Who has Impacted your Love for the Outdoors?

[bbcoach]

With All the Personal Notes and Prayers sent to Doris and the Bush family, it has me thinking.  Who in your life, past or present, that has made a GREAT impact and contributed to your LOVE of the Outdoors? 

For me, it has been Clark Bush, Paul Knox (AKA dbltree) and my Grandparents, William and Arfie Rich.  All of these people, were always willing to share their Time and Great Information, to spark my Love for Turkey hunting, growing quality food for whitetails and turkeys and my love for trout fishing.  I didn't personally know Clark or Paul but the knowledge that they imparted will be used and shared for the rest of my life.  Great people that have taken their time to provide knowledge to many.

[MISSISSIPPI Double beard]

2 of my  brothers.

[Muzzy61]

A childhood friend and his dad. I didn't have a father in my life growing up and none of my family hunted. I had a friend that I played baseball with that loved to hunt and fish. His dad (nicknamed Gator) came to all of our ball games and he noticed that I never had a dad or any family at the games, so he started always inviting me to go fishing with him and his sons. It soon turned into including hunting and other family events.
I learned a lot more than just hunting and fishing from Gator. He was a great guy and mentor in more ways than one. We lost him about 6 years ago and I miss him every day.

[Greg Massey]

Brother and 2 uncles ..

[Sixes]

Honestly, I feel like I was born to be in the outdoors.

From the time I could walk, I had toy guns and was started off with a BB gun around the age of 4-5.  First pellet gun at 7, then quick progression to .22s and shotguns. We lived around a lot of woods and a 10 minute walk to a reservoir.

If there was an influence, I guess I would say my Dad and his friends. I killed my first deer with my Uncle (my Dad was in Colorado elk hunting at the time) after laying out of school to go with him.  I was also with my best friend from childhood and his Dad that day.  His Dad is like another Dad to me and our dads hunted together their whole lives. We were taken on dove hunts, deer hunts, fishing, even rabbit tracked in the rare snows. We were rarely left out.

I grew up a tight knit community where everyone knows everyone and all of us kids are still friends.

[slicksbeagles1]

If not for my mother taking out of her day to take me to the lake or the woods and sit and wait on me to enjoy the outdoors I may have not ever been an outdoorsman. Then my grandfather who helped foster my passion of being outdoors. Then there are 3 of my best friends that I meet because of my love the for the outdoors all of which were way older than me. The first is Edwin Williams (Mr. Williams to me) we met because of a little dog called a beagle. Mr. Williams and I met when I was 12 years old and he took me under his wing and taught me all he could about beagles, rabbit hunting, and fishing. We were friends for over 30 years until his passing at 84. The second is Earl Lawrence whom I met because of his daughter in high school and from then on we crappie fished together for over 30 years and also  hunting together. Third was Charles Cannon ( Bubba to me) another Beagler who taught me more about beagles, field trailing beagles and rabbit hunting. Of course they all taught me about life and helped me through a lot of peaks and valleys.

[Crghss]

My parents took me on great camping trips in PA during my childhood. All started from there.....

Crazy thing is I didn't know how great the trips where till decades later.

[guesswho]

Parents had the biggest influence without a doubt.

[Tail Feathers]

My father early in my life, my older brother a bit later.

[3bailey3]

Funny my Grandfather and my Dad, neither hunted, Grandfather had the land and my Dad took me there every week, I learn to work the land from both of them, then they would let me go fish and hunt on my own, I remember the first time my Grandfather watched me catch a fish with a rod and reel, he watched with amazement because he had only saw fish caught with a cane pole..

[Which Gun]

My Dad and Mom. Hunting and fishing was our thing. Put meat on the table.

[310 gauge]

My Daddy.  Miss him and thank him every time I hit the woods and water.

[turkey_picker]

My Uncle, he had the rabbit dogs and my whole family hunted with him.

[Jimspur]

My Dad started taking me with him at a young age. That planted the seed,
and he also had 2 friends we hunted with that would tell stories of hunts
from various places.

[Happy]

If I had to pick one person I would say my Grandfather. However he was never a serious turkey hunter and we never really hunted together until I was an adult. But as a kid I remember helping him skin deer and I was always listening to his hunting stories. I must have inherited his love for the outdoors because it has always just been there. I was always surrounded by deer hunters and tagged along with lots of people, however I only knew 2 serious turkey hunters and they helped a little to get me started when i showed my infatuation with turkeys. After one hunt that we never even heard a gobble i was on my own.The older I get the more I believe that some are just born hunters and some are not. I couldn't and don't want to imagine life without it. I was raised with the belief that a true man was capable of obtaining food from the woods as well as be handy with his hands. He may not be a superstar at everything but he was fairly self-sufficient.

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