Life’s baggage and some memories

I land a New Zealand brown trout here.

 

We begin life naked and squalling, and should we live long enough, a busy lifetime of fishing and hunting will leave us with some priceless items. Few are valuable from a monetary standpoint, but all are worth more than gold because of the wonderful memories they help me remember.

Our personal outdoor baggage, if such it is, consists of the odds and ends and memories from a lifetime spent on the water and in the fields; in the marshlands and woods; on the ground and in a tree. My 72nd birthday passed late last month, and I have spent a great deal of time sifting through my priceless baggage of timeless memories.

My mental and physical load consists of certain things that can be held, looked at, and reminisced over. Memories are found everywhere for a packrat like me, and I keep them around for a good reason: every mounted animal, bird or fish; each of my several hundred fishing-hunting hats; all of my bows, firearms, fishing reels and rods; even my tackle boxes -- all have one or more great stories behind them. Those stories bring me life.

As we move toward old age, old memories of outdoor events keep us going

 

Here is a good example: on the wall between my mounted fish is an old Shakespeare glass fly rod. I used it daily for 10 years of guiding brown trout, salmon and steelhead river fishermen on Michigan streams, and the stories that rod could tell would be wonderful. Over 10,000 salmonids have been landed with that rod, and it was retired in 1979 after I beached a 30-pound Chinook salmon. I heard a muffled creak as the brute of a fish was landed, and after removing the fly and releasing the fish, I retired that rod and it now hangs in a worthy place of honor where it daily reminds me of my 10-year guiding career.

My junk room, in my basement, has many different hats hanging from the rafters. There is a unique story behind every one, including one from Detroit's Homicide Squad that states: "Our day starts when yours ends." There are hats from Alaskan hunts, fishing trips in New Zealand, product hats worn on one hunt or another, and hats from friends who know I collect them. However, the only hats I hang are those with a fishing or hunting tale that goes with them. I could spend hours studying this worthless hat collection that has provided over 55 years of fishing and hunting memories while shading my eyes from the sun.

Whoa. Here is a signed and framed copy of Robert Traver's (John Voelker) "Testament Of A Fisherman." It was signed by him on Feb. 1, 1982 and states: “To my fellow writer and fisherman, Dave Richey, with all good wishes." It's worth very little except to me because I valued my long and great friendship with Voelker and often think of him although he passed away 20 years ago. I look at his Testament, read it at least once each week, and it's a priceless memento.Great writing organizations help me maintain my grip on the outdoor life.

It's been my privilege to belong to the Outdoor Writers Association of America (OWAA), which I joined in 1968, and on my office walls are my writing awards. Four of the nearly 40 stand out:

These outdoor memories of mine give me great pleasure.

 

OWAA's prestigious Ham Brown Award and their Excellence In Craft Award; Michigan United Conservation Club's Ben East Award For Excellence In Conservation Journalism; and the Michigan Outdoor Writer's exalted Papa Bear Award for Excellence in Craft. There are many others, but these four remind me of my 45 years spent writing outdoor copy for my valued readers.

The other day I spent hours sorting through my life's baggage, and it was fun. There was a box containing all of my fishing and hunting licenses from my teenage and later years. I have most but not all of my earliest fishing and hunting licenses from this state, and some date back to the 1950s. It takes a few minutes but eventually a thought will reveal a heralded moment of fishing from a 1957 fishing license, and those old licenses still have the required Trout Stamp attached.

One license held a stamp of Michigan's old Fish Car that was used by the Department of Natural Resources to carry trout to northern streams for stocking, and it is scarce now.
One man's baggage is another man's treasure trove of outdoor memories. Such is the case with some of my successful bear, deer and turkey patches. My lot in life is to record as much of our fishing and hunting heritage as possible, and to present it in a way that others can enjoy. Take a moment now, and think about some of your things and the joys they have produced.

I look about me, and everything helps me recall old fishing and hunting trips

 

It doesn't always require an item to bring a memory to mind. I remember my dear friend Max Donovan of Clio and think of him often. He lost a leg early in life, was a hemophiliac, and fished and hunted harder than most people I know. I remember days on Saginaw Bay under leaden skies with a strong nor'easter huffing, and the mallard stooling to our decoys. I remember most of his many hits, and several of his memorable misses, and they always bring a smile to my face.

