It's getting to be that time of year...

Yes, I know it is about time for college football to start. We chose not to renew out Texas A&M season tickets this year. With 2 kids and an 80 mile each way drive to the games, we decided we just couldn't make enough games to make it worthwhile. Especially when you have to pay several hundred dollars worth of "donation" per seat to have the privilege to pay face value for tickets. Still, we do have a moderate feeling of loss about not having "our" seats. Hopefully we can work it out to leave the kids with one of the grandparents and get some tickets from eBay or Stub Hub and go watch the Aggies play. If not, TV is the best seat in the house (I prefer to watch on TV because those crazy Aggies STAND the ENTIRE game.)

I think most of my readers are college football fans (not sure how many, but I think there are a few of you). I think I have a couple of Aggie fans, some LSU fans, at least one Crimson Tide fan, and an Appalachian State fan. Let me know if I forgot anyone... I've even got a couple of t.u. fans that read from London on occasion. (it's 10:53 PM in Houston and t.u. still sucks).

But, as big as football season is, there is one season that is more important to me. Deer season. It's that time again. Sure, rifle season doesn't start until the 1st Saturday in November, but there is quite a bit of preparation that goes into deer season. Doc & Ron will be out at the ranch this weekend to start working on the food plots. They need to be mowed, plowed, fertilized, plowed again, and then planted. Bro-in-law will head up Labor Day weekend to cut down the grass and weeds in the feeder pens, and I'll head up late September / early October to fill the feeders and check the stands.

In addition to getting the ranch ready, I'll take at least one trip to the range and shoot the guns to make sure that they are ready. Once they are sighted in, they go into the cases and aren't touched again. A serious hunter has more than one rifle. I have my primary gun and a back-up gun. I also have a second back-up that I take when Shelly hunts with me. That way, we each have one and there is a spare in case something happens to one of them. The second back-up needs a minor repair, so I need to take it to the gunsmith in the next week or so in order to have it back in time.

About a month before season opens, I pull out all of the hunting clothes and make sure they all still fit, and replace as needed. License tags are also picked up. A week or two before opening weekend, the clothes get washed in scent free UV killer soap, and get packed in the duffel bag. I also pull out the hunting bags and make sure everything is in them that needs to be in them. Walkmans and flashlights get fresh batteries, knives get sharpened. License tags are also put in the bags. I'm not kidding when I say I worry myself to death about making sure I have everything. I'm always scared to death that I'll get all the way out to the ranch and not have bullets, license, or something else important.

Can you tell I get a little excited about hunting? I'm actually sitting on the sofa right now watching a hunting show on the Outdoor Channel. Hey, it's my sport. When I was a kid, hunting was the big thing with my dad and grandfather. We all hunted together until just a few years ago when the land we had hunted was sold. Now, we don't hunt together often, but my Dad and I usually make sure to have one weekend hunting together, and we text message back and forth when we are hunting at our respective ranches.

As we get a little closer, there will be more posts. Who knows, I might also post about football. Maybe there will even be some smack talk in the next week or so between Reggie (Appalachian State fan) and Tommy & Joanna (LSU fans)