Alright, but I'm not going to count words. If asked who was the most influential person in my life as far as hunting goes, the answer would be my maternal grandfather. Grandpa John was born in 1890 the son of a poor Dutch immigrant. With seven siblings and tough times, Great-grandpa Peter could not afford to buy or raise meat. Grandpa John told me he knew how to fish before he could walk. By the time he was eight or nine, Grandpa had trap lines and snares set everywhere he could find. He told me that every night there was fish or meat on the table, his parents would thank the Lord for the meat on the table. Grandpa did not get his first gun (a .410 shotgun) until he was hired as the constable of the community he lived in. When I was 3 or 4 (depends on whose story you believe, Mom's or Grandpa's) Grandpa taught me to fish. When I was eight, he taught me to shoot the .410. He taught me several rules to hunting and fishing too. They are: 1. Never kill for the sport; 2. Only shoot: a) what you intend to eat; or b) an animal that intends to do you bodily harm. 3. Never take credit for the food that the Lord puts on the table; 4. Never step onto another man's land without his permission; 5. Never point a weapon at anything you don't intend to kill; and 6. Always leave the area better than you found it. When I was nine years old, Grandpa gave me that Winchester .410 guage shotgun. He told me that there was a lot of responsibility to owning a weapon. He told me that if I took care of it, it would help put food on the table, but if I didn't take care of it, it could keep me from putting food on the table or even kill me. That was what seemed to be a heavy burden to carry at that age, but I accepted it. Grandpa John took me fishing and hunting up to the week before the Lord took him to sit at his table. Years after his passing, Mr Fleener, a farmer who owned a pond where we used to go fishing told me that yearsbefore I was born, Grandpa John used to eat apples every time he went fishing. When he got to the core, he would dig a hole next to him and plant the core into the hole. The farmer asked me to come by the pond and see what Grandpa had done. When I got there, one whole side of the pond had an apple orchard that Grandpa started! Mr Fleener informed me that there were many other ponds in the Poweshiek and Mahaska counties of Iowa that had orchards just like his. Everytime I go hunting or fishing, I plant a seed, or pick up trash left by someone else, or do something else positive for the land. I praise the Lord for every deer, pheasant, turkey and fish he puts on our table to give our family the strength to do his will. Notonly everything I do in the areas of hunting and fishing can be attributed to my Grandpa John, but also everything my son does as well. If I could tell Grandpa John one more thing...I'd tell him again how much I love him and how I hope I taught my son half as well as he taught me. Then I'd take him fishing just like he used to take me.