I am a 6% ER. What I write is not for sympathy or pity but as a warning to everyone that reads this. Please bear with me.
I really starting hunting waterfowl as a kid. It was my passion. I would hunt them in the am before school. Come home early and hunt till dark. I hunted every day I could.
My other passion was coon hunting. Which led me to meet my best friend and best hunting partner (after my wife) a guy could ever have . His name was Frank Grosky. He was much older than I. Frank served with 5th army 91st mountain div and fought the Po River campaign in Italy ww2 .A finer man never lived.
Well Frank liked to deer hunt and we started hunting together . We made so many great memories hunting coon, deer and turkeys.....
One night coon hunting Frank told me he really wanted to kill a moose. This was in the late 80's . I told him I'd check around and see what was out there. We settled on a fly in Newfoundland Canada hunt.
That whole summer I hiked to work with sandbags in my pack . One day the neighbor came out and said "Jeff what the hell you doing?"
I told him that I was getting ready to go moose hunting.
He said "geeze I always wanted to do that. But I got married, had kids, bought this house, now look at me, all broken up, I couldn't go if I wanted to."
I PROMISED MYSELF THAT WILL NOT BE ME!
Following that moose hunt, I hunted everything I wanted. Some multiple times. Hunted some of the best places before they were the best places including the Gila in NM and the Milk River in Montana.
One year my wife and I bought a beautiful property with a house in need of a lot of work. That summer my wife had foot surgery so I made the cellar livable while I worked 40-60 hours a week on my business and came home and worked until I dropped. Late August I was almost finished on the house. It was a hot long summer. I called Terry Holiday (Holiday Air) to ask if he could squeeze me in for a drop off bou hunt. He said no problem and we set a date.
I went home and told my wife I set up a DIY bou hunt and I was going for 10 days in September . Like all wives she was concerned on me going alone. So I played the card "what happens if they find cancer at my next physical and I didn't go?"
She was reluctant but gave her blessings and I went. Had a great time too. Killed a nice bull and had a pack of wolves find the kill site and they serenaded me at 3 am. I digress....
Sometime shortly after that trip, I was in the shower and my wife came in. She said what the hell is on your back? Turns out it was the first of five tumors they took out of my body......
After that I had a heart attack and flat lined.
The last four years I have had three operations on my spine and I am scheduled for two more.
My point, there are no guarantees .... You never know. But at least I can look back at all my memories and be happy I did everything I wanted when I could.
My favorite hunt, dall sheep in Alaska !
My bucket list: nothing
Like Buzz my joy comes from introducing others to our sport and watching their success. Watching my nephews kill their first antelope, priceless. God willing I have a few more trips in me. But if I go today, I don't have to wonder what it's like to hunt fill in the blank. I did it ! I wish you all the same.
