Hunting Traditions
Just wondering since I don't really know anyone here, what are some of your hunting traditions? Or if no traditions, maybe your favorite memory?
As a child, my fondest memories are of hunting with my dad and brother. Every year, the night before opening day we would all spend the night as a family and Dad would make sure all the rifles were clean, we would prepare our clothes for the big day and watch a movie. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but as an adult now, it makes me realize how much I love my family and miss the trivial little things that we did as a family.
In the mornings, I remember laying in bed, and waking to the smell of coffee brewing. Dad would always come in and wake me up last, because as his little girl he was very over protective and worried that I didn't have proper nutrition, get enough sleep and he knew....... and still does, that I don't do mornings lol. We always went to one of the local restaurants for breakfast with all the guy's, and I remember to this day how angry Dad would get when the guys would cuss in front of us. One year it almost turned into a fist fight, and that's when we started to hunt alone instead. I didn't mind, I always liked to just be with my Dad and brother.
My first deer kill was very traumatic, and I swore I would never go hunting again. I didn't really know what you did with the deer once you shot it, and Dad made me gut the deer by myself. That made me cry more than when it hit me that I killed an animal. I still have, and use the same knife that I used for my first deer. I will never forget the gross times I have had with it lol. Dad did try to tell me I had to drink the deer's blood to pay respect, but after much protest, he laughed and put away his thermos cup........ thank God!
I will always remember the smell of that crisp morning air, the laughs and the first taste of beer at camp. I still think it is awful, but like everything else Dad did, there was a lesson behind it and lessons that I remember and adhere to to this day. So, what say ya'll? I would love to hear your stories. Sorry if I bored you with my post, just like to share memories with friends
Tomi
As a child, my fondest memories are of hunting with my dad and brother. Every year, the night before opening day we would all spend the night as a family and Dad would make sure all the rifles were clean, we would prepare our clothes for the big day and watch a movie. It doesn't seem like a big deal, but as an adult now, it makes me realize how much I love my family and miss the trivial little things that we did as a family.
In the mornings, I remember laying in bed, and waking to the smell of coffee brewing. Dad would always come in and wake me up last, because as his little girl he was very over protective and worried that I didn't have proper nutrition, get enough sleep and he knew....... and still does, that I don't do mornings lol. We always went to one of the local restaurants for breakfast with all the guy's, and I remember to this day how angry Dad would get when the guys would cuss in front of us. One year it almost turned into a fist fight, and that's when we started to hunt alone instead. I didn't mind, I always liked to just be with my Dad and brother.
My first deer kill was very traumatic, and I swore I would never go hunting again. I didn't really know what you did with the deer once you shot it, and Dad made me gut the deer by myself. That made me cry more than when it hit me that I killed an animal. I still have, and use the same knife that I used for my first deer. I will never forget the gross times I have had with it lol. Dad did try to tell me I had to drink the deer's blood to pay respect, but after much protest, he laughed and put away his thermos cup........ thank God!
I will always remember the smell of that crisp morning air, the laughs and the first taste of beer at camp. I still think it is awful, but like everything else Dad did, there was a lesson behind it and lessons that I remember and adhere to to this day. So, what say ya'll? I would love to hear your stories. Sorry if I bored you with my post, just like to share memories with friends
Tomi
"Marriage is a hunting permit that allows you only one dear at a time"
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Most of our hunting time together was when I was adult age when I regained interest. In addition to continuing discussion of our daily adventures at night, we had a mutual propensity for insomnia the night before opening day.
I too experience an emotional reaction to killing a majestic creature. When I switched from rifle season to muzzle loader, I began channeling that energy into retrieving the meat before the warmer air can take its toll on it.
Here's my daughter carrying on the family traditions
Beautiful....... thank you
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It is....... to me at least, a spiritual moment between human and animal when I kill it. I still say a prayer for it, and we consume every bit of meat we can. Nothing is wasted out of respect for the animals.
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Here is a picture of my daughter with her first deer (I think she was 14). She took that deer right behind our barn in one of our fields. Every one of my friends came over to see her deer and congratulate her. Dan Johnson asked to use this picture in one of his blogs here for Gun and Ammo as an example of a well trained young hunter and my daughter was so proud she sent the link to everyone she knew. Those we great days! Thanks for helping me dig up those GREAT memories.
So sweet, thanks for sharing Wambli
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But, the stars finally aligned for him, and he shot a big ten point on Thanksgiving Day, one shot, facing him, at over a hundred yards. It was a perfect shot, a hard one, and he stayed cool. He knew he had performed very well, and that we were very proud of him. There were a lot of stories within this story, about cooking breakfast over a campfire, half freezing at night, etc., but I hit the main points. All of our deer were killed with one shot, and we made a big deal out of that, for the boys. Either of them, now, would be ashamed of having to shoot more than once. It was a great year for everyone.
