ORIGINAL: BigJ71

Well...My upbringing was "slightly" different than most here.

Igrew up on the south side of Chicago, went to a public school in Chicago Heights that had almost 1,000 kids......in the graduating class! I survived bitter race wars and can remember mass brawls in our school when I first arrived as a freshman (1979). They subsided by 1981 but it for sure wasn't the most friendly school to go to. I hung out where most kids did in and around big cities....I stayed out of trouble for the most part but I had my share of run-ins. That's life in the big city as they say.

My father was a camp director for a boys school and I spent all of my summers from the time I was 6 months old till I was 17in the far...far north woods of Wisconsin (Sawyer Co.) I camped and fished along the East fork of theChippewa River. I learned most all of my outdoor skills in those woods.I hunted them for years (and still do) took my first bear up their. My dad was an outdoorsman and showed me (and my brothers)how to live off the land, how to hunt, how to canoe, sail, shoot, and archery.

I received a full football scholarship to BYU in the fall of 1983. Their I spent the better part of 5 years hunting in the Wasatch mountains on the western edge of the Rockies. I continued to hunt while in school.

Even though I was born in the city and grew up their I spent a lot of my time in the country, It's more comfortable and peaceful to me and will always be my core. I must say though, having been raised in both "environments" has made me more.......well lets just say"cultured".