For me, it was my step-dad's Brother who got me into Hunting. Till this day i still call him Uncle Tony, even though my mom is divorced. Heck i see my uncle tony more than i do my step-dad, my real dad died when i was 8 and my step dad was my dad's best friend. When i was 12 years old, i went to Winchester Ky, my uncle had a marlin 30/30, there was a "real"deer camp there that my uncle belonged to.

I can remember till this day, how those men drank straight from the fresh creek that roared thru camp. All had rifles, big men with big bellies who drank alcohol at night and coffee in the morning in the deer stand. I carried a bucket full of things for my uncle, and there was this huge hill we had to climb to get to his spot and i carried the bucket, and it was heavy!!! He shot a dandy 8pt on that day, never forget it.

I have learned alot about hunting thru this man and his old methodic way of hunting and aspects on life. Today, i must say I AM a better hunter than he is today, not sure about when he was my age or a litte older, but i always get a nice buck and he either goes home empty handed or with soemthing at the last minute, he really just enjoys being out there. Ill share something with you that makes me almost cry as I write this right now.

We were rabbit hunting on our property in brown county, Uncle Tony just shot the first rabbit of the season, there was a fresh blanket of snow just fallen on the forest floor, and we just sat there enjoying the moment and he said "Mike, promise me something, Promise me that you will always bring me up here, dont leave me in some nursing home to rot, i love this place." As i wiped a tear from my cheek without him noticing, I simply said " I promise Uncle Tony, I promise".