Great post! I have all the same loves and passions. Haven’t killed a buck in years and probably won’t. I typically hunt for the meat and like Preacherman, I just like being alone and letting my mind slow down. Most of the experiences never get told to others, just satisfied that I know. It’s a great life…most just don’t understand. Hard to put in words really what it all means to a person. Guess I’m kind of a hermit. Ya’ll guys got it, we’re a dying breed that longs for the simple things in life.
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I started digging ginseng and goldenseal when I was 6 or 7 years old,that was one thing my dad loved to do.started trapping in 1972,with a dozen B&l # 1’s.ive always enjoyed the time outdoors,alone,never needed any back up when I was trapping.i hunted some as well but it never was as fascinating as trying to catch fox and coyotes.when I go to meet my maker,I hope I’m chasing after a trapline
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Reading these it strikes me that you don’t hear about the love of outdoors from hardly any overall group than trappers. Yes, you hear I love chasing after the big bucks that scored such and such, my dog treed the most coons or I won a fishing tournament with x number of lbs. but for purely the simple love of being outdoors seeing a variety of things, trappers usually don’t just trap, it’s hard to find a more outstanding group. I wonder sometimes how trapping is often tagged by the general public as being presented as barbaric or stupid people doing it. It’s one of the most labor intensive and pre planning outdoor activities you can find. Run of the mill trappers are mostly good folk. Where I think you find the poorer representatives of us are the very very casual trap setters that are indifferent, YouTube really beginner trappers that know more about social media than the animals, and the ones that have a big shot complex at national meets. There’s a few of those that really turn my stomach. I do know I’m glad we started UTK and I got to meet so many of you all across the state I would have otherwise never known.
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This group is where most all my friends are at.i know a lot of people but i don’t have tons of friends
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This topic and all the responses would be great reading for a book. Yet better for all the antis!
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Amen !!! Just being a witness,
I’m glad this resurfaced. On my second bird of the season I was hunting National Forest that for some reason or another just stirs my soul. As I was walking in the whippoorwills were singing, the birds were singing and that was enough for me. To top it off I called in a gobbler right off the roost that gobbled a bunch, was strutting, and after 24 seasons I finally heard one spit and drum and it shook me to the core. He came in putting on a show and after I got him i sat on the mountain with the gobbler and I just took in the beauty of the place, listened to the geese and wood ducks and birds and reflected. I’m sure glad something in my ticked when I was a kid and implanted the love for turkeys in me. Other than the kids killing their firsts, I’ve never had a better morning and killing the gobbler was the moot point.
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