08 November 1, 2008 - ObserverXtra

The Observer | Saturday, November 01, 2008 SPORTS | 23
»THE NOT-SO-GREAT OUTDOORSMAN | STEVE GALEA
Eventually, every hunter has to make a stand
Over the eons, some
primates have lost
the need to climb
trees. Others, like
me, have taken up
bowhunting. I’ve
always thought that
someone should do
a study on this.
In its simplest
terms, bow hunting consists of a
hunter finding a place where deer,
moose, or bear frequent. Once there,
the hunter sets up downwind and
high in a tree. He or she then waits
for those animals so that he can arrow
them.
It sounds easy, perhaps even clever.
After all, being in a stand high up provides
a vantage point, gets the hunter
out of the animal’s line of sight, and
disperses his or her scent so that the
animal does not notice the intrusion.
It also provides the hunter with a
» From page 22
from another team, but decided
to go to Elora.
Lobsinger said he made
the decision as soon as he
learned his assistant coach,
Cam Crawford, could come
with him.
“Cam’s not just an assistant
coach, Cam is a good
friend … When Cam gave
me the thumbs up, I phoned
them and said, ‘we’ll be
there Wednesday night for
practice.’”
Crawford won’t be the
only familiar face in Elora;
former Jacks’ captain Wes
Hauck is now playing for
the Rocks, and Lobsinger
has coached three other
players on the team. There
is also a handful of former
Elmira Sugar Kings.
“Although some of these
guys have never met me before,
at least they know who
I am,” Lobsinger said. “It
makes it a little bit easier
for them for me to be the
coach, and a little bit easier
for me because we kind of
know about each other already.”
Being asked to take over
the Rocks’ coaching job
eased some of the sting of
being fired by the Jacks’ executive,
Lobsinger said.
“I wasn’t overly happy
with the way things ended
in Wellesley. Leaving
Wellesley wasn’t my choice,
so this makes it a little bit
easier, getting back into
Wellesley ABC Festival
(Observer October 4, 2008)
newfound fear of gravity.
In fact, if you have ever wondered
why bowhunters seem so happy at
the coffee shop after a hunt, it is because
they are back on solid ground.
And they got there of their own free
will.
Most of us try to place our tree
stands at least 14 feet above the
ground – higher, if the ground is softer.
That doesn’t sound like a lot until
you are up there, sitting on a chair no
larger than a phone book with your
big bulky boots confined to a platform
that is hardly the size of a patio
slab. Then, just to make things interesting,
the wind picks up – it always
picks up – and starts rocking the tree
you are in.
Okay, maybe rocking is too gentle a
word. Last night I was up in my tree
stand and it felt like King Kong had
decided to play a little game of shake
the hunter out of the tree. At times
Fall Fair
(Observer September 13, 2008)
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like this, even being strapped in by
a safety harness doesn’t really make
you feel much better. It just assures
you that when you finally fall out you
will get a wedgie of biblical proportions.
There comes a time, especially when
the wind is really howling, when I
wonder what I’m doing up in a tree
that is swaying like an evangelical
choir. After all, even if a deer did
come along and stand perfectly still
beneath me, I’m no good with moving
targets.
I once hunted with a fellow who
made several homemade treestands
– each some 30 to 40 feet up. The
best part was his choice of trees. He
seemed to like those on the verge of
death, and, in hindsight, I guess that
was appropriate.
The first time he took me to the
stand he had designated for me, I
looked around for the hidden cam-
Lobsinger: Not idle long when Rocks came calling
[coaching].”
Despite being fired, Lobsinger
said he has only
good wishes for the players
and general manager Dave
Litt.
“There are 23 kids out
there that I would do anything
for. I get fired and I’m
watching on the Internet to
see how they do the following
weekend … I don’t have
any ill will [for] Dave or
any player on that hockey
team.”
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eras. I figured Allen Funt would be
stepping out from behind a rock at
any moment.
“Only a complete idiot would go up
there,” I protested.
“Okay, but a nice buck comes out in
that field right there.”
My ascent to the summit is something
better handled by a movie of
the week, what with the frostbite,
precarious base camps, nose bleeds,
me getting lost, and the times when I
was hanging over bottomless chasms
by the fingertips. I did make it to the
stand, however. The last part – I kid
you not – actually required me to do
a chin up to get onto the platform.
Once there, I promptly loosened several
teeth with the ensuing chattering.
But, 15 minutes later, I shot that
buck.
When I was younger, I would have
told you it was worth it. Now I believe
it was the height of idiocy.
KEVIN LOBSINGER
Gotta have it.
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