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PACE 2B THE BANKS COUNTY NEWS THURSDAY, OCTOBER 23, 2008 OUTDOORS WITH SKIPPER AMERICA’S GAME Limit already met by young hunter H e is one of the nic est young fellows I know. I used to hunt with Alex Mikle when he was seven, down near Lexington, Ga. His dad, Keith, grandfather Joe, all of Monroe, and I enjoyed hunting together for a couple of years, before they sold the leased land we were on. This past Saturday, on the opening morning of gun sea son, Alex, now 11, had a great morning. Sitting with his dad in a tree stand on a friend’s property in Barrow County, Alex was ready with his 243. Daylight was just break ing, when dad pointed with his fingers to his eyes, and then pointed to a figure some 10 yards away. It was a three pointer. Alex raised his rifle, but the deer was looking at them. The gun became heavy, as he tried not to move, and Alex was relieved when finally the deer looked away. He could lower li skipper smith it for a minute as it walked around a tree. Raising up the gun once more he squeezed the trigger, and his first buck of the morning was on the ground. They stayed in their stand to see what the rest of the morning would bring. They then saw three does, then two more does and three behind them. Sounds like there were deer everywhere. Grandpa Joe — Alex calls him PaPa — was hunting nearby in another stand. A gunshot rang out nearby, and they saw two bucks com ing towards them. At first they were running and then began walking. They sized them up and decided that the second buck was the biggest. The bucks went behind a STEADY AIM Young Alex Mikle shows what his steady aim brought on opening day. thicket and then came out. That was when Alex fired again, and took this deer in the neck. It was an eight pointer. High fives between dad and son were the order of the day. Knowing Papa was still in his stand they called him on the phone, and told him they would just stay put to give him a chance to bag a deer. Papa replied, “Go on and get your deer.” When he arrived on the scene, there were more high “fives” between Papa and his grandson. Asking Papa what he had at his stand. Papa said “only two mules.” A quick trip to Wal- Mart was taken for a camera to record this great hunt. The deer were loaded in the back of the truck for the trip to the processor. That nice eight pointer is going on the wall, and I imag ine it will be in Alex’s room. The three pointer will have an “European mount.” “Got my limit of bucks for the whole season” Alex told Papa. Well, it’s does only for Alex, but maybe he can be a guide for his dad and grandpa. Congratulations Alex, for a great hunt and great shooting. Let me know about your outdoors story. Skipper Smith is an outdoors columnist for The Banks County News. His col umn appears weekly. Let him know about your outdoors or hunting adventures at 706-677-1520. The Evolution of Baseball — Part III I n my Evolution of Baseball series, Part One examined the size of ballplayers over the past one hundred years by compar ing the starting rosters of the Braves from 2008, 1958 and 1908. Part Two examined the size of ballparks since 1908. Here, Part Three examines other aspects of the game and how it has affected the ballplayers. I think you’ll be surprised about all the ma jor changes over the years to a game we all think of as very traditional. The distance teams travel has changed greatly over the past 50 years. Base ball used to be an Eastern-Midwestern sport. That all changed in the mid 1950s when the Dodgers and Giants moved out of New York and into California. Rapidly, other franchises moved west to Seattle, the Bay area, Los Angeles, Arizona, Texas and Colorado. The following decade saw teams moving into the south. Several factors led to this migration, the greatest being the commercial airline industry which made coast-to-coast travel much faster. It was possible to travel in less time, after the rise of the airlines, from Los Angeles to New York via air, than it was to travel via train (the usual method of team travel) from Chicago to New York. Although the time barrier was broken, what did not change was the time difference from coast-to-coast. That differ ence is four hours, and the adjustment to the time change creates a terrible strain on the body. Before west-coast play, the greatest time difference was one hour: from Eastern to Central time. Night baseball, which has all but dominat ed the game since the early 1960s, has also placed an added strain on the body. Sleep pat terns are difficult to establish in many people, and going from time zone to time zone play ing night ballgames has got to be tough. Many players have grown smarter about their health, while others continue to abuse their bodies via the Mickey Mantle model or steroid use. The relatively new field of sports medicine caters to professional athletes and promotes conditions for longer and healthier careers. Torn ligaments of the 1950s meant a sure end to a player’s career. Not so anymore. If players avoid drugs and excessive use of alcohol, their natural health will probably remain satisfactory well into their 40s. Much more money equals players less willing to play past their prime, either by choice or natural decline. Directly responsible for this is the Free Agency rule, which, thanks to Curt Flood and Marvin Miller, led ballplayers out of indentured servitude and into the free capi talistic market. Players now earn a minimum salary as a rookie — $327,000 per year, give or take a few thous — and the sky is the limit for super stars who earn up to $12-14 million a year. Frankly, if I earned $12 million for just one year, I'd retire and enjoy life living off investments. (A 4% return per annum on $12 million is $480,000.1 could do OK on $480,000.) In the early years of the sport, ballplay ers did not wear gloves or helmets. Catchers wouldn’t be caught dead with facial protec tion (like the goal tender in hockey of years gone by). Slowly, equipment began to evolve and specialty equipment — the first base ments mitt, for example — followed. One now finds special sunglasses, batting gloves, helmets, ankle protectors, chest pro tectors, teeth guards, “hockey-style” catcher’s face masks, and a plethora of other hardware that one can suit up with. I watched in fascination, once, as a strike out victim shed all his gear on the way back to the dugout. First his ankle guard, then his elbow pads, then his extra-shield helmet, then his batting gloves. This operation took about a minute and two batboys to recover the trail of debris left behind. However, the result is positive: players are much more likely to survive a beaning or foul tip. See Baseball on page 3B john w. rieken DNR accepts Youth Deer Hunt forms The Georgia Department of Natural Resources announces that applications will now be taken for the annual Banks County Youth Deer Hunt to be held at the Windmill Farm location. Applicants should be of hunting age and not over 16 years of age, and must be ac companied by an adult. Adults must be at least 18 years old. All participants, youth and adults, must possess a Hunter Education Certificate before application will be accepted. All other eligibility require ments and hunt rules are listed on the application. Applications can be picked up at the Banks County Ex tension Office, Shuler’s Great Outdoors - Commerce loca tion, and the Commerce Wal- Mart store. Applicants will be entered in a drawing for a chance to participate in the hunt that will be held Nov. 28 and 29. All applications must be completed, signed and submit ted to the Banks County Exten sion Office located at 413 Evans Street in Homer no later then 4:30 p.m., Nov. 4. The phone number is 706-677-6230. Applicants who are drawn for the hunt will be required to attend a safety and orientation meeting to be held on Nov. 9 at 12 p.m. Preview continued from page IB “Our defense will have to be prepared for different things,” Armstrong said. “Fan nin County is going to be very physical up front.” The Rebels enter this week’s game with only one setback on their resume. Fannin County lost a one-sided contest to Jef ferson earlier in the season. Armstrong said his team is healthy overall other than the usual bumps and bruises play ers have at this point in the season. “We should be ready to go,” he said. Ranked Highest in Customer Satisfaction by J.D. Power and Associates ^ , S -V°MER N x ^ 6 According to a study by J.D. 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