I got into guns and shooting when I was 18, then lost interest for a few years.
When I was 25, I somehow got the idea in my head that I wanted to try hunting. Nobody close to me in my family was a hunter, so I'm not sure where it came from, but luckily I found a kind hunter on another board who was willing to take me out.
I shot 2 does on the last day of the season that year, and I was hooked.
Over the next couple of years, I couldn't get enough. My girlfriend at the time couldn't believe the amount of time I spent online, and reading hunting mags to learn all I could.
THis year has been hard for me as posted in my other thread, and maybe I'm getting wiser as I approach 30 next spring, but I'm taking steps to change the way I live my entire life so I can focus on the outdoors.
Hunting and fishing are the 2 things I can think about to keep me sane, while struggling with near bankrupcy and major depression in the last year.
In 2001, I fished over 100 days (not full days mind you, but even an hour or so in the evening was OK) and I remember how great that was.
My goal in 2006 is to spend at least some time persuing outdoor activities every day. Be it scouting, hiking, camping, shooting, fishing or WHY, this is a goal I'm more committed to than anything since my disasterous experience with Vancouver 2 years ago. (That thread's long since gone I'm sure.)
I've run a financial plan that should allow me to come out of Fort McMurray at the end of '06 or first half of '07 with enough money to purchase a piece of land for a small farm or ranch (another something I know very little about right now...) here in Alberta or BC.
I'll carefully select an area rich in game and sparse on the kind of people I'm growing sick of in the cities.
I guess what I'm feeling is a deep desire to live a quieter life. Hunting and fishing and outdoor activities are the best way I've found to foster quietness of the mind and spirit... so I suppose it's important enough for me to begin changing my lifestyle to gain that quietness.