Grounds' , and the family is picking up all of our stuff, they will come across that  Hunting Log of mine and get a few CHUCKLES; bringing back some good memories.

Let me share the poem that is in the front of the Hunters Log...

Behold the Hunter

He riseth up early in the morning
and disturbeth the whole household
Mighty are his preparations,
He goeth forth full of hope
and when the day is far spent
He returneth smelling of strong drink, and the truth is not in him

Over the years I have come to the conclusion that you don't need any strong drink if you're a hunter or fisherman.  You definitely can stretch the truth. You all know the story about the one that got away. We have all heard these stories.