Takeaways from 2020
By Nick Simonson
The ball had dropped, the calendar had turned. 2020 was officially in the rear-view mirror. As I made my way through the field-side tree rows and up the winding draws, however, the year did not seem over until I returned to the truck on the final day of the upland hunting season. In tow were a pair of rooster pheasants that held tight in the brush, with
the unseasonably warm southerly gales giving the auditory cover for my dog and I to get close enough for the final shots of the season. It was a memorable trip, and unlike most other adventures with the shotgun in hand this season, a fairly accurate outing. The setting sun signaled the offi cial completion of the previous hunting year, even if its terminus was a few days later than the end of the calendar year. Whether they were my last birds of the fall of 2020 or my fi rst birds of 2021 really didn’t matter, though. They served as a reminder on the importance of just being outside. This year, more people than in recent memory availed themselves of the outdoors. From early discussions, it’s likely that numbers from many agencies across the nation will show upticks from fi ve to 25 percent or more across all pursuits in terms of license sales.
