Fall is here - at last!

Fall is one of my favorite seasons. I love when the long, hot days turn into cool evenings and mornings. Fall always reminds me of Europe, for some reason. I remember the cool days and the Volksmarches in Germany, the walks through immaculately maintained woodlands, the breezes that carried brightly colored leaves to the ground, the smell of the Earth, the warmth of the Sun. We have a great fall season here in Virginia. Halloween is normally a blast because the temperature is just right. Fall is apple harvest season and I cannot wait for our apple trees to begin bearing fruit. It is also pumpkin season. We only got a few small pumpkins this year. Next year I'll plant them later and pay more attention to them than I did this year. One thing that fall always reminds me of is hunting season. I've never been a big hunter but, having worked in the firearms industry for years, I always look forward to fall because the American hunter takes his sport seriously. This year I've decided that, since we have the land and the deer, I'll try to fill my limit. I'm not a trophy hunter. I want meat. So, I took my Remington 870, which was originally intended for home defense, and bought myself a great, used, 24" rifled slug barrel with a cantilever scope mount. Thank God for the Second Amendment and Gunbroker.com. After researching a bit I decided to try the Winchester Supreme .12 gauge, 3", 385 grain, partition Gold sabot slug. I stole the little red dot scope off of my tricked out Kalashnikov and put it on my slug barrel. To make a long story short, I sighted that puppy in at 25 yards, based on my planned kill zone, in only two rounds. I can't wait. The plan is to put a couple of big, healthy does in the freezer as roasts, steaks and ground meat. I LOVE me some deer chili!