Most of the time I write about gun laws, current events, Guns Saving Lives stories, and occasionally, product reviews.

I rarely write about the great American past-time of hunting for a very good reason: I don’t get to do a lot of it anymore.

While some of the fondest memories I have growing up are the times that I spend hunting and fishing with my father, life intervened after college. Other priorities moved to the top of the list, and like so many “country kids,” I found myself moving to where the jobs were in larger urban areas where there weren’t a lot of practical opportunities for hunting that weren’t too costly, too distant, or both. Somehow, eighteen years slipped by since the last time I’ll placed the crosshairs on the neck of an eastern North Carolina buck in a Pitt County cut-down and put venison in the freezer.

Where did the time go?

Fortunately, the shooting sports industry is made up of very good, very friendly people. A friend of mine, Trent Marsh at Hawke Optics, saw an opportunity to mix a little business with pleasure, and so he and I and some others are taking to the field for the next few days.

We’re heading to a farm in Maryland. Believe it or not, the entire state isn’t Baltimore and over-priced DC suburbs.

We will be there until Saturday, trying out the new Endurance slug gun scopes developed by Hawke Optics, and hopefully filling a couple of coolers with venison.

As a result, I’ll be on the road much of the day today, and posting may be sporadic at Bearing Arms for the remainder of the week… unless they’ve managed to rig the oaks along the southeastern Potomac with wifi.

When we get back, we should have a really good idea of how well the Endurance bullet-drop compensation system works in field conditions instead of on a sterile range.

Stay tuned!

Update: We originally referenced the Hawke Optics DeerPASS slug gun scope. It wasn’t until I was on the road that I was informed that we’ll be used the Endurance slug gun scope instead, which enables shotgun hunting out to 200 yards. The article has been updated with the correct information.