To Fathers, and Grandfathers.

There's a picture of my grandfather - rather, there are multiple pictures of both of my grandfathers; some are photographs, and some are just memories held by me alone. Still, there is one in particular that holds a deeper meaning for me. In it, my grandpa Joe holds a stringer of fish proudly above his shoulder - hoisted like a prize trophy given at the end of a great race. He was well dressed and neat - a condition my dad would later teach me as "strack" - military slang for well turned-out or neat. Proud and clean, he claimed his trophy that day. There were other trophies too; the walleye mount on the wall of their single-wide in Garrison, or the buckshot that resides in his leg to this day. In his working years he was an HVAC man. Hard and ready for work, but he has been and still is a gentle soul who gardens and knows how to care for a rose.
My grandpa John has been gone for a few years now - the actual date softened in my young mind by time, but the stories I have heard of hunting grouse at the family cabin near Remer, MN are strong in my mind. The many miles my grandfather walked with my dad and uncles, with police-auction guns, heavy with a days worth of beating the brush, and the memories savored of a crisp autumn day. My Grandpa John was a singer, and a more beautiful voice in a man I cannot think of. He sang with the Apollo Club of Minneapolis. Slight through all the years I knew him, he was a man of the strongest character, if not the most prominent physique.
My forefathers - my idols growing up - have included my grandfathers: well-rounded men who have embodied far more than pure machismo, they are men who are diverse in their interest, abilities and knowledge. I'd be remiss if I didn't include my own father, too; and while I find it more difficult to pay tribute to people who had to spend more time disciplining me than others, my own dad has come to embody the same things I revere in my grandfathers. Well into my own adult years, the times I truly cherish most with my father are the ones that are the most simple. A day beating the underbrush for grouse, a day of empty skies on the Upper Mississippi, or hauling in fish after fish of pan-sized sunfish beats any other day out there.
I think that's the thing that has become more apparent the older I get - that the concerns of our youth give way to the respect and understanding of adulthood. My grandfathers have always stood as a symbol of what a man should be to me; strong and kind, with a capability for things far greater than their own self. My idols live for their families and treat others with a powerful kindness. Still, they would want no place on a pedestal - my grandpa Joe still gets a twinkle in his eye when he sneakily give you a punchline, and one of my favorite memories of my father is him telling me as we traversed a rough section of hill with some sort of trailer that the reason I was along was to be the voice of reason (The older I get, the less likely I am to be the voice of reason oddly enough).
I'm not yet a father - but I hope daily that I can live up to the examples given by my grandfathers and my own father when I am. These men have taught me a respect for the outdoors, and in an ever-changing world, that there is a place for time in the woods. So, on this Fathers' Day, I pay respect to my Fathers.

*This is a tough time of year time-wise for me if you wish to be a part of sharing your hunting experiences or add, please contact me. Until later, please bear with me until things slow down a bit.

What it's about.

I started hunting - really hunting - the week my grandfather died. It was never really part of my life in a meaningful way until that time. I shot guns, I fished, I spent a hell of a lot of time outdoors. While many kids grew up in the confines of a city, I split my time: able to reference one from the other.
This is a tough time of year for me - far too many hours spent indoors, THINKING about what it's like outside. Recent weather in MN has been unseasonable, and that is disappointing; but being IN it, is still better than being OUT of it. I work in an indutry that value outdoors, but I think the adage of the quickest way to get off a bike is get into the biking industry is close to the truth.
I am selling my truck. Currently not actively, but this summer, I will be without a vehicle. It's economical, it's prudent, but it's not me. This decision has forced a lot of questions: what do I NEED? What can i live with? WHEN do I need something different? WHAT sort of impact am I making for my future, and one day, my children? I'm a pragmatist - I know that climate change is inevitable, but I do not know what causes it. I am aware of my potential role and will move to change it, but am not convinced that it is completely man-made. Still, I want to lessen the impact in the short-term.
I recently completed "Let My People go Surfing" By Yvon Chouinard, the founder of Patagonia, and I also watched 180º South on an unrelated spree. I think the questions posed about our effects on the earth are worth asking. How do we impact our world, either positively and negatively? Further, how do we minimize or mitigate this?
I want more of this. I want this to be a spring board for experiencing our natural world; raw and uncut. I wish for others to experience the world in unedited splendor, as I have. Life, Death, Sorrow, Joy and conservation. The only way to experience the way this world was meant to be is to EXPERIENCE it. As a community, we can do it. What role do you play?
My time is tight this time of year: but not so tight that I cannot make time for people wanting to experience the outdoors. Do you want to hunt or fish? Do you want to share your knowledge? Let's talk, it's time we created more stewards for the land.

Name that fly!

A short post, but here's some of the results of this weekend's fly tying. It feels good to get back at the vise after taking last winter off. Sad to say my tying cement has nearly dried up. With more in hand though, I should be able to get a few more attempts in this winter before the call of the water is to great to resist.

