First off just wanted to say hi and thanks for everything. I've been on here for a good while and there's been quite a few times that people have helped me and don't even know it. I haven't posted very often but I do enjoy just reading through threads and seeing what people's opinions are, mainly on gear and equipment. I'm going to try and keep this short. My name is Russell and can't put it into words the passion I have for hunting and fishing. I don't know why I am so obsessed but I think about it every day almost every waking moment. I'm always trying to improve myself my knowledge and my equipment. Whether it's practicing with my bow or rifle, working hard in the gym reading books, scouting, it doesn't matter I want to do it. There is nothing more satisfying to me than working my butt off and beating the odds. It's not all about success but I love the moment when everything comes together. I'm from Tillamook, Oregon and grew up hunting blacktails, mule deer and Roosevelt elk and fishing for salmon and steelhead. I'm 22 years old and married to a great woman going on three years as of yesterday. I got my first job when I was 9 years old on a dairy farm down the street that I rode my bicycle to, starting wage was 1.50 an hour and I was proud haha. I worked for him for something like 8 years. When I was 14 I went up to Alaska for a summer to work for a Salmon fishing lodge camp on the Nushagak river. I was just a camp hand and it was more fun than anything I had ever done. I worked hard long days and didn't get paid much but I wasn't there for the money. The man that owned the camp sort of took me under his wing a couple years before that and helped guide me in the right direction. Unfortunately after we got back from camp that year two weeks later he drowned in the Umpqua river. I didn't return to the Nushagak until two years later, this time to a different camp, it was great but not the same. After I finished high school I wasn't that interested in college at the time, and didn't have a clear future. So I called a recruiter and at the age of 18 I was leaving home and headed off to bigger and better things via U.S. Army and it was the best decision I ever made. After my BCT in Missouri and MOS training in Alabama I ended up with Ft. Stewart, Ga as a duty station, I have been to Afghanistan once and it really opened my eyes big time. There are a lot of deer and hogs and the bass fishing is great here in Georgia, but everyday I think about hiking up and down mountains or rowing my drift boat down the river looking for that steelhead that hits the 20 pound mark. Also I'm happy to say that I will be moving back to the northwest in December, I'm going to fort Lewis in Washington so I'm pretty excited about that. I was fortunate enough to grow up about a miles walk from the Wilson river which gets outstanding salmon and steelhead runs every year which eventually led me to my first driftboat purchase when I was about 12. My mom wouldn't let me take it out by myself but my dad and I would go all the time. I eventually proved I could handle rowing rough water and after a few years my mom was a little more comfortable about me the neighbor kid and another friend of mine tackling the river on our own. I will never forget the first drift we were successful, it was one of the best feelings I had ever felt. We did it all on our own, our fish was a perfect chrome bright 30+ pound Chinook caught on a Kwikfish. That was the seed planted inside of me that started it all I think. from that day on I used every opportunity I had to be either hunting or fishing and haven't looked back since. Anyways that's a little about me and thanks for reading!
definitely better than Washington State!! HAHAHA
