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1952: Walking With My Popum ...
zipperzap
Member Posts: 25,057
When a young child is born into a hunting family, he/she has dreams of one day going along on that first hunt. If that child is a part of a loving family he/she will gaze into the souls of their father or grandfather with astonishment and wonder.
Do you remember how it felt when your father or grandpa held your hand, and took you into the woods for the very first time?
How you felt so secure and safe, no matter how intimidating the tall timber was.
Remember, that first BB gun your grandpa taught you how to shoot, the first time the BB hit it's mark, made you and grandpa oh so happy.
The smells of the woods, how intense they were when you were a child. The sounds of the birds or a dog barking of in the distance would stir up images of wild beasts, but it didn't matter, you and grandpa were on a hunt.
The memories of being taught about nature, how to read an animals track, how to walk through the woods reading the natural signs of nature, all this shared and passed on from generation to generation.
The special moments when grandpa would reach into his pocket, pulling out a snack or a piece of jerky, that the two of you ate while sitting beneath an old oak tree.
That first drink of cold, clear, clean water that ran down the hollow, the first time you tasted birch bark or wild fruits.
As a young child it wasn't even important to see game, or fire a gun, it was just so exciting to be with grandpa or dad.
Some of us are getting older, we may have sons or daughters, or maybe grandchildren that we can share with them some of the memories from the past.
Our world is changing and in no time the hunts and skills from the past will be gone. There is less and less interest by the youngsters, the world is becoming smaller in that areas to hunt freely are few and far between.
Take a child by the hand and spend some quality time with them, so that they too when reaching the older age of life, can reflect back to their happy times in the hunting woods with dad or grandpa.
My grandfather lived by choice the life of a semi-hermit with other hunter/fishermen down over the marshes of Ship Bottom. He also raised/trained German Shorthair'd Pointers. Popum used to come to Philadelphia and we would walk in the woods. He was taught all about 'gunning' by his father, and his father by his father, a veteran of Gettysburg and other Civil War battles. Popum would tell me stories that went back at least a hundred years or more that had been told to him by his father when he was a boy. Sometimes he'd tell me about the terrible Huns, trenches and gas attacks. Often I do the same thing with T'nT (Tris and Trev) - my two youngest grandsons. They both listen carefully and never tire of the stories. I would love to be around to hear their 'grampa stories' one day, but that will probably be something I will miss, as all those before me.
I'd give anything to relive a walk in the woods with my popum.
Time keeps on slippin.
Do you remember how it felt when your father or grandpa held your hand, and took you into the woods for the very first time?
How you felt so secure and safe, no matter how intimidating the tall timber was.
Remember, that first BB gun your grandpa taught you how to shoot, the first time the BB hit it's mark, made you and grandpa oh so happy.
The smells of the woods, how intense they were when you were a child. The sounds of the birds or a dog barking of in the distance would stir up images of wild beasts, but it didn't matter, you and grandpa were on a hunt.
The memories of being taught about nature, how to read an animals track, how to walk through the woods reading the natural signs of nature, all this shared and passed on from generation to generation.
The special moments when grandpa would reach into his pocket, pulling out a snack or a piece of jerky, that the two of you ate while sitting beneath an old oak tree.
That first drink of cold, clear, clean water that ran down the hollow, the first time you tasted birch bark or wild fruits.
As a young child it wasn't even important to see game, or fire a gun, it was just so exciting to be with grandpa or dad.
Some of us are getting older, we may have sons or daughters, or maybe grandchildren that we can share with them some of the memories from the past.
Our world is changing and in no time the hunts and skills from the past will be gone. There is less and less interest by the youngsters, the world is becoming smaller in that areas to hunt freely are few and far between.
Take a child by the hand and spend some quality time with them, so that they too when reaching the older age of life, can reflect back to their happy times in the hunting woods with dad or grandpa.
My grandfather lived by choice the life of a semi-hermit with other hunter/fishermen down over the marshes of Ship Bottom. He also raised/trained German Shorthair'd Pointers. Popum used to come to Philadelphia and we would walk in the woods. He was taught all about 'gunning' by his father, and his father by his father, a veteran of Gettysburg and other Civil War battles. Popum would tell me stories that went back at least a hundred years or more that had been told to him by his father when he was a boy. Sometimes he'd tell me about the terrible Huns, trenches and gas attacks. Often I do the same thing with T'nT (Tris and Trev) - my two youngest grandsons. They both listen carefully and never tire of the stories. I would love to be around to hear their 'grampa stories' one day, but that will probably be something I will miss, as all those before me.
I'd give anything to relive a walk in the woods with my popum.
Time keeps on slippin.
Comments
As opposed to an old child being born into a hunting family.....[:D][:D]
The woods and the local farmers fields were open to hunters. His shotgun was a single barrel Stevens 12 ga. I used this shotgun until
I was about 15 years old then upgraded to a double. Even though my days of hunting are over I still recall how great they were.
Too bad you didn't pay attention zipper, you might have learned something to pass on to your own children.
Oh, I have. I've warned them about phonies like you.[8D]
Thanks for sharing!!!
Pa