On 4/24/24, the greatest hunter I ever knew passed away. This was not just any hunter, he was truly gifted as an all around outdoorsman. He was my dad.
As I grew up, and grew to know him as the man he was, it was not until later in life that I realized just how special he was.
Sometimes, well, most times, you never really realize what you have until it’s gone. You never really understand that the special moments you share with your friends and family are just what they are. And that’s what we refer to as the good old days. The good old days are just fleeting moments in time that you can never get back. No matter how far you go in life, you always find yourself wanting to return to a time when life was much more simple. A time when things made more sense.
My dad was a hunter’s hunter. He was what most hunters aspire to be. He was dedicated, determined and dependable. The word quit was never in his vocabulary. I just wish I could amount to even half of what he was as a man and a hunter. For both of those things go hand in hand. You can never be great at anything, without first being a great person. And he was both a great man and a great person.
When I was a young boy, he taught me just what it took to be successful in both life and in what you love to do. And we had some great times in the field together. Whether it was hunting whitetail deer in the fall, or turkey during the spring, I always knew I was being taught by the best. I just wish I had retained more than a small fragment of what he showed me along the way.
I won’t go into detail on his vast accomplishments in the things he loved the most, but what I will say is, I will miss him forever and will always wish we had spent more time together. For the time that was lost, was completely my fault, and not his. He would’ve gladly spent way more time with me than we ultimately spent together. But sometimes, well, most times, a young man just doesn’t put the most important things in life at the top of his list. And for that I am truly regretful. I love you pop. And if we ever get the chance to do this life over again, I promise I will spend more time with you. You, at the very least, deserve that.
