From my November 1, 2012 News Journal column.
As the thought of Hurricane Sandy plowing through Delaware motivated many Delawareans to hit the grocery stores, gas stations and home supply stores to procure disputably necessary supplies, I, too, was motivated.
Truth be told, I considered hunting in the storm.
While that thought could be perceived as flat-out ridiculous, it wasn’t without merit. In fact, exactly one year ago, I sat in a duck blind during the nor’easter that pounded the Delaware coast and brought snow to northern Delaware. Hunting adjacent to the Delaware River, the combination of strong winds, sleet, snow and cold contributed to one of the best duck hunting days of the season last year. Heck, if hunting in a superstorm worked once, why not try it again?
Duck hunting seemed like a superb idea, but deer hunting also crossed my mind. I remembered a story a hunter told me last year about how the nor’easter’s storm surge pushed deer out of flooded marshes, woods and fields. So I formulated a backup plan to hunt deer along the marshes of the Delaware River or maybe even behind Little Assawoman Bay. If I could set up with my bow on some high ground adjacent to the flooded areas, I could get a shot at a monster buck. Maybe even two.
The best laid plans of mice and men often go astray, however.
As I seriously contemplated my Sandy hunting itinerary, I learned of the driving ban in Delaware.
“How can I beat this ban?” I wondered. “If I get pulled over driving to a hunting spot, could I use a press credential and tell the state trooper I am covering Sandy for a news story?”
Probably not.
Somewhere between viewing photos of flooded Sussex County neighborhoods on Facebook on Sunday night and listening to the 25th weather report about millibars and dropping atmospheric pressure, I snapped back into reality.
“What am I, a lunatic?” I think I said loudly enough for my wife and kids to hear.
As a die-hard hunter, I wanted to hunt, but I really didn’t want to die hard at the hands of Sandy.
For starters, hunting ducks adjacent to the Delaware River in an evacuation zone is just plain stupid. The tide surge could sweep me away, the blind may be nothing more than sticks and sawdust and flooded roads (not to mention road closures) could prevent me from getting to my hunting area altogether.
My idea to hunt deer was just as perilous. I still would have had to deal with potential floodwaters and the prospect of trees and limbs falling on me. Climbing into a tree stand when the tree is swaying back and forth due to 70-mph winds seemed pretty dangerous. And hunting deer from high ground near flooded areas didn’t hold up to my scrutiny. “Duh,” I thought. “If the deer are stranded on the high ground, wouldn’t I be stranded, too?”
Needless to say, good, old-fashioned common sense prevailed.
Sobering tales of people in danger caused by no fault of their own were all over television and the Internet on Sunday and Monday. I couldn’t help but think how I could have put rescuers in danger if I acted on my foolish impulses.
I just wish those residents who chose to remain in evacuation areas felt the same as I and allowed common sense to factor into their plans.