remembering

[webbspinner]

I can tell you where I was to the minute this day 30 years ago.   It was my first hunting season and I was 10.  So many memories and traditions.   The smell of wet sage in the fall.......
I can only hope that there are some young hearts out there that are experiencing the same that I did.  Bless my Dad for all that he gave to me.   People talk of tradition.  I know that I have lived it.  I have come to hate change and time. 

How would I have known 30 years ago that I was building a foundation of who and what I am today, and that what I was living would be etched in stone in my memory.  Simply amazing.

Great post..... know what you mean. 

   36 years for me and still wait all year for it.  Hoping to get back to my home side of the state and chase muleys again.  And in the last 10 years have added elk hunting to the tradition, my son had his 10th thru 12th birthday parties at elk camp until Mama got tired of that.     When I lose the anticipation and excitement, or more likely be physically unable, I will stop.   A bad day hunting is still better than a good day at work.  God Bless

[WARHORSE]

well i know for some of you folks it was before cameras! but lets see some pics of those big smiles and first deer! trying to find a pic of mine my smile was a lot bigger then the rack but one i will never forget! at 11 years old that 8 inch 2 point muley might as well have been a 200 inch giant! thank you dad and gpa for taking me hunting!

[highmuley]

23 for me. Only missed one year (huntin partner was extremely ill, thought I would support him instead of goin with out him). Hunted the same area all 23. People always ask me why I do. I don't need to explain it to anyone. If I score or not is not important. Just goin and remembering all the time my grandfather (partner) and I spent chasing animals is good enough for me.....plus I've chased some BIG bucks in this area!

[Ironhead]

I was 9 the first time I got to carry a gun in the field. I killed a  drake Green Winged Teal with a 28 gauge Remington with my first shot. I was standing next to my Dad, with a cyclone of Ducks pouring down on us in the middle of a corn field, off of 3NW and Adams road in Quincy. Something I will never forget. That was 35 years ago, and I can smell the gunpowder, wet corn and sage as I write this.

[TheFewTheProud]

13 years ago today I shot my first deer. Was just talking to my dad about it.

[marty]

My first buck was 23 years ago I was 12! My patient dad watched me shoot a halve a box of shells at my buck and he never fired a shot. Finally I knocked him down poor dad looked like he was going to pass out! Well a couple weekends ago he came up from eastern Oregon to camp and hang out with me and he got to see me take a buck with one shot from my muzzleloader he still says none of them could be any better than that fork horn 23 years ago and yep hes right! Thanks Dad for taking the time to teach me the greatest sport in the world.

[Hunting Cowboy]

I feel sort of empty this morning, like something is missing. This is the first hunt I've sat out for many years, guess I've made the circle. I can still remember every detail of my first solo hunt 65 years ago, I was 11 years old.  The fresh smell of the fir trees, the warm sun breaking through the fog patches, the fresh track in the trail and there he was standing there waiting for me to shoot.  The pounding heart, the open sight picture of the 32 special jumping around, trying to hold steady on his lung, then the shot and he run 50 feet before dropping.
Iv'e had many many adventures since with Bone and the other boys, but now I will just wait for you guys storys.  My old legs won't get me out past the pumpkin patch any more.  It's the hunt that I always enjoyed more than killing something.  Have fun out there.

Great post Bone. And I can empathize with Idaboomer. My dad is unable to get out there but the memories that we've made over the past 40 years are worth remembering and reliving. And important for the grand kids to hear.

[boneaddict]

They even ask to hear them which is the cool part.

[akashasdaddy]

This is my first year. I am 28 years old been on unemployment for as long as they will let you my benefits are about to run out, I have a college education and still can't find work. I am a single father and have to find a way to feed my daughter. I had a buddy that said he was going to show me the ropes but he had to back out due to personal issues, so I am trying to learn on the fly. So far I have not been lucky with the harvest but the memories and lessons learned will stay with me forever. This will be a hunter for the rest of my life. If I had only known what I have been missing all these years.

[runamuk]

This is my first year. I am 28 years old been on unemployment for as long as they will let you my benefits are about to run out, I have a college education and still can't find work. I am a single father and have to find a way to feed my daughter. I had a buddy that said he was going to show me the ropes but he had to back out due to personal issues, so I am trying to learn on the fly. So far I have not been lucky with the harvest but the memories and lessons learned will stay with me forever. This will be a hunter for the rest of my life. If I had only known what I have been missing all these years.

well you have a jump start on me I didn't discover it until I turned 40...this is my 3rd season but I am only gonna hunt deer, maybe this will be my year 

I must say I do envy those who had someone introduce them to this and have those memories ...I have a scant few fishing memories.....but mostly find I cant remember much....

[hambone]

well for me its been over 40 years my older brother started me hunting didnt get a buck until i was twenty something didnt care all the times ive spent with my brothers has been some of best times in my life like my older brother i started my younger brother hunting when i got out of the navy opening day still gets to me the day it doesnt is when i stop hunting i am 56 and still going strong was out there today didnt get anything but still had a great day

[backyard bucks]

great post!!!!!!!!!!