Where the heck did it go!!??
 

I was posting some pics last night when suddenly it hit me............ there were 40 years difference between the pics!!!

Where did the time go so quickly? Wow! It seems almost like yesterday, when I got my first compound bow. Well below are the pics that brought this lost time lapse to my attention. Although, you really have to admit, there is not much difference between the two except maybe the whiskers and I got my braces off. Otherwise, I've aged quite gracefully!! ;)


1968



2008



Going from tan, painted coveralls from my dad's work (my work too) to Ultimate Camo, a 35# Recurve to a high speed compound, hunting from the ground to state of the art tree stands, wow! Back when I started we had to travel up north to find deer. Now they're everywhere. Hunting licenses were a buck, and now my Ill license cost $450!! [:@]

I remember hunting on my own for the first time......."Hey, here's a trail, let's hunt here". No real reason, it just looked good. Paging through magazines just looking at the pictures and dreaming to buying books and every subscription of deer mag imaginable! Almost all of my rabbit, squirrel and pheasant hunts ultimately turned into deer hunting or scouting! I couldn't help it! Deer just fascinated the heck out of me, they still do! [:-]

Who knows what the future will bring? I will be chasing big whitetails for a while yet but my future will find me managing them on my own piece of land. That is what I am really looking forward to. I wouldn't trade this journey of mine for anything! I doubt I could find something that could make my heart beat as fast as it does after seeing and shooting a deer. Some people just don't understand.;)

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Um......the deer is a little bigger too.;)

I hear ya though bud....where has the time went??[&o]

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Nice post Greg, I often ask myself the same questions and feel the same way. I also hope to share your journey via the forums for some time to come as well. Good Luck.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

26 years of hunting for me. I wasn't even born yet when that first picture was taken.I was the following year so in all I'm not that far behind you. You are right it doesn't seem like that long ago I was wrapping my hands around my first set of antlers,24 years ago on December 23rd right after school. I haven't scanned any of my pics in from back then. I might have to do it some day.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

The time goes fast my friend. I was thinking about that the other day while I was on stand. You should give yourself some time to reflect and let me hunt your land in the meantime [8D]:D

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

I'm glad your happy with your journey, I SURE WOULD BE TOO!

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

I hate to break it to ya Greg but my PARENTS were only3 years oldwhen you shot your first buck!:DOh how things have changed...

I can only dream of the day thatI get to reflect back on 40 years of hunting, god willing, that day will come.

You have accomplished much man...I mean Sir.:D

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Where did it go. Hmm. When you were shooting your first buck I was sitting in a bunker going through something called Tet, 1968.I was the leader of a recon platoon doing some huntin. WEll really, I was in a mobile bunker out in the Que Son Valley, RVN. People today don't even know what it was. I came home in Decand went bow hunting. From that point on... all was well with the world.8 months later I was back in the Que Son hunting again with 200 people at my command. It goes fast. I came home and went bowhunting. All was well in the world at that point.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

What you need to do is take your bow out from 1868, I mean 1968 and crush something with it today. While you are at it try to recreate that same photo down to the smallest detail, get some fake braces today. Davidmil thanks for your service and even though I had four more years to go before I graced this great country of ours I am familiar with your referrences.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Landon had a post recently about how things changed or something like that. I started thinking back over the years. What a trip it's been. I can still remember climbing up in that big oak tree next to the clover field on my first hunt. No stand, I just sat on a limb. I killed a fawn from that tree with my American archery Cheetah, 2016 gamegetters, satalite braodhead, Lewis release. I think my bow was cranked up to 35#:D.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Good for you Dave, now go pick your zits. :eek:

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

One of my best reads...

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Pretty damn good thread Greg, almost everyone thought so anyway.[8D] I've only been at It for 24 years so my time don't compare to you but I still ask my self once In a while where time goes. It Is crazy, but man It's been fun. I have a feeling It's going to be just as exciting If not more the next 24 years.

Good stuff Greg, you've got some great memories. Well done!

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Greg:

I still rmember where I was standing when I said one day....."that was 30 years ago". That's been a few years, now.;)

They go by faster and faster......they really do.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Way to fast and I find myself doing the what if way to much now. (Father for sure)
My oldest son turns 12 on Christmas so the day after we will be going on a deer hunt with
a gun in his hands. At this age I believe in 1 gun between the 2 of us so he can have my
full attention.

Greg do you still have that bow from 68?

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

I was around in 1968, but my hunting back then was for rabbits and squirels. Hadn't discovered the deer hunting yet. I didn't start chasing them until 1975. But I still have fond memories of the beginnings also.

You are certainly right about it seeming like only yesterday, but it was a looooong time ago. There sure are more deer around now than there were back then. Makes that recurve buck seem that much more respectable.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Great post Greg!!! We were just talking about this the other day, it has been 33 years bow hunting for me. Heck when I started bow hunting in 1975 you had to be 12 years old and you couldn't even hunt from a tree you had to be on the ground. Walt

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

I bet I was born within 20 days of you taking that buck Greg.:D I didn't hunt deer untill later in life, when I got out of the Navy in 1995. We just didn't have a huntable population up untill then. I did hunt about anything else I could, from early in life. Doves, quail, rabbits, turkey, coyotes, prarie dogs, you name it. My first doves were killed with my dads Browning A-5 12 gauge when I was 10. Killed two with 6 shells. That year he let me shoot whatever he had left out of a box after he killed his limit. Limit was 12, and I usually got to shoot half a dozen times or so. Yeah, he was pretty good with a shotty gun back then.:D

I don't know where the time goes though, I turned forty a few weeks ago. Made me start thinking about alot of things and changed my focus on hunting. It's not so much about me right now, but about my children. My youngest son will be 12 this year, and he is looking to kill his 6th deer. Time is slipping away from me. By the time he goes off to college his little sister will be about ready to be getting started.

This was me and dad, circia 1978-79

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Greg...yes, you are getting old. Let's see what the next excuse will be that you can post the picture of your massive drop tine buck.[8D] lol

And if you move back to IL, your tags won't cost so much!!

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

LOL, Greg is that a slingshot I see hanging out your right pocket? Dennis the Menace in the flesh. Yeah, it goes by fast. After 21 it blends together in one long seemless memory.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

I keep telling my wife I want to get rid of her old cat, cause she's not cute anymore.
You were a good looking kid!
Ha-ha! :)
Maybe a little hair gel, cig behind the ear and rip the sleeves off your shirt then you could be one real cool dude

You could always tell me to shut-up and that "my bucks bigger than your is" na-na!;)[:@]

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Yes I do! I also have my first compound bow, a round wheeled, wooden riser, steel cable Martin Warthog Magnum.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Dude, that is my trusty, $1.25, Dimestore hunting knife.


I still have that as well.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

I didn't realize Martin made bows that far back. Wasn't Jennings, Browning one of the 1st? My dad still has his 1st bow from the 70's. I can't remember the name of It but man It's a boat anchor with hardly any let off.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

That far back!!????? [:@][:@][&o][&o] 1983...... I was a late starter.

RE: Where the heck did it go!!??
 

Late starter? LMAO!!:D You must of hunted with your recurve for a few years then I take It.