Outdoor humor and who’s laughing

By Otha Barham / outdoors editor

August 07, 2008 10:15 pm

— Serious pursuit of the outdoor sports brings rejuvenation to body, mind and spirit. Yet, as with almost all other human endeavors, there is a humorous slant in most sporting undertakings. Appreciating this funny side of our adventures afield rounds out the outdoor pleasures.
Some of the funniest things are those which are funny only to the observers, the instigator or victim often seeing no humor at all in the occurrence.
Every rod and reel owner has had something like this happen. He or she eases up to a quiet pool in hopes of making a perfect first cast to undisturbed water and fooling a big fish into taking a favorite plug. The angler, who has been thinking about this spot for a month, analyzes the fishy surroundings and sees a big fish swirl. The swirl is a long cast away.
Momentarily transfixed and brimming with anticipation, the nervous fisher puts a little extra into the cast and the plug flies forward ten feet, jerks to a halt and splashes to the water at the angler?s feet. Even before looking at the reel the angler knows what has happened; backlash!

Who laughs?

Now in the backlash we have a funny occurrence, but it is the perfect example of one that is not funny to the victim, in this case the anxious fisher who tried too hard to make the perfect cast. In fact anglers who suffer backlashes have been know to utter loud words like ‘Shucks’ and ‘Heck’ and even lengthy proclamations essentially expressing wishes that he or she had not suffered the misfortune, and in some cases even offering disparaging words that belittle the reel manufacturer, the fish and even fishing in general.
But to every nearby living being, including even the closest of friends, the backlash on such a keenly anticipated cast calls for laughter, some ribbing or at the very least a superior grin that hides internal mirth.
What to me was a very funny fishing predicament happened on a Texas lake to a fishing partner who saw little humor about it at the time. When he stood to make a cast, he had put a fishing plug on his boat seat instead of in his tackle box where it should have gone to keep it away from trouble.
When he forgot about the lure and sat down on it, both sets of treble hooks grabbed him. The embedded hooks were centrally located at a most inconvenient place; where the inner pants leg seams meet the torso seams, if you can visualize that location. Another way to pinpoint (excuse me) the location of the hooks is to...well, you know where they would be if you tried to sit squarely on them and your aim was precise.
My friend was not hurt, though very worried about serious and permanent injury as I extracted the hooks one by one with needle nose pliers. This was a difficult task, given the spread eagle position he had to assume and my convulsive laughing affecting my accuracy with the pliers. We had to ignore what nearby boaters must have been wondering that I was doing with my hands in the vicinity of the lodged plug. I could not see them anyway through the tears of hilarity in my eyes.

Night adventure

A couple of guys I know decided to take up varmint calling in coyote country. They bought headlights and powerful gun shells and stationed themselves in an old deer stand built years earlier and nailed high up on the side of an oak tree. They were far down in the swamp in the stand when it reached pitch dark that first night. Owls and coyotes were calling nearby, which added to their excitement and apprehension.
Their calling device was one that when blown sounds like a rabbit being torn apart by some gluttonous predator, frightening squeals and screams that can intensify an already tense situation.
After a few calls the nervous pair heard shuffling sounds in the darkness and a nudge on an elbow was the signal and both lights were turned on. There in the dark night was not one but several pair of gleaming yellow eyes, as an entire pack of coyotes had arrived.
Instantly one or both of the men fired into the night whereupon the weathered deer stand pulled loose from the tree and collapsed, crashing loudly to the ground. Guns, headlights, splintered lumber and two very surprised hunters landed noisily in a heap at the base of the tree.
Thankfully there were no serious injuries except for the injured pride of my two friends. It was never determined who was scared the most by the incident, the coyotes or the hunters. Those who heard their story were overcome with laughter but it was a long time before the adventurous pair could enjoy the humor. Funny things happen in the outdoors. You can often tell who goofed by noting the one who is not laughing.