THE BIG HURTS

my Uncle Pat once told me that both pain and disappointment were good:“The more of those you have experienced,” he explained, “the longer you have lived; suffer but a little, and you’re in an early grave.

- By Alan Liere

”It sounded profound at the time, but in retrospect, it was a pretty “Duh!” proclamation. Perhaps he knew my penchant for pursuing birds would sometimes cause pain and disappointment, and with so many distractions around at the time who were wearing halter tops and White Shoulders cologne, his “long life” bit was merely to encourage me to continue a sport he personally found addicting. Whatever his motivation, it worked, and I have dutifully suffered.

My accumulated disappointments as a bird hunter are many, ranging from minor setbacks to blood and tears. They include such incidents as the time I agreed to take the friend of a friend grouse hunting, and he got lost in the swamp and I missed Thanksgiving dinner while searching for him. Certainly there were times I should have shot better and times I should have been there last week, and I shouldn't have waited so long to start driving to Montana in late October without checking the passes for snow. But it's the incidents involving real pain and, in some cases, real blood and real doctors that I remember most vividly.