I was 11 when my dad got this 8-point on opening day. My brother and sister shared in the exciting moment. I still remember those coats my brother and I were wearing! There must have been a sale on them.

I turned 36 years-old today. First and foremost I feel blessed to have been able to hunt all of those years, starting when I was 12 back in 1986. It’s amazing how fast the years have gone, and I now find myself in the early stages of my hunting “prime.” As hard as I hunt, it’s only realistic to think that I can do this at an intense level into my early 40’s. Already I find myself having to urge my body just a little bit more as the season wears on. And when the season is over, it takes me a few weeks to get over the little aches and pains and bumps and bruises that build up. Don’t get me wrong. I’m not saying that I’m 36 years-old and my hunting career is over by any means. Hell, I plan to hunt as long as I’m physically and mentally able to carry a bow or firearm. I just understand that there is about a 15 to 20-year window where I can do it at a high level without too much regard for physical limitations.

I'll never forget my first deer. It was a small doe that I shot only after they extended the season for one day back in 1987. I shot it in the Creekside area off of a drive we were doing with friends and family. Notice my game face (and that same coat)!

It’s probably a good thing that there was no youth hunting mentor program when I was a little boy because I probably would have ruined several years of hunting for my dad. Ask my parents and they’ll tell you that I was telling hunting stories many years before I ever actually set foot in the woods to hunt! I couldn’t wait for my dad to come home from hunting so he could “tell me the story” of the adventure. On those occasions where he would say, “I didn’t see any tonight,” I would respond with, “But did you hear anything? Find any new rubs? Anything?!?!” I still vividly remember when he showed me a scrape for the first time, and explained what it meant. I was fascinated, and I still am today. I was lucky to have someone to get me interested in the outdoors, so thank you dad for taking the time to show me, and thank you mom for encouraging me to hunt and fish (and listening to my wild tales).

About the only thing I regret about my hunting career was not being able to spend more of it with my uncle Jim, who passed away way too young in his 40’s. He got his first buck when he was 41 (I think that’s right), and I remember how excited he was. I distinctly remember him dropping quite a few “F-bombs” when he was telling the story. It happened just two years before my first day in the woods, and he would get his last buck during my first season. There’s no doubt we were quite different hunters, but I know he loved the outdoors as much as I did, even if his career and family obligations wouldn’t allow him to pursue it as I do now. He would come to our house from his home in the Philadelphia area the day after Thanksgiving, and would stay through the first few days of the season. He was as happy to be there as we were to see him. I know he loved hunting, and I only wish I had the opportunity to spend more years in the woods with him.

This moment is forever burned in my memory. My uncle Jim with his first buck, and my dad with his best buck up until that time. They got these bucks on opening morning, 1983.

Things have really changed over the years, that’s for sure, and I wonder how I’ll look back at today in another 20 or so years. One thing that I know won’t change is my love of the hunting tradition, no matter what the pictures look like. I hope I can keep dragging my dad out for several more years, even if it’s just a few days each season. I’m lucky to have a younger brother who also loves to hunt, and I look forward to many more years of hunting with him. My wife took up hunting three years ago, and although she only goes out a few days a season, I look forward to and very much enjoy that time we spend together. And finally, I’m lucky to have some great friends who are as crazy about hunting as I am, and I hope we have many more great years ahead of us. All of this makes me wonder just who I would be without hunting in my life. I couldn’t even imagine it.