Who's your daddy?

[Sopchoppy]

I lost my Dad in 1987 to prostate cancer and like others, there are many days that something reminds me of him. He started me hunting when I was 6 or 7 by taking me with him on dove hunts. I can still hear him say, "be still, here comes one". I was his "retriever". He also took me squirrel hunting at that same age and TRIED to teach me how to walk quietly in the woods. At 12, he bought me my first gun, a 20 ga. Stevens single shot. He never seemed concerned that I would get 2 or 3 doves out of a box of shells. I remember many Saturdays, we would quail hunt in the morning and dove hunt that afternoon.

My youngest son loves to hunt when he has the time. He met me in NW Florida to do some deer hunting the past 2 weeks and although we didn't get one, he said before he left, "but we had fun". Priceless.

For those of you who still have your Dad and/or Mom, a friend of mine did something I wish I had done before they were gone. He put a camcorder on a tripod and sat on the couch with his Mom and Dad talking about him as a kid and some of the things he got into, vacations they took, etc. Those old VHS tapes have been put on DVD and he says they are some of his most prized possessions.

[taz3]

Here's a couple pics of my Dad and his group's successful moose hunts. Although I never went, we enjoyed rabbit hunting, fishing and being outdoors together.

1980 they shot 4 in 2 days, a bull, 2 cows, and a calf.


This is the rack of my Dad's first bull he shot on the front of his truck from 1981. The next is the rack today, proudly hung in the living room.

[Doe Master]

Good photo tribute to our mentors . Hopefully others can find pictures to honor their mentors . It does not even have to be hunting pictures .
I know I could fill a page with pictures . My dad is my hunting partner still . He will be turning 73 this year .