While sports are fun, hunters enjoy a good celebration, too

I am certainly a sports fanatic, and I enjoy going to football, basketball, baseball, and volleyball games. Celebrating is most definitely enjoyable. Golly, being around friends celebrating a victory is so much fun!

I admit the food and beverages sure make it a festive event, and my diet often takes a back seat. But when my favorite team wins, it is much more enjoyable. Sometimes our favorite team comes out on the short end of the stick, but spending time with a bunch of people makes it more tolerable.

I know celebrations at tailgate parties often endure all kinds of weather elements. Just being able to adjust and have a good time is sometimes difficult, but we have always managed to do what is required to have a good time. Fellowship is a key ingredient, and it gets to where we may get impatient for the next gathering at a tailgate party.

I guess my idea of tailgate parties might differ from other folks. I enjoy a special form of tailgate party. It occurs during deer season, and it is celebrated with me and my hunting buddies as we gather around a pickup truck at “deer camp” as we admire a deer one of the hunters in the group gets.

It is a respectful celebration and includes the entire group removing their caps, bowing their heads, saying a prayer, and giving thanks for the opportunity to harvest the deer. Everyone in the group participated in the hunt as far as assisting the successful hunter locate the deer after the shot process and also helped get the animal back to camp.

As in all sports, there is a camaraderie amongst the hunters as there is amongst the athletes, and celebrating the success of the hunter is just as important and enjoyable. In most situations, the celebration is conducted respectably. I can speak from over 59 years of hunting, there have been very few situations where I felt the conduct of the hunters was out of line or disrespectful to the animal.

There were absolutely no alcoholic beverages consumed. There was no yelling and screaming, no end-zone dancing, no taunting, no profanity, and if there were any people in the vicinity of the tailgate party, they would not be offended.

Years ago, many hunters tied the deer to the hood of their automobile to transport them home, but they soon realized the heat from the engine could spoil the meat. And many people complained about seeing a deceased animal being exhibited.

It got to where they started tying the deer on top of the car, but that exposed the animal to sun, which also added to the spoilage. Over the years, the pickup truck became a popular option, and hunters started putting the deer in the truck bed.

Fast forward to today, they have made truck bed covers that allow the hunter to haul the deer home out of sight. They came up with carrier racks that insert into the trailer hitch slot that make getting the deer in a position for hauling home easier. I have used every technique mentioned to get my deer home from the hunt.

In recent years, I started using an ATV to help me get the deer back to deer camp, and that involved towing a utility trailer. I often place the deer on the floor of the trailer. I am fortunate in the fact that there is a deer processing place within a mile of one of my hunting areas, and it is in the country. I can transport the deer without being seen by the public.

I am not ashamed of being a deer hunter, and I don’t feel like I owe anybody an apology. At the same time, I do not want to be offensive. I respect other people and their choices of what they enjoy doing to make their life fun and relaxing.

I hope they respect my choices of what I enjoy doing and sharing time on the water fishing with my family and friends or sharing time at a tailgate party after I or one of my hunting buddies legally and ethically harvest a deer to feed our families.

We are only on the earth once, and that often seems very brief. So, I hope and plan to celebrate many more tailgate parties!