Pennsylvania Game News - January 2013 - 50

the tracks in the snow, knowing one of my hunting pals was somewhere ahead. Perhaps he or I would get lucky. It was something to do and as good a plan for one of us to get a shot as any. The tracks led across a fence line and into a big ﬁeld, and that’s where I noticed the wind. I thought at ﬁrst it just seemed to have freshened and gotten colder because I was on the edge of the wide opening. But when I turned away and dropped into a shallow, wooded drainage, I could hear far above me the branches of the bare trees rattling in what had become a blast. A gust reached me in the hollow and the storm began. It wasn’t a large ﬂakes gently sifting, picture-book snow. This was a serious tempest. What was falling on, or rather blowing against, me was somewhere between snow and ice pellets. The mix was sticking to the sides of the trees facing the wind. It was coating my hunting jacket, building up on my sleeves, piling onto my hat. I had to shake myself every few steps. My gloves, warmed through by walking exertion, melted the snow that fell on them, and my ﬁngers became cold and damp. I dug my dry cotton handkerchief from my jacket to clear my wet and fogging glasses. Then I thought of the state of the

powder in my muzzleloader pan. This was no longer a day for the sport. I called the others on my radio: “I’m heading in. Meet you at the car.” I heard the same from them. Rather than remembering that return walk through the woods as an ordeal, I recall how much fun it was. The hunt was on a pocket piece of public land near a big city, but the storm made it a wilderness. The weather was as primitive as my hunting arm, and I found that enchanting. Trafﬁc from the road not far away was silenced by the roar of the storm. Was the attraction man, or in this case woman, against the elements or just a feeling of being active and alive in an environment that was suddenly more active and alive than I? In any case, the hike back was the most January hunting excitement I’d had in a long time. The ancient Roman god Janus was associated with gates and beginnings, and was traditionally depicted as having two opposite faces. The mythical deity is where we got the word “January,” and the duality is appropriate for one year ending and another starting. I think the two opposing aspects could also be seen as the extremes of weather we hunters encounter this month. They’re not the good and the bad, no more than Janus’s faces were. They’re just different.

COVER PAINTING BY BRIAN BLIGHT
THIS MONTH’S COVER, “White Oak Gray,” is the 2013 Working Together for Wildlife ﬁne art print, portraying a gray squirrel. As in past years, a limited edition of 600 prints is available. Image is 15 x 22 ½ inches and printed on acid-free paper. Cost is $125, plus $10.95 s&h (for framing add $110, plus $15 s&h). Embroidered 4-inch patches are also available for $5.66, plus s&h. PA residents add 6% state sales tax. All sales beneﬁt Pennsylvania’s nongame management and research. Order online at The Outdoor Shop, www.pgc.state.pa.us or call 1-888888-3459.

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Pennsylvania Game News - January 2013

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