Do you feel like a young bird dog squirming in anticipation with his first pheasant feather?

That’s the feeling I get right before opening day of the gun deer season, better known to hunters as the Most Important Day of the Year.

The best time of the year for bow and crossbow hunters is upon us, but if you drive through deer country or run an insurance agency during the rut, you may not be smiling.

The rut is simply the whitetail deer’s mating season. While there are actually a couple times when bucks chase does in heat, the primary rut in our area starts around Nov. 1 and continues for a week or two. There is a secondary rut in December.

The brotherhood of firefighters is legendary, and never was that bond shining stronger than in the aftermath of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks that claimed the lives of 343 New York City firefighters.

That anniversary remains a bittersweet one for all firefighters as they recall the disaster but also the heroics displayed on an epic scale.

My wife and I celebrated our 27th anniversary Sept. 19. We (she) decided to celebrate our mostly blissful, sometimes tumultuous years together (9,862 days) not by traveling to a warm beach or remote tropical paradise but by sharing her dad’s lakefront cabin (Wausau home) on Lily Lake near Pickerel.

Most wildlife experts and sportsmen agree the best way to protect a species is to make it a game animal. State biologists will analyze the species, conduct various population estimates and set hunting limits to ensure that species doesn’t drop below a certain level. Although non-game species in general are protected from hunting (such as songbirds), their numbers are not as closely monitored.

The cool snap in the air and subtle sights and sounds of fading summer mean my favorite time of year is approaching.

Chances are that if you love hunting as much as me, it’s your favorite season, too.