By Nick Simonson
Time in the field this weekend made me take stock of not only the blaze orange required by the season, but also the camo I had on underneath, and how this pairing is the universal get-up for every hunter in one season or another. So…still gnawing on my deer tags…a bit of prose for you this week to celebrate it! You know you’ve missed it!
Camo patterns are highlighted by blaze orange options this time of year in the field, and hunters proudly wear both.
“There couldn’t be a harder choice
Hunting this time of year
To choose between my favorite patterns
To chase pheasants, ducks or deer
To pick from all the options
Of blaze orange and camo
Is about as easy as telling you
My favorite guns and ammo
There’s shadowgrass for swamp hunts
And Max4 HD for bow
And blaze against a worn brown
For upland treks you know
In hats and caps and clavas
Parkas, sweats and coats
There’s classic brown-and-green-and-black
Or Break-up vying for my votes
And what about the hundreds more
In the hunting catalogs
Some for trees, and some for stalks
And waders for the bogs
There’s dozens that I’ll never own
Or ever get to wear
Having to pick just one or two
Sometimes life isn’t fair.
Because the hunter nowadays
Has so many to choose
Pairing together all the options,
Only my silhouette I lose
And in the heart of cold November
A blaze orange body suit
From head to toe I’m more than sure
To stand out safely on my route
Between the treestand and the cattails
Through hip-high grass or brush
Just putting on orange hunting gear
Brings with it a sort of rush
Each camo shirt in scent-proof bag
Each pant with neatest fold
Carries with it all the memories
From adventures new and old
There was that time we snuck across
A jet black plowed up field
To see just what the cover of
The old farm slough would yield
Our greenest greens went quickly dark
The pattern shortly blackened
But when the hundreds of fowl took flight
They left our jaws a-slackened
The stains of sweat and darkened smears
Adorn my blaze orange game vest
From eight years in the field
It’s the one that has served me best
But picking out a favorite hue
Between the options that I own
Is still a challenge every time
When hunting I’m a-goin’
So celebrate the season’s height
With shirts of leaves and sticks and grass
Or the brightest beaming shade of orange
To cover up your bottom
For now’s the time to revel in
All things nature will reveal
And celebrate man’s best attempts
To stand out or conceal
So grab whatever you like best
No matter what the fashionista abhors
And proudly wear your blaze orange
and camo in…our outdoors
