How does a man that was born and raised in the suburbs of Philadelphia decide to take up bow hunting at the age of 37? The journey was interesting to say the least but when I finally reached this destination I realized that I found something much more; I found I had awakened a part of me I never knew I had. A long-suppressed past of human interaction with nature emerged and my personal relationship with the natural world was forever changed.
I intend to update this blog weekly depending on my work schedule and of course, my hunting schedule. I’ll plan to guide you through my upbringing and initial introduction to the wild world around us, all the way up to the present with my current hunting trips. You’ll be privy to all of my preparations for a future adventure in the mountains of Colorado next September. I won’t sugar coat anything at all, every high and low I experience associated with hunting will be written about…including my thoughts on controversial topics. So let's get this blog started!
Havertown Pennsylvania is a wonderful place to grow up for the stereotypical suburban upbringing…plenty of parks and playgrounds to keep kids active outside. My days were filled with playing sports at school and plenty of childhood games in our neighborhood at home. I learned to love being outside and I preferred it over any indoor pursuits. The only thing that my neighborhood was really lacking was any true outdoor pursuit such as hunting and fishing. I realize now that I was extremely lucky, I had grandparents that lived in an adjoining township that had a one acre shallow pond behind their house. I absolutely loved going there; I would spend my days fishing for bluegills, bullheads, and carp. When I would tire of fishing there was always the creek that fed and drained the pond to explore…chasing frogs and snakes along the creek was always a thrill for me. I don’t think I could spend more than 15 minutes at my grandparent’s place before I would be covered in mud; Grammy’s mud room was aptly named!
Spending time at my Grandparent’s home also had some other added benefits; my Grammy was absolutely enthralled with watching deer. Quite often we would head out for a drive through Ridley Creek State Park at dusk to see the abundant deer and other wildlife that inhabited it. On most evenings we would see dozens of deer and rabbits; occasionally we would get lucky and spy a red fox hunting grasshoppers in the high grass. I loved these drives and I became quite adept at spying wildlife because of them.
As I grew older my fishing pursuits became more fine-tuned…I still loved playing around the pond but I had graduated to chasing trout in one of the local streams. I caught my first trout at age 13 and by the time I turned 16 I was an expert! I knew that creek’s pools and undercut banks like the back of my hand. Little Darby Creek was a stocked creek that would receive heavy loads of fish in the spring and it would be heavily pressured through April and May. I would continue to catch trout through the middle of the hottest summer days when most adult fisherman would tell me that I was foolish because “all the trout had already been caught “. I never did let on to them the success I had, I would just smile and tell them they were probably right but I’m going to give it a try anyway. My Grandparents fully supported my hobby (obsession) but they definitely installed some very important values that have stayed with me. When I caught my first trout and brought it home, I was required to clean the fish myself and my Grammy immediately cooked it for me. My Grandparents wanted me to fully understand that I was responsible for the life that I took and that was fine as long as I respected the animal by using it for food and not wasting its precious flesh. This lesson and value has stayed with me throughout my life and I will not take any animal that I don't intend on eating (or provide food for another).
I was also fortunate to have my other Grandparents living in Sea Isle City at the New Jersey shore. My summer days there were spent getting up early, wolfing down some food and running back to Pier 88 where I would spend the day fishing and catching minnows to sell to the pier and my own use. Sometimes I would run home for lunch but more often than not I was happy just to spend the entire day there fishing. I never really caught any big fish, mostly little snapper blues and occasionally a nice flounder. I was at home on the pier and loved the adventure that each day there brought and I would reluctantly be rounded up for dinner. Usually after dinner I would head back to the pier again so I could fish for the little blues that would gather under the lights. I dreamed of a day that I would own a boat so I could explore the bay and ocean to catch more (and bigger) fish. Occasionally I would get an invitation to fish out of my neighbor’s boat with him and that was always a special joy. It’s funny to me now but when most teenage boys were busy chasing girls, I was busy chasing fish (sad but true).
By now you’re probably wondering why I’m talking about fishing so much if this is a blog about hunting, correct? Well this is when I started to learn about hunting through magazines such as Outdoor Life, Field & Stream, and Sports Afield. I would purchase these magazines to learn the latest and greatest on trout and saltwater fishing but they also would carry plenty of articles on hunting. After I read and reread all of the fishing articles I would reluctantly read the hunting stories. I never understood how someone could kill something as beautiful as a deer but I was still strangely fascinated by the stories. I knew that my Pop Pop (Grandfather) said that he went hunting but he never did return with anything. I think it was his way of hanging out with his best friend away from their wives but I can’t say for sure...I’m not so sure that they even brought their rifles, more likely it was golf clubs! Anyway, I never had anyone that could positively influence me towards hunting in my family. A couple of my parent’s friends hunted but my mother would never allow her oldest son to take part in such a “barbaric sport” and quite frankly, I don’t think I was ready for it anyway.
I never realized it at the time but fishing really is just a different extension of hunting. Some animal rights groups actually find fishing to be more offensive than hunting because it is something that can be done for pure sport vice obtaining food. I definitely do not take this point of view and I highly encourage parents to get their kids involved with fishing even if they themselves were not exposed to it growing up. It is a good clean outdoor pastime that does not have to be difficult to do, for less than 10 dollars a parent can equip their child with all the utensils they need to have a great time. Most sportsmen I know will go out of their way to help a parent select the equipment needed and even tell them where they can go catch a mess of bluegills. I have never met a child that didn’t squeal with delight when they caught their first fish (and second and third)! I truly believe that a child that learns to love the outdoors is far better off than one than one that loves video games.
Next week: Underway, shift colors!
No comments:
Post a Comment