The original plan, last weekend, was to head on out to one of our local lakes and put my first ice fishing trip under my belt.  I was honestly pretty excited, and had my 20 layers of winter clothing laid out for the late morning excursion, only to have Mr. Simplyoutdoors himself, Jeff, call and cancel on me.  Apparently he was a tad bit concerned because of the below zero wind chills……and I honestly couldn’t blame him; I rolled back over, and went back to bed.

We try to do what we can this time of year to keep ourselves immersed in some sort of outdoor experience, but that tends to be a tall order; the rabbits hold tight in seriously cold weather like we’ve been experiencing; ice fishing doesn’t stir up an incredible amount of emotion for me; and it’s difficult this time of year to find outdoor things that provide the same rush and relaxation as chasing after whitetails, running and gunning after turkey, or fishing for giant largemouth.

This time of year the turkey fields lay dormant and silent, and the whitetails are hunkered down and safe from any human hunting; the largemouth are safe and sound under an incredible ice shield; the campgrounds are virtually a ghost town; and it’s hard for the hunter and outdoorsman within to find solace in much of anything.

But I’ll keep trying.

Hopefully these below-zero wind chills let up this week, and allow us to do something outside.  I kept cabin fever at bay last weekend, but this weekend it is rearing its ugly head once again.

For now I find some comfort in knowing that, in just a few short months, the longbeards will be gobbling their head off to answer my push-pull hen call; the local lakes will start to thaw in preparation for spring spawning; and the campgrounds will start to fill up as people start to show themselves after their winter hibernation.

I’m counting the days.

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