For some reason everyone looks for that pot ‘o gold on the end of the rainbow “over the next hill!”  I’ve wondered about this for a long time even commenting on it from time to time but it really came full circle today much to my surprise.  Bet you’re already wondering “huh?”  Well hold on and let me explain.  Here’s some examples.  How come whenever we launch the boat we fire it up and speed off somewhere other than just beginning to fish right there – it’s probably a pretty good spot.  People often release unwanted fish there assuming the depth and structure are ok but most often we leave it behind.  If you’re lucky enough to have a cabin on a lake or sometimes stay in one don’t you always head to the other side to fish?  I always did that.  Maybe because it was cool to run the motor or drive the boat but in my mind the prime spots were always over there.  Kinda funny because the folks from the other side always fish in front of my place now.  I know because I watch them motor across.

When hunting either ducks, deer, pheasants, turkeys or grouse during lean times of a hunt there’s always places in the distance that look so much better than where we seem to be at that moment too.  I’m not sure if they really are that good but in my mind’s eye it is.  It might be a duck slough where ducks seem to be working a distant point or a grass field with that ditch running through it adjacent to where we are but behind that “No Trespassing” sign.  I often think to myself “bet it’s loaded with birds!”  How about the quiet deer stand we’ve chosen built exactly where that buck should cross only to see the deer of a lifetime in the distance where you could have been but were in firm belief no animal had or would ever trod.  Shoulda, woulda, coulda three words many of us see often in the rear view mirror.  Maybe it’s just me but I don’t think so.

Here’s another “Greener” example.  Have you ever really wanted to take a hunting or fishing trip to a distant place?  I mean really really wanted to go?  Perhaps you’ve grown up hunting someplace for a long time.  The countryside is familiar, the public lands have been named but only you and a few friends would recognize the locations by those names.  Over time you’ve made memories of birds dropped, deer shot or big fish caught and can recall even the smallest details of that day.  Even as the years pass with worn boot leather on those grounds or casts made on a particular weedline there’s always another place you’d like to try that just might be the ultimate spot!  It’s gotta be better, maybe even the ultimate – ever been there?

Earlier I spent time chatting with a guy about traveling out west to do some bird hunting. As we talked about cover, birds, hunting spots, numbers of birds and really just the details of what I considered a kind of a “dream hunt” or at the very least a better hunt than where I usually go he floored me with a question: “Ya know I’ve always dreamed of being able to hunt Minnesota cattail marshes for late season pheasants!”  He said “I’ve seen some stuff on tv and read some too about roosters flushing wildly, big gaudy birds that leave tracks on frozen ice in those big sloughs!  That would really be a dream hunt wouldn’t it?”  This hit me like a brick falling on my big toe.  His dream is to do what I’ve done for years and now take for granted I guess.  It really got me thinkin’!  So maybe, just maybe what many of us have in our own back yard is the stuff dreams are made of for somebody else not that far away!  Really stop ‘n think about it – hmmm!

I think it’s worth a few minutes of thought!  Is it really greener over there?  What do ya think?

Capt’n