Well, summer may not be here officially, but lately the temperatures sure make it seem like that time of year already.
Once warm weather begins and the spring turkey hunting season ends — and thank goodness it is over; you readers out there you don’t have to hear about it for a while, and I don’t have to chase aggravating turkeys that won’t gobble or respond to a call! — I can’t help but think about varmint hunting and varmint rifles.
I know I am kind of warped in that respect, but it is too late to change now.
(READ MORE: Don’t let a varmint stand between you and a tomato sandwich)
Once upon a time, I would spend several days of the summer in pursuit of the eastern woodchuck, or what we commonly call the groundhog. Some circles, of course, have Disneyfied (my word) the groundhog by making it into a cuddly little guy who predicts the weather once a year. In the real world of farmers and cattle growers in the Southeast, the groundhog can be a pretty big pest because he digs bunches of holes in hay meadows and other farmland, endangering livestock and sometimes tractors and other farm equipment. Back in the day, farmers did NOT like groundhogs in my area.