We can travel through a life of fishing and hunting, and retain most of our memories. Because, if nothing else, those thoughts spark a fire in sportsmen. That fire will blaze up into a full-blown recollection of a memorable day or event in our lives that must be remembered long after our ability to hike the hills and wade the streams has ended.

Those memories are what keep us alive.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors

Stay focused

Taking a big buck like this one shot by David Hale is a matter of staying focused

 

Shooting a whitetail buck is easy. Actually, the more deer a hunter shoots with a bow, the easier and more focused the hunter becomes.
People ask what my secret to shooting is. One of these days I may write a book and share all of my secrets, but maintaining our focus from beginning to end of the shooting process is a major item and there is no way to shortcut this process.
It must be stated that being very familiar with the bow, and knowing where the arrow will hit on each and every shot, is a must. People who have no clue where the arrow will hit will not be very proficient.

Focus on total concentration and making arrow contact with the proper location

 

Hunters who have the ability to concentrate are the ones who make wise decisions, don't get overly excited, have the ability to stay focused and not lose their cool, and they end up making a good shot.

Practice at shooting from various angles and heights will help. Shooting often enough to make a smooth and easy draw and releasae is important, and it's of the utmost importance to maintain a constant anchor point. Allow your anchor point to creep forward while aiming will not lead to consistent arrow placement.

Focus on just one point on the deer. Don't focus on the entire deer. Once you decide the buck has antlers, and they are what you want, forget about the bone growing out of the buck's head. If your mind stays focused on the antlers, the chances of hitting the deer in the antlers is not very good.
Forget about the antlers. Instead, watch the deer closely and be prepared to draw, aim and shoot on a moments notice. Wait for the deer to turn and offer a high-percentage shot. I've lectured on this many times, and it continues to bear repeating: wait for a high-percentage shot. Don't take a marginal or low-percentage shot.

Wait, and when the buck turns to offer the ideal shot, begin the draw. Make it smooth, and concentrate on nothing else but where the arrow must go to kill the deer.

A smooth draw, and arrow release, is the result to staying focused at all times

 

I tell people to pick a precise spot. Behind the front shoulder is the standard advice people give other hunters. That is fine, up to a point, but concentrate on a precise spot. If your vision is keen, pick out a specific hair and aim to hit that hair at the right point behind the shoulder. Good things will happen when you do it right.

People must guard against losing their focus. They get to thinking so much about the fact that here is a deer, a buck with fine antlers and it is standing in front of them, they go through the motions of aiming at the proper spot to kill that deer, but they loose focus. If they are not careful, it's very possible that the arrow could hit several inches from where they want it to go. Go after that precise spot like that deer owes you money and the only way to collect is to shoot the animal.

We've all seen these sorry situations. A hunter shoots a deer, and when asked where it hit the animal, they almost always say in the heart or lungs. It's where they think they were aiming, but upon recovery after a lengthy trailing job, they find the deer.

It was hit through the intestines, and may have traveled a mile before succumbing. The reason for the arrow hit in that location was because the hunter lost his focus.

Like all things, accurately shooting a bow is a matter of total concentration

 

This is some pretty heady stuff, this shooting of deer, and the great anticipation, adrenaline rush, the heavy breathing, the jerk-back-and-shoot philosophy often takes over, and the buck is wounded. The hunter can't understand why it was hit there when they were aiming right behind the front shoulder.

Somewhere between the bow being drawn, and the shot being taken, the hunter forgot what he was doing. A lack of total concentration and focus make it nearly impossible to accurately place an arrow.

Some hunters, on thinking back on the shot, were thinking of the bragging rights they would have over their hunting buddies. Some were already viewing the mounted rack on their den wall. They went into the hunt with everything in their favor, and came away from the hunt knowing full well they messed up a golden opportunity.

Concentration is a so critical to success. I can tell you what to do, but I can't crawl inside your skin and make you do it right. This is where self-training becomes so important, and only you can do that.

Focus, concentrate on maintaining your focus, and with luck and a newly acquired skill, when that shot comes this fall, you will be willing and able to do it right.

Posted via email from Dave Richey Outdoors