Great post by the way!!!

The "Old Man" taught me to hunt. He had me out there when I was still in diapers. Gun Safety and a gauntlet of excercises and tests before I was allowed to touch a firearm, much less hunt with one. He gave me a lot of very fond memories, but due to geographical separation, we don't get to hunt together much anymore. We talk about our seasons over the phone and recall hunts past. My uncle passed away 2 seasons ago of cancer and neither of our seasons have been the same since. I always remember how we'd sit around the wood stove the night before opening day and plan the next days hunt, dad and uncle Pete would tell stories of big bucks pat and build up the anticipation in a youngsters mind, only to cause me to be so sleepy the next day I probably had hundreds of deer walk past and never knew it. I really miss hunting with him, especially since I have 2 boys of my own. I've got a baby girl that'll arrive in March just a few days before the turkey season opens. My dad's never turkey hunted, but we're going to fix that, and I've got 4 long beards mapped out and he'll have first shot!