The off-season

This time of year is a hard one. It's what people in the North some times refer to as "soft weather" - too cold to paddle, but too warm to travel safely over ice. Obviously this is less true the further you go north, but for now we're all staring down the barrel of soft weather in the next few weeks and months. For me, it's the hardest time of year - I wish I could remember who to attribute the quote to, but someone said that they pitied the person who didn't paddle a wooden canoe in the winter (or at the very least a own a wooden paddle) because they had nothing to do.
This time of year, you are likely to find me tying flies for fishing season, refinishing the odd paddle, or tending to the season's gear that needs tending. Sometimes I will create a project, like the one in the works for the past two years to create a GPS pocket on my bird vest so I can track my distances.
Tonight I sat down with some of the things that make the off season great. The fly tying vise, a cocktail and my dog. The few flies I tied were serviceable but nothing special - my company was quiet, keyed in on her treat of pig's ear from the butcher. But, come spring, a trout or a panfish will rise to my ugly flies and may become dinner.
In the meantime, pull up a chair, have a drink - this is the time when most are ready to get out the house, but if you;ve been active all winter, a break is a good thing.
Still, I need a wooden boat to work on.

So, you want to hunt?

Now's about the time to get to the meat of this all. We NEED to get other people hunting, and at the very least, we need to get more participants in fishing. Why? For starters, we are raising a generation who are unaware of the natural world around them. minds occupied only by technology and heading towards a society that is incapable of experiencing the natural world.
It shouldn't be this way - and it doesn't have to be. First off, I would like to extend an invitation to take anyone hunting that has done their proper learning and gotten their licenses - I will take you hunting in a safe way, I will teach you any tricks I can, and I will show you what I love about getting out in the woods, marsh or prairie.
All I ask is that you bring a license, a desire to learn, and a willingness to work. If you're over 18, you have a lot of resources available to you to learn to hunt - all in the comfort of your own home. Each state is different for requirements, but it is safe to say if you're under the age of 35 you will likely need some hunter education. I haven't checked on every state, but huntinfo looks a good place to start if you're not familiar with your state's governing agencies.
There is so much to be learned afield - values that are scarce in much of our world: patience, honor, hard work and more. This is not a lament on the state of our society but a call to reclaim what gives us pride. To know that we are a part of this world, more than just a parasite. If nothing else, it is a call to return to something I think is well summed up by Robert Service in the poem "The Call of the Wild":

They have cradled you in custom,
They have primed you with their preaching,
They have soaked you in convention
Through and through;
They have put you in a showcase;
You're a credit to their teaching —
But can't you hear the Wild?
— It's calling you.
Let us probe the silent places,
Let us seek what luck betide us;
Let us journey to a lonely land I know.
There's a whisper on the night-wind,
There's a star agleam to guide us,
And the Wild is calling,
Calling . . . let us go.

It starts with you wanting to see more, to do more. I'm more than willing to take people into the woods, wetlands and prairies. The future relies on conservationists and sportsmen.

Paying to play - the state of hunting in America

One of the goals of this project is to be apolitical as much as possible. Not for fear of discussing the issues, but because in my experience, hunting does not and should not be partisan. Issues do arise, however, that directly affect all of us - and as sportsmen and women we must deal with them.
A recent article in the Minneapolis Star Tribune talks about hunting costs and the Minnesota DNR's potential need to raise license fees.
Here in MN, I pay about $35 dollars for a basic "Sportsman's License" that includes small game hunting for me and hunting and fishing for my wife. In comparison to other things out there, this seems a drop in the bucket, and in my opinion, well worth it. If you look at it across the board, it does become costly to participate in all seasons available of hunting. Licenses are a small portion when compared against fuel, lodging, equipment and ammunition, to be sure. But one thing we need to be concerned about is how much is too much?
For many of us passionate about the outdoors, there may be no limit to how much you would spend to play, but there is definitely a point at which other parts of your life would suffer for it.
We need to consider everything from the vantage point of barriers to hunting, especially to new participants. Is there a point at which YOU would stop - or alternately, what season would you not participate in because of license fees?

Beginnings

Above my dad's desk sits a photo, taken one day during the week my grandfather died. Grinning ear to ear and draped in blaze, I hold in each hand a ruffed grouse. This is my beginning. I had hunted before then, but it is often said that fishing is not called "catching" for good reason. Those birds were the first I got and a one-two punch that made me come up swinging for more.
I firmly believe my grandfather had a hand in leading us to those birds because it was on the same roads that my dad had walked as a child hunting with his father. It was also what led my dad back to hunting.
For me it's the connection to the history of our family and a pride of place that originally led me to the woods in the fall. As I noted before, I came to hunting in college, and being of an age where there were virtually no barriers to my entering hunting, it was a simple proposition to get involved. I was raised in an urban environment, as many people are these days so we didn't hunt. We fished because we could and memories of walleye caught on Mickey Mouse toy rods are at the beginning of those memories. Having had the opportunity to work with youth and summer camps, I have seen first hand what the power of fishing can do to a kid who has caught their first fish, and I saw it in me, the first time I got a grouse, a deer or a duck.
We live in a society where barriers are present and people don't get outside enough let alone participating in hunting or fishing in a way that can help them understand the world in which they live. What I hope to build is a community where others can break down those barriers, because our world NEEDS more hunters - or at the very least people who have hunted because the understanding of so many things can be traced back to our nature as human beings.
I want to expose people to hunting who otherwise would not have the opportunity, I want to help you find you the resources and training you need to participate, and I am more than happy to take someone afield.
Drop me a line, this is where your journey can begin!