Idiots, maniacs in traffic jams
Take time to enjoy the view along the way

I made a trip through the Nantahala Gorge the other day, an area that took my breath away when I arrived about a year ago. Now, I’m sad to say, I sometimes take the majesty of the mountains for granted, but that wasn’t the case last week.
I went to Bryson City with a friend, to pick up an ornamental mirror with a very rustic design along the frame. The plan was to wrap the artifact carefully and I was to uphold my end of the deal – my end of the mirror – as we negotiated the twists and turns of a historic downtown building and packed it suitable for transport.
I stopped at the library to check out a couple of books from an outdoor series and dreamed about the upcoming hunting season. We have come a long way and our staff at The Andrews Journal is sharp and professional. They promised me we’d work toward a day off for me to go to the woods in search of some meat for my freezer this fall.
But the real thrill of hunting is always enjoying the beauty outdoors – whether I was duck hunting in coastal marshes, stalking deer in the piedmont or maybe some wild hogs or bear here in the mountains.
I typically march out to a tree with my climbing stand, shimmy up the trunk like an oversized inchworm and then tie-off and settle down to get a little comfortable.
Some local folks told me that deer in the area have been hunted to near extinction, in part due to a general feeling and family tradition that the wild critters on a person’s land are like the crops that they grow and available for harvest when needed.
But things have changed and the local game warden recently told me that the deer population has recovered and might make for a good hunt this season – an amazing feat and testimony to wildlife management efforts, considering their once-limited numbers.
We were driving back through the gorge and I wasn’t even thinking about hunting, but was watching the rafters in the Nantahala River and making small talk as we negotiated the traffic. Until we went around Brady Curve, and I got a history lesson about the 1930s train wreck in that area, and some motorist pulled out right in front of us and came to a dead stop half on and half off the road.
I once heard a comedian say that everyone who is in your way is an idiot and everyone who wants to pass you must be a maniac. I laughed at that memory and then saw the driver and passenger in front of us looking to their right into the valley fields – a low section near Rhodo.
There, just blissfully grazing away, were a couple of bucks – they’re boy deer for the uninitiated – each with a six- to eight-point rack of antlers.
I was so amazed and the traffic was so heavy that we didn’t come to a stop, but the young deer just ate a little, looked benignly at us and the other traffic and they were still standing there when we left. I later learned that dog-training season might have started – a time when those who choose to hunt with dogs can legally take them into the woods and practice before the hunting season starts.
Maybe that is what drove these magnificent animals out into the open. I just hope they’re still around when I’m ready to set up my stand in a tree later in the season.
Speaking of seasons, there are openings for things like doves very soon, but remember to get all the special certifications and stamps you will need for the area in which you’ll be hunting or fishing.
I usually just pay the obligatory $40 or so, for the complete sportsmans package that includes stuff for migratory birds and hunting on gamelands. Then I ask at my favorite outdoor shop for the other stamps or certifications I could use to make sure the local game warden is happy.