adams.....I'll have to agree with you. Some of the finest moments I've had in the woods was when I was without a weapon or did not take a shot. There's just something so surreal about nature when you just sit back and watch the things that take place.....simply amazing.

On a side note, one of my fondest memories was when I took my first wild quail over my first GSP (that's him as my avatar when he was about 5......about 4 years ago...one of the greatest hunts I ever had with him!) that I trained when I was 13. I'd shot a few pen raised "training" quail over my dog, but taking my first two wild quail over the first dog that I had trained just tops the cake. I still have the two shells that I shot those two quail with too. My dad has never been big on deer hunting, so I was more so raised on bird hunting with GSPs. Still love the bird hunting I spend with my dad (even though it's not as great as it was when I was training my first GSP) but I have many many fond memories in the fields with my dad as well as in the woods by myself.

KEEP THESE STORIES COMING!!! I love this thread.......this is what true hunters thrive on!!