[firewalk]

Thanks for posting this

[BiffWondercat]

Soul Ping

[Freedom4US]

There is a peacefulness that forces you to see with your soul, not just your eyes, the beauty that is before you.

That's why some folks get paid to write - they can say so clearly what we all know in our heart but sometimes can't put into words quite the same. The whole article put a lump in my throat.

[Hot Tabasco]

The only hunting I do has been an annual pheasant hunting trip to N.E. Kansas for the past 8 or so years. Last year it was only 2 of us and we only harvested 1 in 3 days of hunting. Conditions were absolutely awful, no cover or feed due to draught. But you know what? it really didn't matter nor does it ever because I am a lousy shot. Spending the entire day walking fields and CRP does wonders for your soul!

My enjoyment of being able to go out there stems from the inability to hunt here in Michigan and that particular area of Kansas is so desolate, flat, devoid of houses, traffic and nosey people that it is absolutely beautiful.......The most striking scenery is the cloudless nights where you can actually see every damn star in the universe!

I truly regret having used up my vacation time on superficial vacations because i am unable to return this year.

I didn't even mention the wonderful hospitality of the family who allows us to stay in their farmhouse.......

[Toespi]

Thanks for sharing!

[Dog Gone]

I went deer hunting this past weekend in east Texas. It was one of those corporate hunts that is supposed to be more about networking than hunting.

But one of the invited guests was the father of the Forestry Museum in east Texas, and if he wasn't 85, he sure looked it.

We had to help him with eating, getting out to his stand, even taking the safety off the gun.

He had been a regular guest of this hunt for at least 40 years, and he obviously loved it. He was a gem, far too old to be much of a threat to the deer population, but he was doing what he loved.

I'm not sure he'll be there next year, but your post certainly rang a bell with me.

[Vigilantcitizen]

"But then I knew. For him hunting had never been just about getting his buck. It was the unexpected privilege of seeing nature at it's best. What hunter hasn't sat in awe on seeing a mother deer with her fawn or having a brave little chickadee perch on the bill of your cap or the barrel of your gun? There is a peacefulness that forces you to see with your soul, not just your eyes, the beauty that is before you.

Thought my FR fishin' buds might enjoy this.

[Gritty]

What a great story!

[jslade]

I've got six points 30' from my back deck. Once upon a time I would have shot them. Now I regal in their beauty. I can get my meat at the grocery store.

[Brian Allen]

<< We are so lucky to have been a witness to peace and order that is far beyond our understanding. >>

Amen .....

Bump/Ping

[Redleg Duke]

Thank you so much. It says it all in a beautiful way! I can identify with every word with the men of my family, Grandfathers, Dad, Uncles, et al!

Until you have seen sunrise on a deer stand, experienced the excitement of the appearance of any deer, and the cold, numbing feeling as you sit so very still...you haven't experienced life the way God meant it to be!

[American in Israel]

Tears in my eyes, I miss the woods so. This is something the ecologists will never know. In all my days in the woods, I met prospectors, hunters, loggers, men who loved the land and lived in harmony with it.

But ecologists and developers seem to live in the city. Where ever they go the blight of man is left behind. Before they were just the ones that left tin cans in my mountains, some how now they figure they own them and lock me out of where they do not go.

All the better to let it burn I guess.

Sons of Satan, those who worship Creation rather than the Creator. The distruction of their father goes where ever they touch.

But those special places, they are still there. I just will never tell them where they are. And they, behind their desks in the cities will never find them.

The secret is safe with me. Sometimes the gold is best left in the mountain.