Roger Beukema

Those of us that hunt and fish scarcely give the actual trip much thought. You launch your boat, walk out to your blind or use a public access point to get on your favorite trout stream. But put your place in Davison resident Tim Pifher shoes. The 61-year-old Pifher has more to worry about than gutting a deer if he gets one. Pifher was born with cerebral palsy, a physical disability that affects movement and posture. It is a permanent life-long condition, according to the Cerebral Palsy Alliance.

The information sign in front of Groveland Township Hall registered 53 degrees at 10:44 a.m. The date was Nov. 15, the first day of the firearms deer opener. For most hunters, this kind of weather is too warm. With little wind and leaves still on trees, deer weren’t on the move.

As opening day for firearms deer season approached, the late and famous WJR radio morning host, J.P. McCarthy was fond of referring to deer hunters as “The largest peacetime army.” Whether numbers of hunters in the woods for a Tuesday opener will be up or down remains to be determined. The last numbers mentioned by various DNR personnel were around 550,000. That’s down from 700,000 just a few years ago.