By Chris Avena
Hunting back in the 1980's was nothing like it is today. We did not have cell phones or any of the high tech gear that we have today. Even our hunting clothes were pretty basic. We hunted in either blaze orange or some sort of military camo. I was a lot younger back then and I liked to move around when I hunted. This one particular opening weekend was rather chilly and we had a few inches of snow over night. As usual, we were up and out well before dawn. I found my hunting spot and hunkered down waiting for first light.
Not long after first light, I started to get a little cold and decided that I would try to spot and stalk for a while. I figured that if I moved around a bit, I would keep warm and I might spook something out of its bed. After about an hour, I found some fresh tracks in the snow. I slowly followed, keeping an eye out for any movement. After following for about five hundred yards the tracks stopped at a creek and resumed on the opposite side of the creek. The temperature was still pretty fridged and the water looked a little too deep at that spot so there was no way that I was going to walk across the creek.
I looked around for a place to cross and noticed a nice size blow down that was laying across the creek about 40 yards away. I decided that was the place to cross. So I made my way to the blow down and slung my rifle over my shoulder before making my way over the snow covered tree. When I was about half way over the creek I noticed that the tree was not just covered with snow, there was a thin layer of ice underneath. At which point, I started to lose my balance. Thinking quickly, I figured that I better jump for shore before I ended up in the drink. Just as I took that leap of faith, my rifle swung around and smacked me square in the mouth as I landed chest deep in icy cold water.
I felt like Mike Tyson just landed one of his ferocious body shots, knocking the wind out of me at the blink of an eye. I was in disbelief as I scrambled to shore. Our truck was about a mile away and I ran the whole way, leaving a trail of hunting clothes along the way. I reached the truck, took off what was left of my clothes and cranked the heat in the truck And THAT is my Outdoor Blooper!