I began hunting after my dad retired from the Navy and we moved back to his home town in Wi. Just south of Norwalk up on St Marys ridge. It was back in 1990 when I began hunting. I started out with a an old Sears bolt action 20 Ga. Goose gun. I love that old gun, everything but the kick from a 2 3/4 rifled slug. When i was 18 I bought my first rifle, an sks, shortly after that I won a special edition Mossberg 500 12 ga. I hunted 6 years before I got my first deer. My dad taught me so much about hunting even though the Navy kept him from doing it as much as he would have liked. I hunted the first 6 years on the ground, after I met my wife I built my first stand on her families property, soon to be mine. Opening day for me on stand is a feeling that comes every year and hope never goes away. The smell of the frost on the trees and ground, with the hint of doe estrus and buck in rut in the air. No matter if its bow season, or gun season, it doesnt matter, the feeling is the same. To me its not the hunt thats important, its spending time with family and friends. I could care less if I get anything or not. Thats what I was taught. My dad taught me so much but I owe most of my success to my father in law and nephew Mike. Frankie has taught me so much over the years. Not just on hunting, but how to be a better person, husband and sportsman. Mike put a bow in my hand back in 1997 and got me hooked. Frankie retired a couple years ago from the only job he ever had for over 23 years, then the plant closed down. Mike worked for AO Smith in Milwaukee most of his life and retired from there but is now back to work for Cummings in Wautoma. These 3 people in my life are very important to me and have taught me so much. Im 33 and will soon be passing what I have learned down to my son. Thanks Dad, Frankie, and Mike.