Fast forward to my kids...I've taken them hunting since they could walk, but as they both grew older, hunting isn't their thing.
My son is an avid fur trapper and our tradition is getting out on opening day and setting as many traps as possible. This interferes a bit with hunting season, but I'll never pass up the opportunity to spend a fews days with him, doing what he really loves.
My daughter really loves to fish. We don't really have a "tradition" but in addition to local fishing, we will travel together to fish. Salmon on the Washington coast, steelhead in Southern Idaho, and last year we spent a week on the Texas coast just to fish. How many teenage girls bug their dads to go fishing? It is awesome...
Ayn Rand
That's a nice photo.
A nice Gaff Top. Did she catch that in Palacious? Or is that a fresh water catfish? I can't see the Dorsal from that angle.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Yes, it was caught at Jenson Point, just outside Palacios. Which reminds me, I'll be in Palacios August 3-7. We should grab a bite and BS awhile.
Ayn Rand
If I'm still in country then I'd be happy to. Just give me a call or a PM here.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
You're not boring me. To me it's what it's all about. I can remember many a morning smelling bacon cooking in a cast iron skillet, smelling coffee, and trying to get out of a warm bed into the 30 degree temps. My oldest daughter is the only one of my 3 girls to kill a deer and she cried, LOL! She killed it with my .270 too. Now she's wanting to go hunting with me again after 20 some odd years. So I planted the seed and she's revisiting the past.
Threads like this are great. Like I said, it's what it is ultimately about, memories of great times. Don't ever be afraid to share things like this on here. Makes me no difference whether you're male or female, a great memory is a great memory. Keep on sharing.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
WORD. I don't hunt at all, and probably never will (never say never though!), but I enjoy reading threads like this.
Carry a 25 if it makes you feel good, but do not ever load it. If you load it, you may shoot it. If you shoot it, you may hit somebody, and if you hit somebody – and he finds out about it – he may be very angry with you. --Jeff Cooper
The oldest daughter got into deer hunting the most, the son is a shooter, and groundhog hunter, the last daughter has been meh until this year wanting to go shoot Vintage Sniper matches.
First I insisted that although the state said they could hunt, they were not going into the woods until I felt they could shoot well enough. They are not minute of pie plate at the range, they all can hit what they aim at.
Daughters first at 12. She is tall but couldnt handle a rifle well because of the weight being more out front, so I got her a 30-30. Ended up building reduced recoil loads with 125 gr Sierras. She took 5 deer in 5 years with 5 shots using that bullet and carbine.
And her last. She is grown up and the whole life thing gets in the way now.
The son I was not getting a short rifle for. I am not the smallest bear in the forest and his moms side males are all 6'4" so I was cruising gunshops and I found a Rem 700 in 25-06. Bought it, took it home and loaded up some 100 gr bullets. First 3 I shot were under 3/4" at 125 yards. I asked him if I could have the rifle back, he said no.... Anyway, he is 3 for 3 for 3 and then lost some interest. He will go out, but doesnt want to put the time in. I like these pics because .... well, use the rifle as a gauge.
This one was funny because a buck trotted right towards us and we could see him coming. It trotted within 20 yards of the stand and right over the hill. There was a bit of buck fever. After It was gone, I said "well you missed that one", then looked back where that one came from and said "but you have another one coming" #2 didnt get past him
3 years, rifle to kid. I guess he gets fed.
He dwarfs the rifle now 2 years after that.
On the first Sat of the season one year, the wife, daughter and I were out. Son had gotten his on Fri night. The wife and I had doe permits and I needed to head out of state Sunday morning. About 9a get a doe and take her into the house. Break out the table that we use in the garage and the block and tackle and generally get ready for the butchering. The wife and daughter come in for lunch, I tell them the take my stand. They go back out and BOOM, "Dad, I got one" I had made a deal with the kids, If the shoot it where they are supposed to, I will congratulate them and clean it. If they waste meat, I will complain, congratulate them, and clean it, if they gut shoot it, I will drop the knife off and be back in a hour. So I cleaned this one and drug it to the trail and took it to the house. Ok I say, time to get to work. I hang the first one and start on it, and I hear, "Dad, mom got one" I was skinning and quartering until 2 am.
I took those two on a pig hunt in TN which was pretty fun to.
My first one was a clean local kill. His first one a month later out of state took some following up due to wind at distance, & it bugged him a bit. My second two years later was another clean local kill.
