Tips for sportsmen on how to hit Valentine’s Day home runs

February 13, 2024

Jim Matthews

Outdoor News Service

            Sportsmen love Valentine’s Day. Most of us are in committed, long-term relationships, and we have creative and unique ways to show our love for the women we hold dear.

            I called a bunch of my friends to see what they had done for wives and girlfriends on this special day, and it proved that outdoorsmen are a dedicated and romantic group.

            For example, one friend picked up a new Labrador puppy and brought it home to his wife. He promised he’d train the dog for hunting and not let it sleep on the bed like the other two old Labs in their house. Apparently the old dogs frequently force his wife to go sleep in the guest room because of her allergies to dogs and the lack of room on the bed. But there is nothing cuter than a Labrador puppy with a bright red collar, and he said she was speechless over the present.

            Another friend took his wife on a snow goose hunt in North Dakota last year on Valentine’s Day. He’d had a long hunting season, gone much of the time from the Sept. 1 dove opener through the end of quail season in Arizona early in February. His wife had to work and take care of their three young children, so she didn’t get to go with him at all during the regular season. He arranged for her parents to watch the kids for four days and promised his wife a surprise vacation. Like my other friend, he said his wife was speechless when he told her where they were going while waiting in a blizzard in Denver to catch the connector flight to Bismark. In fact, she was so speechless she didn’t speak to him during the whole trip or the week after. “I did good,” he said. “We whacked the geese -- or at least I did. She caught a cold or something and stayed in the room the whole time sniffling.”

            I received a whole list of great presents to give to wives and girlfriends (you might want to cut this out and save it): Seasonally appropriate were a new turkey hunting vest with a drop down padded seat, a new fly rod and reel combo for the trout opener in the Sierra, big swimbaits for striper fishing while trout are still being planted, and -- if you really want to spurge -- a golden lever-drag saltwater reel for a long-range tuna trip out of San Diego. What women’s doesn’t like gold. In fact, a couples’ tuna trip and new reel would be an awesome Valentine’s Day gift.

            You do have to be careful. I have a buddy who bought his wife a whole new set of waterproof waterfowl hunting clothes, blowing all their discretionary income for two months. But he mistakenly bought it in his size instead of hers. Since it was at the end of the season and on sale, he couldn’t return it. Apparently she was devastated.

            Another friend always goes out during his work lunch on Valentine’s Day and picks his wife a bouquet of early-season wildflowers. It’s always a big hit with his misses – well, except for the one year he had mistakenly added some poison oak blossoms to the mix. Her face was a ghastly, oozing collection of itching sores for over a week. Wait, that was his previous wife -- not that it matters. It shows his sensitive side.

            One friend is a big fan of Hank Shaw (the famous wild game cooking author) and fancies himself a bit of a chef. He told about the time he made his wife a wonderful dinner at home, complete with the good dinnerware and romantic country music. It featured elk backstrap steaks from his Colorado hunt and all the trimmings, including mushrooms he’d collected in his own back yard. As he told the story, it was obvious his memory was coming into sharper focus.

            “But I don’t know what happened that night. We both became violently sick right after dinner and ended up in the emergency room puking our guts out. But man was dinner good,” he said.

            My wife came in and started reading this column over my shoulder as I was wrapping it up. She said something about the Valentine’s Day we spent on a rockfish boat 15 years ago during rough weather when she was seasick the whole time. I remember that trip. I caught a big ling cod. It was one of our best Valentine’s Days ever.

            She shook her head and grumbled, “Committed, long-term relationship -- I should be committed for putting up with you for so long.”

            For some reason she’s never liked Valentine’s Day.

            END

Jim Matthews is a syndicated Southern California-based outdoor reporter and columnist. He can be reached via e-mail at odwriter@verizon.net or by phone at 909-887-3444.