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Show The Last Word Judy Jensen, Editor Cherie Huber, Assistant Editor Linda Mitchell, Creative Design Roger Tuttle Photographer By JUDY JENSEN Why hunters hunt has always been a puzzle to me. Why anyone would leave the nice warm confines con-fines of their comfortable homes to go into the cold, wet mountains to "rough it," is something I'll never understand. My idea of roughing it is staying in a luxury condominium that does not have a hot tub. Deer season is the only time you will see sane men from all walks of life dressed in ridiculous attire. Even bank presidents have been known to hang up their three-piece business suits to don the required "400 square inches" of flaming orange clothing. The reasons men give for hunting hunt-ing range from "communing with nature" to "I am the provider; I must get my family meat for the long cold winter ahead!" These men don't take into consideration the fact that by the time they purchase pur-chase the absolute necessities needed for the hunt, they most likely are paying quite a bit for the deer. As every hunter knows the four-wheel-drive pick-up must be equipped with four new state of the art mud and snow tires. It is also essential that a new padded gun rack be installed to hold the newly purchased rifle which is equipped with a high-powered scope. The pre-hunt trip to the grocery store is a sacred ritual. (Have you ever seen a hunter eating pork and beans from a can?) A hunter's grocery list is unequaled in length and on it you will find the bare essentials necessary for survival in the wilds. For one weekend the list includes in-cludes six T-bone steaks, two dozen eggs, three pounds bacon, four loaves bread, five pounds potatoes, butter, ham, sweet rolls and at least five pounds of chocolate. choco-late. This amount should be doubled dou-bled for every hunter over one in the party. This list, including the truck, rifle, ammunition, food, gas, license, camp equipment, and orange clothing, brings the price of venison to about $278 per per pound. One thing is for certain, even if the hunter does not get a deer, he will return a little older, a little wiser and a little heavier than he was when he left home. I guess there must be something some-thing I'm missing in my assessment assess-ment of the value of hunting. Some strange, wonderful, mysterious myste-rious experience must come out of the ritual. I for one am willing to forgo the "call of the wild" and for those of you who agree with me, I'll see you in the mall. |