So at the point he got his second the next day, I'd "seen the movie" twice, and he hadn't, & I was spotting for him through binos when he thumped his buck solidly, misinterpreted the deer's reaction for a gut shot, and thumped it again from the other side of the body as he was doing his death stagger right when I was starting to tell him it was dead on its feet. Autopsy revealed one .45-70 through the heart and another about 2 inches behind - killed twice in the space of what was probably under 8 seconds. Clean kill redemption, his first local kill in a hard area to hunt, me getting to watch the guy that got me into guns & hunting do it all at once. Really neat morning!
(His next two were 40 and 80 minutes into successive season openers. . .which I'm fine with, but it would be nice if I could get some hunting in before getting the call to come help drag the mothers out:tooth:)
"Nothing is safe from stupid." - Zee
It took all three of us to get the deer back to camp, dragging it through some really rough terrain with thick brush. We didn't have water and my uncle and I dug out a seeping hole and took turns letting it fill up and then drinking the contents. My dad wouldn't drink it, warning us that it might upset our bowels, but I voted with my uncle and drank all I could. I can still see my dad, standing off above us with his Korean War winter furry cap, half smiling and half grimacing as he watched our folly. Next day, we both had the 'green-apple splatters,' and weren't terribly interested in the hunt. We had our canteens with us, though.
Gafftops may be the slimiest fish in the ocean, but they're good eating. My friend, little brother and I got into them once near Port O'Connor. We caught 19 of them, all in the 3-6 lb. range. Made for one heck of a fish fry.
As for hunting traditions, about the closest for me was when my dad and I used to go deer hunting together ever year. It might only be a single day, or weekends at a deer lease, but it's one of the most treasured times in my youth now that I look back on it. I miss him a lot.
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
Man I'm here to tell you you're truly preaching to the Choir. I'm with you all the way. People that pass that up are missing some great action and great eats!
If you go to Port Lavaca and across the causeway to Point Comfort, you see the last part of the old causeway that Carla tore down in '61. Up until about 7 years ago you could walk out on that stup of a bridge and fish. In the Spring and Fall gaftop would feed of that point. You could fill an ice chest with nice ones there on dead shrimp or sometimes Squid.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
The really stupid part of that trip is that I hung into a jackfish after we had been catching gafftops. It only weighed 18 lbs., but my reel had 14 lb. line on it. Took me about an hour and 45 minutes to bring it in. While I was playing it, or it was playing me, my fishing buddies stopped fishing to make sure they didn't get their lines crossed with mine. No telling how many gafftops we could have caught that day.
BTW, try as I might, I could not make that jackfish edible. I marinated it overnight in some sort of soy sauce mixture, and baked it for an hour or two. I think I managed to swallow one bite before tossing it. :vomit:
Gun control laws make about as much sense as taking ex-lax to cure a cough.
If you go to Port Lavaca and across the causeway to Point Comfort, you see the last part of the old causeway that Carla tore down in '61. Up until about 7 years ago There was the last section still standing and you could walk out on that stub of a bridge and fish. In the Spring and Fall gaftop would feed off that point. You could fill an ice chest with nice ones there on dead shrimp or sometimes Squid.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
Oh man Jack Fish is right up there with Hard Head on the tasty scale! LOL! They SUCK!!! Not even good for Cat Food!
:rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao::rotflmao:
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
I have not missed an opening day since then..............and I still pick up the first fired shells on opening morning each year and sniff them. The first smell unlocks years of great memories.
Next year my only nephew ( and Godson) is getting married on opening day..............God knows why him and his fiance picked that day, but when his mum ( my youngest sister) and him told me the conversation went like this.
Sister: " We have set the date for the wedding, its the first weekend in May 2018. I know its opening weekend of the duck season, but after all these years I am sure you wont mind missing opening day once".
Me: " Congratulations, just send a live feed of the service to my mobile phone"
Then the argument started.
That was 3 months ago and the argument continues...............
No one should mess with other peoples traditions when it comes to hunting.
Some women don't understand, but your nephew should. Did you mention there were 51 other weekends in the year?
It's like if every thanksgiving everyone goes to Grandmas for Thanksgiving dinner. Then one year, Uncle Fred asks half the family to his house. That would be rude.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.
All that my friend was the beginning of your family's hunting traditions. When youall cooked the heart and liver and ate it on the first day, you were celebrating your first kill of the season. Your dad started some great traditions. You are a truly blessed man. AND you have a very good woman to share experiences with. BTW, it was a great experience being around you two at the SE shoot. I hope to bring my new girl next time. I'm thinking Debbie and Annie will hit it off good.
Son that's somebody with nothing to do with his time but keep me in trouble with mom.