Watching old friends grow old, and fade

[John Y Cannuck]

One of the sadder things in the hunt camp, has been watching my old friends get weaker, grayer, and finally vanish.
In forty years of hunting, I've attended four funerals one my own father, all the founding members of our camp (founded 1947) are gone but one. He's 86, and damn he's fading fast. When you only see someone once or twice a year, it really jumps at you.
Hunt camp buddies are like family, they are very close friends we share a lot with.
Spend time with the old boys, they still have a lot to share with you, and a lifetime of hunting knowledge to gab about. You won't be able to once they are gone.

 

[martinbns]

I\m with you, my parents live in Peterborough and I moved to Fort McMurray Alberta 6 years ago. I see them about twice a year and everytime they are smaller and older.

 

[Covey Ridge]

Spend time with the old boys, they still have a lot to share with you, and a lifetime of hunting knowledge to gab about. You won't be able to once they are gone

.

once they are gone you can still take them to hunting camp with you and you can still share their stories, but now now it will be you that will add their knowlede to yours and gab to the next generation. If you yourself are approaching elder status among your group the responsibility is great.

 

[huntinstuff]

This was the first year my dad and I didn't go hunting together.

He just can't anymore. Can't walk, can't really see. But we have no regrets. Man we put a lot of miles on our legs he and I.

No sense fearing it. It's coming to us all. Just do what you can, when you can. Make the effort.

Maybe he will feel better next year. I hope so.

 

[pharaoh2]

Friends and family are the most important things to us. Hunting buddies and relitives are just that much more important. I'm in the midst of losing my Grandmother. She's down to hours instead of days. It's tough, but life goes on.

 

[Ken The Kanuck]

Mine are dead.

I wish I could see them.

Lucky you can.

KTK

 

[Dogleg]

Jez, now I'm depressed.

 

[huntinstuff]

Friends and family are the most important things to us. Hunting buddies and relitives are just that much more important. I'm in the midst of losing my Grandmother. She's down to hours instead of days. It's tough, but life goes on.

I'm sorry man. Prayers from us.
Mine have been gone nearly 35yrs and I remember them like it was yesterday.

 

[ruger22]

thanks for sharing...

thanks for sharing...

One of the sadder things in the hunt camp, has been watching my old friends get weaker, grayer, and finally vanish.
In forty years of hunting, I've attended four funerals one my own father, all the founding members of our camp (founded 1947) are gone but one. He's 86, and damn he's fading fast. When you only see someone once or twice a year, it really jumps at you.
Hunt camp buddies are like family, they are very close friends we share a lot with.
Spend time with the old boys, they still have a lot to share with you, and a lifetime of hunting knowledge to gab about. You won't be able to once they are gone.

 

[rdelliott]

One of the sadder things in the hunt camp, has been watching my old friends get weaker, grayer, and finally vanish.
In forty years of hunting, I've attended four funerals one my own father, all the founding members of our camp (founded 1947) are gone but one. He's 86, and damn he's fading fast. When you only see someone once or twice a year, it really jumps at you.
Hunt camp buddies are like family, they are very close friends we share a lot with.
Spend time with the old boys, they still have a lot to share with you, and a lifetime of hunting knowledge to gab about. You won't be able to once they are gone.

Amen.

But might I make a modest proposal? Invite some noobs. Kids, nieces, nephews, newbies off this board, co-workers wanting to give hunting a shot. Replenish the numbers, and don't let all that skill and knowledge that you and your buddies have accumulated go to waste. Keep the tradition alive.

You can't replace old friends, but you can make new ones.

And hey, if you're already doing this, great .

 

[doubleman]

once they are gone you can still take them to hunting camp with you and you can still share their stories, but now now it will be you that will add their knowlede to yours and gab to the next generation. If you yourself are approaching elder status among your group the responsibility is great.

Covey Ridge
Well said

 

[Noel]

Well said Johnny Y. For many years I wanted to get a deer at my uncles place. Although doing well for a 97 year old he is slipping now, getting frail and losing the memory quite quickly. I made darn sure to get a deer on his place this year even if it wasn't a great one by my standards. More to take him out and see that glint in his eye to touch that deer. Then he said, "you know, I could spend my whole life in the bush. Isn't it nice out here!"

I am not ashamed to say I wiped a tear from my eye that night thinking about being lucky enough to spend some time with that man.

I hope the young folk here can forget about how boring the elders may seem. If you can just get over it and listen to them, it means so much and you will always come away a better, wiser person.

The gent that got me hunting big game had a stroke three years ago and got to ride in the Stars helicopter to emergency surgery. When Mom called me boy it was like being hit by a truck. He pulled through but he ain't the same kid anymore. Sure miss sitting on a log side by side about nothing in particular with good `ol Mervin......

