It's the week they've been waiting for...
Hunt Week! Yippee! Everything, and I mean everything, grinds to a halt up here north of 7. Some businesses close for the week, the local school's attendance drops to about 50%, and men (and some women too) are jumping out of cars all along the highway in their camouflage clothes and bright orange hats. What's up with that?
Since moving up here seven years ago, I am always somewhat puzzled by the "goings on" during the first full week of November. Hunt week's a really big deal - there are substantial prizes awarded for the largest buck and doe, dances are held - a great time for celebration. You can just feel the excitement in the air. All the talk centres around who got a buck or doe tag. Doe tags are coveted apparently. And 6 pointers and 8 pointers. I didn't find out until the second year up here that a 6 pointer is a small buck, 8 and 10 pointers are a good size. It's the size of their rack. (Now, girls, stop giggling - not that kind of rack. I'm being serious here).
Three years ago, on the Thursday before the beginning of the hunt, we drew up a deal to purchase the building where our store is now. We wanted to get a lawyer to go over the wording to make sure everything was in order. So, I called the lawyer who did the work when we bought our current home. Alas, he was gone - hunting. Wouldn't be back for two weeks. So, I called another lawyer. Gone hunting. And another - hunting.
I called 14 law offices and was totally freaking out by that point. I called several in Belleville, several in Napanee and then the light came on. Call a female lawyer. Surely they don't hunt.
Oh, yes they do! It had gotten to the point when my call was answered at a law firm, I asked first, "Does Mr/Ms Lawyer hunt?" That certainly cut down on the conversation time at each office. It was now Friday afternoon, and we were desparate. Since I had narrowed my search down to women lawyers by this time, it only took 3 calls to get someone to look after us. Thank goodness. The lawyer had some good advice, the deal closed and the rest is history. We were able to open up two weeks before Christmas 2007 in our new location. Which is what the rush was all about. If we hadn't secured a lawyer before November 7th, it was highly unlikely the deal would close before the middle of January 2008.
But, getting back to my burning question about camouflage...if deer are colour blind, why don't hunter's get all dressed in orange camouflage? I googled it, and didn't find a satisfactory answer. My Google fu even failed when I was looking for a photo of a hunter in "mossy oak" camo and a blaze orange hat. Apparently, there is an orange standard - it must be "Blaze" orange. And a hunter must wear a certain amount of it. A ball cap is just about the required size.
While I was looking for a photo online of a hunter in full get up - the first link I got was this - a camo wedding gown. Wow. Just wow. I knew there were baby clothes in camo - I have a pink camo t-shirt even. I've even worn it once. But a wedding gown?
I wonder what kind of shoes one wears with a camo gown?
Since I shamelessly stole the photo of the hunters from the Cabella.com website, I will give them a plug. Their bait binders make awesome storage containers for your double pointed and circular needles. I wish they came in pink though. Or a nice lime green. Perhaps turquoise. I digress. Let's get back to the story.
Since moving up here seven years ago, I am always somewhat puzzled by the "goings on" during the first full week of November. Hunt week's a really big deal - there are substantial prizes awarded for the largest buck and doe, dances are held - a great time for celebration. You can just feel the excitement in the air. All the talk centres around who got a buck or doe tag. Doe tags are coveted apparently. And 6 pointers and 8 pointers. I didn't find out until the second year up here that a 6 pointer is a small buck, 8 and 10 pointers are a good size. It's the size of their rack. (Now, girls, stop giggling - not that kind of rack. I'm being serious here).
Three years ago, on the Thursday before the beginning of the hunt, we drew up a deal to purchase the building where our store is now. We wanted to get a lawyer to go over the wording to make sure everything was in order. So, I called the lawyer who did the work when we bought our current home. Alas, he was gone - hunting. Wouldn't be back for two weeks. So, I called another lawyer. Gone hunting. And another - hunting.
I called 14 law offices and was totally freaking out by that point. I called several in Belleville, several in Napanee and then the light came on. Call a female lawyer. Surely they don't hunt.
Oh, yes they do! It had gotten to the point when my call was answered at a law firm, I asked first, "Does Mr/Ms Lawyer hunt?" That certainly cut down on the conversation time at each office. It was now Friday afternoon, and we were desparate. Since I had narrowed my search down to women lawyers by this time, it only took 3 calls to get someone to look after us. Thank goodness. The lawyer had some good advice, the deal closed and the rest is history. We were able to open up two weeks before Christmas 2007 in our new location. Which is what the rush was all about. If we hadn't secured a lawyer before November 7th, it was highly unlikely the deal would close before the middle of January 2008.
But, getting back to my burning question about camouflage...if deer are colour blind, why don't hunter's get all dressed in orange camouflage? I googled it, and didn't find a satisfactory answer. My Google fu even failed when I was looking for a photo of a hunter in "mossy oak" camo and a blaze orange hat. Apparently, there is an orange standard - it must be "Blaze" orange. And a hunter must wear a certain amount of it. A ball cap is just about the required size.
While I was looking for a photo online of a hunter in full get up - the first link I got was this - a camo wedding gown. Wow. Just wow. I knew there were baby clothes in camo - I have a pink camo t-shirt even. I've even worn it once. But a wedding gown?
I wonder what kind of shoes one wears with a camo gown?
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