CreekJumpersOutdoors

What a great question for all of us who enjoy the outdoors. I know all our stories will be different but they all tie in to the true roots of what it means to
be an outdoorsman. Here is my story.

One of the most memorable times as a kid is my dad waking me up so early it was still dark outside. We are from Mississippi and Hunting deer with dogs was and
still is tradition. We would get up at an hour most are still passed out asleep. Load the dog box in the truck and start loading the dogs up one at a time. We
usually would have four to six walker dogs in the truck ready to go. It would be so cold that i would turn the heat up all the way in the truck and burn my dad
pure out. I know now from having my ow kids that he was burning up. But because i was cold he just dealt with it. Once getting on the road We would stop for a
sausage biscuit at the local gas station where most the local hunters go on the way to the woods. I'm sure you can all relate to a spot like that in your
hometown. Once fueled up and back in the truck my dad would reach down and turn on the cobra cb radio. If no one was talking he would key up the mic and yell
"Somebody put some fire in the wire". That was my favorite part as a child. Listening to everyone chime in with all the cb handles aka nicknames they had.
Shoot to this day I still don't know some of the guys we use to hunt with by their real name. As we made our way to the national forest and everyone picked a
meeting spot... I would start to get even more excited. We would all be out of the trucks waiting for daylight to break and be planning how we wanted to make a
drive on a certain section of woods. There was now plenty of light in the sky and I could see the frustration on my dads face because everyone was still
talking. He would break the conversations up as he stood up on the side of the truck and yelled "Lets go boys, Ya'll can get each others phone number We got
deer to kill". I would run and get in the truck all fired up and ready to go. Once everyone was in place we all would radio check in and let whoever was turning
their dogs out know we are ready to go. This time it was our turn. I was still pretty young so i would stand on top of the dog box so i could see over all the
underbrush as my dad dropped the tailgate. Those high energy Walkers would be so pumped up they would let out a yelp as they hit the ground. My dad would start
walking down into the woods with the dogs. He let out a few really loud "whooooo" and a "Heeeeeeaaaa" "Heeeeeaaaa". As he was telling our dogs " "Ya'll get em
up now". The dogs would be in front of him just tearing the woods up. I stood on dog box looking down into the woods as hard as i could. Focusing on my dad and
the dogs. My heart beating so fast with hopes that a deer would come running by me. By this time my dad had made his way back towards me so i climbed down and
was standing in the tall pine forest. Looking to my right at a clearing where I stopped for a moment and said a prayer that God would let a buck deer just run
out and stop in that clearing. All of the sudden our dogs started barking down the hill. My eyes stretched wide and ears listening to see which way they would
go. My dad just down the hill to my left yelled "here they come son get ready". I pulled my 20 gauge up to my shoulder and held it on that clearing. The dogs
started getting closer and closer. It sounded like they would be busting out of the woods at any moment and run over me. The adrenaline i was feeling was just
insane. I heard some crashing i the woods coming straight to me. All of the sudden I see a Deer jump out into the clearing. It stopped and looked right at me.
Horns standing tall, dogs sounding like a storm coming. I pulled the trigger. At that moment my dad came running. I made my way to the deer that just fell
straight down. It was a small seven point buck. To me it was the biggest buck that ever lived east of the Mississippi. I looked at my dad and the look on his
face was proud. We both grabbed it by the horns and drug it out to the truck. He drove showed that deer off to everyone. We drove to family members homes and he
would tell them the story again and again. That day is a day i will never forget. It ignited a Passion in me that no one could put out. Being an outdoorsman is
more that just going and killing animals. It's about the love for the hunt, It's about passing down the torch to the next generation. For me being and
outdoorsman is about spending time teaching my kids what my father taught me. I don't hunt with dogs anymore. I only hunt from a blind or a treestand. But When
i take my kids hunting and i see the look on their faces as they watch the woods wake up and they get to hear the calming sounds of the outdoors... I just sit
there and think. This is what it means to be an outdoorsman.