Trending
The two turkey seasons in 2022 have been the wackiest two seasons of my entire hunting life.
It started with a surprise invitation to hunt with a person I have long admired. To avoid embarrassment, I will not disclose the name.
It all began last spring with the phone call that yielded the invitation. I was giddy with elation to be asked. This person gave me instruction to this hunting place quite a few miles from Altoona. I have to admit that I was not delighted about having to drive to a location I have never been anywhere near before. My eyes did not want to tackle that drive in the couple of hours before daylight but I had to do it.
I tried to memorize the directions and I did pretty well in the dark but when I got to the intersection where we were to meet, there was no one there. UH OH!
I waited another 90 minutes but then I knew it was too late. The sun was up and I knew we were in two different locations. If you are wondering why we didn't call each other on our cell phones it is because I didn't own a cell phone at the time. It didn't take me long after that fiasco to get one. I experienced all the miseries of learning to use one of those contraptions. The pastor of my church was the first name in my directory and I am sure that as I learned to scroll up and down correctly, I called his phone 50 times. He patiently answered each time and I apologized at least 10 times.
But the time for me to go to Missouri to hunt was upon me by then so we said that we would try again in the fall.
So now we fast forward to this fall season just past.
This gracious and long suffering person called me again. The directions to the meeting place would be sent to me by email. I could just copy them off and I'd be set. So next early morning I eagerly found the directons as promised. Then a message popped up on my computer and it would not accept this message and now I had no internet. WHAT?
So I called my benefactor on my cell phone. So with phone in one hand and pen in the other, I proceeded to write the directions down. I then realized I would have to type them in large print in order for me to read them. They were pretty complicated directions, full of turns and looking for signs along roadsides, you know, stuff like that. But I made it fine. The directions were perfect.
I breathed a huge sign of relief when I made the last turn. There before me lay a dirt road that went straight up a mountain. Would my old car make it? It did. A nice log cabin was at the top, a car parked there. Nobody was there as it turned out, I had turned on the right road but this house obviously was not the place!
I thought 'I'll just call and get straightened out.' So I whipped out the phone and punched in the number and -- can you believe it -- the phone would not put the call through. I'll spare you all the details but the phone had broken down. When it rang for me I knew it was my host trying to find me but it was no-go. I could see the name of the caller when it rang but when I pushed the answer button it would not kick in. I sat there in my car for the next two hours, trying everything I could think of but nothing worked.
Seldom in my life have I been so embarrassed. Finally I faced the fact that we were not going to communicate this trip so, since darkness was approaching, I simply retraced my directions and went home.
I suppose we have all had situations similar but these two with the same person were my first. If ever we happen to get together, I'll let you know.