Post by loggy on Mar 14, 2007 18:28:09 GMT -4
I posted this on another Board but thought I'd bring it over here since im mostly here. Thought maybe some here never read plus be great to post up your memorable camp hunts.
My First & Last Hunt From Camp w/Dad:
Well, it was back in 1963 & I was only 12 years old. I was just thrilled that Dad took me up to Sullivan County Doe hunting. It was just he & I on trip. I didnt go Buck huntin since Dad said I was just a tad too young for deer camp then & he wanted to break me in on a Doe after Buck Season closed.
We hunted SGL 134 in the morning. Dad put me on a stand and he just went over the ridge a piece. I was Junior Hunter but I was within yellin range for sure. About 7:30 I heard Dad's ole 760 06 bark and it scared me like heck. Dad yelled to come over & he had a nice doe. He showed me how to gut a deer. We drug back to his ole Chevy truck & Dad said he would try to drive one to me. We headed back out on the mountain.
He set me up on a stand and made a big circle to try to push some deer to me. I was watchin a lil clearing with an ole 35 Rem Pump. One of those old spiralled forend jobs. Open sights of course. My GranPap bot it for me.
It was a silent drive by Dad. About 1 hr after he left me I saw 3 Doe sneakin along edge of lil clearing coming out of thick hemlocks. Man did I ever start to get Buck..I mean Doe Fever. I put the ole buckhorn open sight on what I thought was the largest and squeezed off. I thought I saw the deer drop was wasnt sure. I was actually shaking by then. I just sat there & didnt move just as Dad told me to do after the shot. In about 10 minutes I heard Dad yell...was that you Larry that shot? I yelled back yes. Dad came out of hemlocks exactly where my deer was laying.
I will never forget that Hug & congrats from my Dad. Dad said, ok, gut it. Well, what an experience but I got the job done. We drug deer to truck & it was a hunt I will always cherish.
Sorta ironic, 24 years later in 1987 I was with Dad on his "last hunt" when he killed his last deer. Same mountain but on other side. I killed a doe in the morning this trip & Dad connected late in the day, just opposite our very first deer hunt together. I helped him drag his deer out. A drag i will never forget. Stopping at lil springs to drink, rest, talk. My Dad wasnt feeling good and didnt have the strength he used to have. Dad died that Spring just 4 months later from pancreatic cancer at a young age of 54. Same strain Michael Landon had...no hope.
Lost my best friend & huntin buddy but his "Spirit of the Hunt" is with me on every hunting & fishing trip I take. I own Dad's huntin Camp he left me. In my Camp is a pic of my Dad with a 383 lb. Bear he took on same mountain I took my first & Dad took his last deer. His bear was killed in 1963...the first year I hunted but I wasnt on that trip with Dad..lil too young like Dad said.
My Dad was a great hunter, sportsman, woodsman, taxidermist & most of all my best friend. I credit the foundation of all my hunting & fishing skills to a loving Dad who took time to teach me the things in this World that are so important.
Heres a pic of my beloved Dad & his 383 lb.Bear. Pic is hangin in my Huntin Camp:
My First & Last Hunt From Camp w/Dad:
Well, it was back in 1963 & I was only 12 years old. I was just thrilled that Dad took me up to Sullivan County Doe hunting. It was just he & I on trip. I didnt go Buck huntin since Dad said I was just a tad too young for deer camp then & he wanted to break me in on a Doe after Buck Season closed.
We hunted SGL 134 in the morning. Dad put me on a stand and he just went over the ridge a piece. I was Junior Hunter but I was within yellin range for sure. About 7:30 I heard Dad's ole 760 06 bark and it scared me like heck. Dad yelled to come over & he had a nice doe. He showed me how to gut a deer. We drug back to his ole Chevy truck & Dad said he would try to drive one to me. We headed back out on the mountain.
He set me up on a stand and made a big circle to try to push some deer to me. I was watchin a lil clearing with an ole 35 Rem Pump. One of those old spiralled forend jobs. Open sights of course. My GranPap bot it for me.
It was a silent drive by Dad. About 1 hr after he left me I saw 3 Doe sneakin along edge of lil clearing coming out of thick hemlocks. Man did I ever start to get Buck..I mean Doe Fever. I put the ole buckhorn open sight on what I thought was the largest and squeezed off. I thought I saw the deer drop was wasnt sure. I was actually shaking by then. I just sat there & didnt move just as Dad told me to do after the shot. In about 10 minutes I heard Dad yell...was that you Larry that shot? I yelled back yes. Dad came out of hemlocks exactly where my deer was laying.
I will never forget that Hug & congrats from my Dad. Dad said, ok, gut it. Well, what an experience but I got the job done. We drug deer to truck & it was a hunt I will always cherish.
Sorta ironic, 24 years later in 1987 I was with Dad on his "last hunt" when he killed his last deer. Same mountain but on other side. I killed a doe in the morning this trip & Dad connected late in the day, just opposite our very first deer hunt together. I helped him drag his deer out. A drag i will never forget. Stopping at lil springs to drink, rest, talk. My Dad wasnt feeling good and didnt have the strength he used to have. Dad died that Spring just 4 months later from pancreatic cancer at a young age of 54. Same strain Michael Landon had...no hope.
Lost my best friend & huntin buddy but his "Spirit of the Hunt" is with me on every hunting & fishing trip I take. I own Dad's huntin Camp he left me. In my Camp is a pic of my Dad with a 383 lb. Bear he took on same mountain I took my first & Dad took his last deer. His bear was killed in 1963...the first year I hunted but I wasnt on that trip with Dad..lil too young like Dad said.
My Dad was a great hunter, sportsman, woodsman, taxidermist & most of all my best friend. I credit the foundation of all my hunting & fishing skills to a loving Dad who took time to teach me the things in this World that are so important.
Heres a pic of my beloved Dad & his 383 lb.Bear. Pic is hangin in my Huntin Camp: