Thank you for taking the time to stop by and read about some of my adventures. I have always enjoyed the outdoors, but in recent years have started to get into hunting, shooting sports, fly fishing and hiking. I hope these stories are entertaining as well as providing some tips and advice on how to and not how to make your adventures more exciting.

Wednesday, October 31, 2012

The Tradition of Hunting Camp


As 2012 is coming to a close, and 2013 begins, I spent some time reflecting on this past year of hunting and fishing adventures when I came to the realization that regardless of how successful my adventures are, more importantly, they are another link in the chain of the tradition of hunting and fishing.

While I am a novice deer hunter, only having hunted 6 seasons, I eagerly anticipate the Pennsylvania deer season each year.  5 years ago I discussed my new hobby with a friend and he shared his memories from deer camp at his farm in Bedford, Pennsylvania.  We quickly realized our properties were only 20 minutes apart and he suggested that we start deer camp again at his farmhouse that year.  Never having attended a deer camp before, I jumped at the chance to get together with other hunters to share tips, techniques, and insights into the elusive PA whitetail deer.  What actually came out of that first deer camp was a deepened relationship with the friends who participated, and a great appreciation of the tradition of hunting. 

copyright 2011 William Imler
The first year at deer camp was great.  While we were in an old farmhouse that had evolved over the years from a log cabin, we still had no indoor plumbing thereby creating the need to haul water from a springhouse and use a very drafty outhouse in the cold November nights.  The focal point of the farmhouse is the huge stone fireplace approximately 5 feet wide by 4 feet high in front of which we would sit in handmade chairs resting our feet on a 7 foot long butchers table that was turned into a bench.  Across the mantel are several sets of antlers from deer taken many years before, and in the fireplace is a rack with the first names of my friends family etched into the uprights at the front.  Cooking was done on a turn of the century wood fired cook stove and cast iron pans.  There was always work to be done, but everyone was enthusiastic to lend a hand to get it all completed.

As we gathered around the fireplace that week, we were regaled with stories of the men who hunted there last.  Randy shooting a deer while he was using the outhouse, Dr. Griffiths telling another member of the group that he might have been able to save that deer if only he wouldn’t of pulled out all of it’s guts, and others too numerous or too incriminating to share. As it turned out, most of the people I was hunting with that first year were the sons of the men in the stories I was hearing.  It was then when I first began to realize the tradition of deer camp wasn’t about having people to share the chores with, but rather having people to share the adventure with.  Now after 5 years of hunting and sharing life with these guys, we have created our own stories to add to the mix shared around the fire; some of success, some of failures, and other events that aren’t spoken of, but by experiencing them together, we have become closer friends, and better people.  What will the future hold?  I don’t know.  But what I do know is there is a new generation of younsters that are only a few years away from being able to go into the woods with their dads to hunt for their first deer.  Will there be room for those who were there from the beginning?  Will the tradition continue with them when they become adults?  I hope so on both accounts.  Being able to witness 3 generations hunting from the same farmhouse, on the same property,  sharing some of the same stories from before would be the, “ And they hunted happily ever after.  The End” to this tale.

Be safe on your adventures.

No comments:

Post a Comment