Every year, I think back to my past hunting experience. I started hunting at the age of 12. I didn’t come from a hunting family, but friends from school took me hunting and been hooked ever since.
While I was in junior high had a friend who came from a family of trappers, so I caught the trapping bug. I saved up my lunch money to buy my first set of traps. One day another friend and I were walking a trap during an ice storm. I slipped on the ice and landed on a trap. I jump up yelling, trying to get the trap off my behind. My friend was laughing to hard too help. The next day he fell on the same trap and caught his arm. Well, I didn’t help him. I was laughing just like he did to me. The next season I learned about this trap called the Conibear, and bought a few for taken muskrat. On my first trip out I didn’t mark the traps in the water. That night it rained. Next day the water was muddy and had this bright idea to stick my hands in the water to feel for the trap chain. That was a big mistake. I was caught by one of the traps by the wrist and my dad heard me yell while he was sitting in the car waiting for me.
While I was in the ninth grade my parents gave me an H&R single shot 20 gauge. That gun was stolen from our van right after a hunting trip a few years ago. I really miss that shotgun. During my tenth grade year I started hunting with an old .22 bolt action rifle my dad gave me. Once I shot a squirrel with it at 40 yards on a full run.
I had a dog named Duke who was part beagle and basset hound. He could tree a squirrel and then retrieved it. He only lived for one year and a half before he died of Parvo.
After finishing high school I kept on hunting, mostly going out alone. I lost contact with almost all my old hunting buddies from high school. But I did run into an old high school friend named Ray. We started hunting together again, and, boy what an experience that was. One night we were out camping and this buck came up to his side of the tent during the night. I said, “Ray look!” He raised his head up and started screaming, then ran out of the tent. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t stand up. I was I had a video camera with me. Another time we went to the Dolly Sodd wilderness area to do some bear hunting. He climbed a tree full of rotten limbs. I warned him about it but he climbed it anyway. He stepped on a limb and it broke. He fell, but one of his feet was caught in the fork of the tree. He was hanging upside down just out of reach of the ground. In the mean time I was watching this bear in front of us. I was trying hard not to laugh for fear of scaring off the bear.
During one fire season I worked in Montana as a contracted wild land firefighter. After the season a friend of my family had this dog, a Lab/Great Dane mix pup that was in bad shape. My friend lost his home and had no way to take care of the dog, so we brought the pup back with us to West Virginia. We didn’t think the pup was going to live long at first, but he surprised us. . I trained for hunting the best I could. His name is Jake, and he loves to go hunting. I learned never drag out the hunting gear in front of him the night before a hunting trip. Once, I did, and he jumps in the bed and barked almost all night. My wife yelled takes him hunting now! This was 3am, but we left and were at the Greenbottom WMA by 4am. I really love the outdoors. It’s like another home to me. I’d never will give it up for anything
While I was in junior high had a friend who came from a family of trappers, so I caught the trapping bug. I saved up my lunch money to buy my first set of traps. One day another friend and I were walking a trap during an ice storm. I slipped on the ice and landed on a trap. I jump up yelling, trying to get the trap off my behind. My friend was laughing to hard too help. The next day he fell on the same trap and caught his arm. Well, I didn’t help him. I was laughing just like he did to me. The next season I learned about this trap called the Conibear, and bought a few for taken muskrat. On my first trip out I didn’t mark the traps in the water. That night it rained. Next day the water was muddy and had this bright idea to stick my hands in the water to feel for the trap chain. That was a big mistake. I was caught by one of the traps by the wrist and my dad heard me yell while he was sitting in the car waiting for me.
While I was in the ninth grade my parents gave me an H&R single shot 20 gauge. That gun was stolen from our van right after a hunting trip a few years ago. I really miss that shotgun. During my tenth grade year I started hunting with an old .22 bolt action rifle my dad gave me. Once I shot a squirrel with it at 40 yards on a full run.
I had a dog named Duke who was part beagle and basset hound. He could tree a squirrel and then retrieved it. He only lived for one year and a half before he died of Parvo.
After finishing high school I kept on hunting, mostly going out alone. I lost contact with almost all my old hunting buddies from high school. But I did run into an old high school friend named Ray. We started hunting together again, and, boy what an experience that was. One night we were out camping and this buck came up to his side of the tent during the night. I said, “Ray look!” He raised his head up and started screaming, then ran out of the tent. I was laughing so hard I couldn’t stand up. I was I had a video camera with me. Another time we went to the Dolly Sodd wilderness area to do some bear hunting. He climbed a tree full of rotten limbs. I warned him about it but he climbed it anyway. He stepped on a limb and it broke. He fell, but one of his feet was caught in the fork of the tree. He was hanging upside down just out of reach of the ground. In the mean time I was watching this bear in front of us. I was trying hard not to laugh for fear of scaring off the bear.
During one fire season I worked in Montana as a contracted wild land firefighter. After the season a friend of my family had this dog, a Lab/Great Dane mix pup that was in bad shape. My friend lost his home and had no way to take care of the dog, so we brought the pup back with us to West Virginia. We didn’t think the pup was going to live long at first, but he surprised us. . I trained for hunting the best I could. His name is Jake, and he loves to go hunting. I learned never drag out the hunting gear in front of him the night before a hunting trip. Once, I did, and he jumps in the bed and barked almost all night. My wife yelled takes him hunting now! This was 3am, but we left and were at the Greenbottom WMA by 4am. I really love the outdoors. It’s like another home to me. I’d never will give it up for anything
I hope you and Jake are still hunting I have found that the best dogs I have had are mutts or mixed. I have been reading your post and have enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteSorry for the delay. Jake pass away in July of 2015
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