Skunked

When I use the word “skunked,” I am not referring to an incident of being sprayed by a skunk, although Donna and I endured an incident this past winter when her dog, Sage, was sprayed by a skunk in the middle of the night. Donna knew what to do, mixing a solution of Dawn dishwashing liquid with some other cleansers to get rid of the odor. It was not a pleasant night.

Normally when I refer to being skunked, it means that I have failed to tag a turkey during a season or have failed to catch a trout during an outing. This happens more frequently than I’d like with turkey hunting.

For instance, la...