 

[Jamie Hunt]

At our camp the "younger" guys decided this year to invite a few extra friends..
And wouldn't you know it one of the "originals had a heart attack on Tuesday Morning. He is fine but will not join us this year. However the nurse said he could come, providing he didn't do any work.. We replied that would be no different than any other year.

Like I said thankfully he will be OK, but it was a wakeup call for all of us that things are changing. Even my own Dad is slowing down and saying this will be his last late season hunt. He wants to hunt in September when it is warm.

I have been fortunate enough to hunt with my Dad for over 23 years now. We have shot some tremendous Animals together.. But most importantly we have chose to share some great adventures over the past 2 decades.

My own Son came with us this year (6 years old) He got a week off school and had the time of his life.
Let me see if I can post a pic of the two of them together. It warmed my heart to have all 3 of us out there.

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v718/JamieHunt/DSCN1416.jpg

Jamie

 

[Foxer]

One of the sadder things in the hunt camp, has been watching my old friends get weaker, grayer, and finally vanish.

You think they're not still there with you around the fire?

And yeah - pass it on. Generations have gathered around those same fires, thought the same thoughts, hoped the same hopes for the morning, leaned back with the same tired bones and enjoyed a mug of something tasty basking in the glow of a good kill and a hard day's work after gettin' him back to camp. We all know we take our turn, we go thru the same things as newbs, as experienced hunters, and finally as grizzled old wolves who have to step aside. But that's what connects us to the generations before - that same shared experience, that same time in the woods.

Yeah, we do things a little different today in some ways. Quads instead of horses. GPS's instead of compases. But you go back 100 years, and you'd find there's not a hell of a lot different. And you'd have the same sort of stories to share, and they'd still be bickering over what rifle is better than another. Like it mattered

Go. Enjoy the hunt, and enjoy the fire. You can still share the same experiences your friends and family did and that lets you still share something in common with them even after they're long gone. The faces change sometimes, but the fire always burns the same.

 

[H4831]

Gone

I sure know what you mean! I have lost so many of my really fine hunting partners that I actually get sad at hunting season time. About eight years ago I had a story printed in The Outdoor Edge magazine, based on splendid hunting companions. I said I was so fortunate to have have had three outstanding partners, but I couldn't place the three in any order. I travelled with them, usually one at a time, on really tough mountain trips. Never a single word of complaint. You're dead tired and soaking wet when you find a place to camp for the night. They just put down the pack, take out the little axe and start making a fire. I couldn't begin to count how many trips I have made with those fellows and I never heard one word of compaint, no matter how tough the going got. They are all gone now, as is another fellow I used to hunt with in the day and play chess with at night. We started hunting together more than fifty years ago, but not anymore. And there are several others. Three of my four older brothers that I hunted with are gone.
Wow, you sure hit the right note, albiet a sad one!

 

[jjohnwm]

My dad passed away last Christmas, and I am SO thankful that the last year we hunted together I was able to be sitting with him when he got a nice gobbler in the spring (his first!) and a nice buck in November, both on my property. I was alone in my deer stand this year, and I gotta say that I wouldn't have been fit company for anybody.

 

[John Y Cannuck]

Amen.

But might I make a modest proposal? Invite some noobs. Kids, nieces, nephews, newbies off this board, co-workers wanting to give hunting a shot. Replenish the numbers, and don't let all that skill and knowledge that you and your buddies have accumulated go to waste. Keep the tradition alive.

You can't replace old friends, but you can make new ones.

And hey, if you're already doing this, great .

Too late, I've already done that.
We have three CGN members in camp.

 

[257Roberts]

After returning to the area 9 years ago, I have been hunting now at our family camp for 8 of them. The last of the second generation of hunters is still able to walk the bush.
His memory is intact and with the help of the camp journals that are written every year, our deer hunts, recorded day by day with flair and the humor that is added make for some interesting reading. I have missed out on so much not hunting with my father, but the times I remember when I was young, getting to go to the camp at the end of the hunt were rewarding and will treasure them always. Traditions should be cherished and passed on by all that can contribute.
257 Roberts

 

[fogducker]

great thread JYC..its like the old saying,
you dont know what you have till its gone..

but this got me worried a bit..i just relized i think im the old fart of our camp

but really all...lets try and go that extra yard to give an extra visit to that special person in your lives..

 

[John Y Cannuck]

great thread JYC..its like the old saying,
you dont know what you have till its gone..

but this got me worried a bit..i just relized i think im the old fart of our camp

but really all...lets try and go that extra yard to give an extra visit to that special person in your lives..

You ARE getting up there aren't you

Big John, the last founding member of our camp, is 86. It's painful to watch him walk, although he still refuses a walking stick. He's still very sharp, although quite forgetful. He goes out usually for only the morning hunt, and sometimes not at all. His back was bothering him this year.
I hope, that when his time comes, it's quick and painless, he's a WWII vet, and deserves an easy ride.