My hunting season will get a bump start tomorrow

I'm scheduled for cataract surgery on my shooting eye tomorrow morning. Bout time.

Yes, yes, the river is down and the delta should open for the main duck season!!!! WOOHOO! I'm afraid Rockport is still in shambles, but that's about 40 miles south of the delta.

The doc didn't take long once he got going on it. He said it's one of the worst he's done in a while and that I was legally blind in that eye. My other eye is more clear from cataract, but it's always been my weak eye. When I was 8 years old I realized this and sat out in the yard with my Benjamin .22 pellet rifle and taught myself to shoot left handed. Been shooting lefty ever since. So, they did the left eye first, of course. I'm using my right eye now, expanded text on the computer 4x and use my magnifying glass. Been doing it that way for a while as my left eye was...well, blind. He says it might be fuzzy for a few days after they take the patch off in the morning because of swelling because the cataract was so bad.

There was an anesthetist there, but I didn't get a general. He was just there to monitor things. They used about a half gallon of eye drops, deadened it, put this bag looking thing over my face, a cup made to keep my eye open, and went at it with a vacuum cleaner. LOL They literally suck out the bad cataract juice, then insert the lens. I wouldn't call it painful, just sort of uncomfortable. Cool light show while they were probing around with the needle. They told me not to lift anything heavy, over 15 lbs. They told me just to sit in front of the TV or computer for a day or two, so that's what I'm doing. I go in tomorrow morning to get the patch off. Other eye is scheduled for mid November.

But, PRAISE GOD, I hope to be back in the field/marsh SOON enjoying the all the wonderful sights of God's great creation!!!!!! I never realized how horrible being kept from the field would be. I'll also be able to shoot on my range, again. I just re-did my 100 yard rifle range and couldn't see well enough to try it out.

To answer the timeline of the surgery, he took no more than 15 minutes at most once he got started on it, probably more like 10. The pre-op preparation took at least an hour, though, and waiting on him to get done with whomever he was doing. It was sort of a production line deal, old farts lined up in the waiting areas.

Dam, that would pretty much ruin my duck/goose season as I have my second surgery in a month, doing the other eye. I'll ask, though, thanks. I can still deer and hog hunt, just use the AR or the SKS. I'd think, though, the main problem would be repeated heavy recoil of a shotgun shooting birds. Mmm......

I got the patch off, today. I'm still a bit blurry. Doc told me I would be because of the swelling, which kinda hurts, can tell I have the swelling. But, I got out on my pistol range and I could actually SEE my 6" gong and I could SEE the front sight on my Ruger SR22 and, so, I could hit. LOL Amazing. I could not even come close to that two days ago, just QUIT shooting. Actually, for the last 6 months I've considered pistol shooting a waste of ammo and it only got worse. I even broke out my aperture sighted .22 caliber M1 Carbine and could hit my 2" steel target from 40 yards from sitting, though I wasn't as good as I have been in the past. That target was just a little fuzzy, but I COULD see it and the front sight of the rifle. MAJOR improvement that should only get better.

So, I asked the doc about duck and goose hunting. I can shoot my Winchester 1400 (gas operated 12 gauge) on ducks, really tames the recoil, but I shoot the 10 on geese and you just have to roll with it. Doc said give it a week and I'm good to go with the shotguns. I can live with that as I usually don't book a goose hunt until they get down here good in early/mid January. I haven't even seen the first migrating goose, yet, but it shouldn't be long.

I'm not really worried about the ducks 'cause that old Winchester is a powder puff with heavy loads, the gas operation. But, that 10 gauge will rock ya. It'll likely be at least a month after my second surgery before we book a hunt, though.