Apparently, I am not alone.

The door clatters as I push through, stepping off the front porch in a sleepy little central Maine town and straight into a heated discussion of D.C. politics. On the one hand, there's McCain. On the other, of course, there's Obama.

Leaving you to your own conclusions, this is a gun store and it's fairly easy to imagine on which side of the line the conservatives fall regarding this steamy debate. I say hello to a couple of the familiar faces in the room and scuttle off to a quiet corner like a middle schooler who hasn't done his homework, praying that nobody calls on me. Creaky floorboards mark my trail.

It seems guns are on everybody's minds these days, and not just because there's a presidential election a week away. Much closer than that, deer hunters will hit the woods in force on Saturday, when the firearms season for adult residents begins. That's about the only thing that rivals election day in these parts.

I myself am in need of a hunting rifle.

"Oh, a lot of people have been in here," Gary Hamilton told me. "You're not the first."

Hamilton owns Neilson's Sporting Goods in Farmingdale, and he said he does nearly three-quarters of his business every year in the months of September, October and November. This year, even in a weak economy at every turn, has been no different.

Sales are off by nearly 40 percent for the year, Hamilton said, but he's seen steady business for the last few weeks as deer season approached. Last Saturday was Maine's youth hunting day.

"A lot of people are looking for one gun that will do everything, but it's just not out there," Hamilton said. "Really, it's about fun. We hunt deer because it's fun.

"Number one, it has to be about safety. If you go out and get a deer, that's a bonus. It's about having fun and being safe doing it, and that's the message we've got to get across to parents."

Perhaps because our economy is so bad, more people are just like me. They've put off purchasing the hunting rifle they need -- or even any ammunition or accessories, like a new scope -- waiting for a little extra pocket money to accumulate or hoping that the market would change.

Forced into action with only a matter of hours (less than 72 by the time most of you read this) remaining until the start of the season, last-minute shoppers are flocking to the stores now.

And the stores have been busy. Hamilton sold nearly two dozen rifles in the first two days of the week.

Almost half of those were to people buying for their children.

Someone wondered how many hunters were coming in, telling their wives that they were buying for their children when, indeed, they were just adding to their own personal collection. A fair point, but one Hamilton refuted.

"A lot of them bring their kids right in," Hamilton said. "They want to see how it fits (the child). They're concerned with safety."

Me, I'm concerned with having a rifle to call my own. Like others, I tried to have a three-in-one kind of gun -- a 12-gauge shotgun that worked for birds, deer and target shooting. I've since learned it's not impossible, though it's hardly advisable.

The choices in hunting rifles are many.

"We're selling a lot of synthetics this year," Hamilton said. "They're .350, .400, .450 caliber -- bolt action, Mossbergs, guns like that."

The trend toward synthetic stocks as opposed to wooden ones is as much economical as it is practical.

"Synthetics hold up good in the rain, they hold up good in the snow -- they function well, and they're inexpensive," Hamilton said. "They're a lot cheaper than wood. Hey, money's tight this year.

"They're good guns that don't cost as much and perform better."

Ultimately, no matter what I choose, there are really only two things that are going to matter when I carry that rifle into the woods over the next few weeks.

"It's got to be safe, and it's got to be accurate," Hamilton said. "That's all that you want -- something safe and something that's going to hit the target you intend. Nothing else."

It's good to see that I'm not alone.

Travis Barrett -- 621-5648

tbarrett@centralmaine.com