Memories, your most cherished?

[creedsduckman]

I debated posting this.
It has been a rough 2 weeks.
Dad has been in declining health for a couple years now.
Exactly a week ago, he lost his battle.

This week has just been a flood of mixed emotions.
I am thankful he is no longer suffering, but Damn, I miss him.

Dad was not a duck hunter.
He always told me I must of taken after the milk man, because nobody in their right mind goes out in the cold to kill a dang bird.

He was a Deer Hunter, and thru him I learned that there is more to the “Hunt” than killing. Family and Friends is what camp is about.
45+ years he was my Deer Hunting buddy. He would pull me out of school for 2-3 weeks in November to travel to NE Missouri. Some years we had 28 people at the tiny 3 bedroom cabin. Grandfather, uncles, cousins, 2nd cousins and long time friends of the family.
A couple years, we had 4 generations in camp.

Saturday, I went to a friends deer camp and visited.
Cracked a couple cold ones, shared some memories.
I just didn’t have it in me to hunt.

I just want to say.
Don’t blow off that hunt. Cherish every day, as if it was your last.
Because one day…….. it will be.

Sorry for your loss. I lost my dad in 2014 just shy of his 62nd birthday. He wasn't a hunter but he would go occasionally with my brother and I mostly just to spend time with us. He was always eager to hear what we had seen or killed or caught fishing though. He always enjoyed eating whatever game we brought home too.

 

[KwickLabs]

Memories are often cool if you can remember. As one ages, “stuff” your
experiences tend to become lost in the shuffle...forever hazy. After quite a
bit of thinking about how to avoid forgetting (some twenty years ago), I
began keeping a daily journal.

Journals are somewhat cumbersome and the seemingly “not that big of a
moments” are lost forever. Therefore, the idea of creating an online Web with
daily entries was begun. Links to training information with photos taken regularly
provided a format for remembering. In addition, every hunting trip has a entry.

The following link is to my KwickLabs’ early WEB/journal efforts in February 2003.

https://web.archive.org/web/20030209122422/http://www.kwicklabs.com/

The following link is to the present GoDaddy Kwicklabs "memory bank" (WEB).

https://www.kwicklabsii.com/

Here is an example. I wanted to look at Taffeys's very first Can that was eventually
mounted.

Also, it is easy to gather past accomplishments into one page.

https://web.archive.org/web/20150515173849/http://www.kwicklabs.com/Taffey5Pednew.htm

 

[Holesinthesky]

Sorry for your loss Bryon. It is devastating to loose your father, particularly if you are fortunate enough to have had a relationship where you thought of him as not only a father, but a best friend. I hope your grieving process goes smoother than mine has. My father passed this last May. Due to the Covid, we could not hold a service for him at the National Veteran's Cemetery at the time, and they have been backed up for months. The good thing is he is a Marine; and the service will be held on November 10th, the Marine Corps birthday. I just cemented the Eagle, Globe, and Anchor to his urn this last week. Hopefully after the service, things will settle down a bit and get back to a somewhat normal. Of course, life will never be the same without him.

We are in the same holding pattern.

We decided to have his final resting place at the Florida National Cemetery.
Right now, we are waiting on the funeral home, then have to get on the very limited Burial Schedule.
I told my mother, Veterans Day would be a good day, but I don’t think we are going to meet the timeline…..

Dad was drafted back in ‘64. He did not talk much about his time.
When I turned 17, and told him I was joining…… He shook his head.
But did not try to change my Decision.
After one of my tours…we were at camp. Cracked a cold one, and we had a talk about our tours.

My condolences on your loss, the Nation’s loss of another warrior.

 

[Holesinthesky]

Memories are often cool if you can remember. As one ages, “stuff” your
experiences tend to become lost in the shuffle...forever hazy. After quite a
bit of thinking about how to avoid forgetting (some twenty years ago), I
began keeping a daily journal.

We used have pics of every year at camp, going back to the 60s.
The pics lined the walls.
Every time we got a “visitor/guest”……. They would look at the pics, and comment, or ask a question……..
Then that brought up the storytelling of memories.

like @Grif once mentioned, I can pretty much recall every hunt I have ever experienced. Whether it was last year, or 45+ years ago.

 

[Mort]

My father hunted ducks before he went to Korea, but lost interest in getting up early and sitting in a hole in the ground after spending a winter in the snow, fighting the Chinese. I did get to hunt pheasants and deer with him when I was a teenager. As he got older, he still enjoyed fishing. Although he had a large boat (24 ft. Tollycraft), it was difficult to get him in and out of the boat due to his arthritis and poor balance as he got older. So, the last few years of his life (age 90) I used a guide service on the Sacramento and Feather Rivers to get us out fishing for Salmon and Stripers. The boats were wide, 24/26 foot jet sleds and it was easy for him to get in and out of as well as fish from a chair.

I attached a few photos of him teaching one of his great grandsons how to drive his Tollycraft, and of him fishing on the Sacramento River.

 

[KwickLabs]

Did a WEB search (this morning)....could not remember when. I was only 70
years old.....then. It took about a year to get the mount.

Taffey's two "Cans".

 

[WHUP ! Hen]

My grandfather started me hunting ducks when I was 10-11. I was lucky, I got to hunt with him for 25 years. He lived to be 91, finally gave up hunting when he was 85. But even then he would be waiting at the dock when I came back. Any and all time spent with him was priceless, he was the best person I’ve ever known!

I hope my two Grandsons feel that way about me. I am just starting with my youngest, the oldest is simply ate up with Waterfowling.

 

[Aunt Betty]

I remember buying shells at Casey's gas station and basically walking across the street, loading up, and go hunt pheasants.
Was a different world.

 

[olepal]

I know ENVY is a sin, so to speak but I envy those of you who had the opportunity to hunt with a father, grandfather, uncle, etc. My father almost made a point of hunting, fishing and anything else and excluding me. After I was married and in the Army, he began to take my younger brothers to do those things. Those are memories I wish I had so that I could share them as well. Treasure your opportunities. They are priceless.

 

[riverrat47]

I know ENVY is a sin, so to speak but I envy those of you who had the opportunity to hunt with a father, grandfather, uncle, etc. My father almost made a point of hunting, fishing and anything else and excluding me. After I was married and in the Army, he began to take my younger brothers to do those things. Those are memories I wish I had so that I could share them as well. Treasure your opportunities. They are priceless.

I pity your father, as he probably missed out on some good times.
As I've stated before, my Dad wasn't too much of an outdoorsman, but many of his friends were. Growing up, I was drawn to the hook and bullet life by the stories Dad's friends told around our kitchen table. His friends became my mentors, bringing me copies of their outdoor magazines and catalogs, mainly LL Bean, and taking me on outings. In order to have time with his older son, Dad was somewhat forced into the outdoors. Whether he was there in person or not, Dad never once discouraged my outdoor endeavors. In fact, he often bent over backward to make sure I had the opportunities and gear to go. For this, I am eternally grateful.