Author Topic: Memories of the Wild (Read 1649 times)

bearmgc · « **on:** February 03, 2010, 01:32:37 PM »

I was 37 before I discovered Wyoming. It has held my heart ever since. Yeah I spent a short time in there trying out Colorado, but had to come back. I've also hunted most of my years alone. Being a woman, I got my share of comments and stares, even in Wyoming. I've climbed mountains, and watched storms below me, packed out deer and elk alone, camped and sat shivering on a remote forest edge, waiting for the first light of the hunting season. I've fallen out of early morning tree stands, while bears came to bait sites. I've had my share of grizzly sightings while flyfishing, and packed out camp in minutes when a wildfire was looming. Now I'm pushing 60, and looking back, there's noooo way I would accept a daughter, if I had one, doing what I did. I have a son pushing 40, who never got connected to the wild like I did. He was off to college before I could blink, and off to a big city job in no time. He says he never worries about me, cause "you know what you're doing"...heehee. If he only knew, adventure is unpredictable. Even the 4 wolves that stalked and approached me this last deer season, I hadn't a clue. But , something has changed. I'm backing off the mountain, and hunting gentler country, and hunting less. I think I'm getting old. I'm gonna miss the wild. Just a thought.

sk330lc · « **Reply #1 on:** February 03, 2010, 01:43:19 PM »

I would have Loved to Have a Mother That would have shared The outdoors with Me. Don't Get me Wrong I love My MOM and all the Memories of the stuff we have Done. But that would have been special if she would have hunted and fished with me.

Cabin4 · « **Reply #2 on:** February 03, 2010, 01:45:11 PM »

You've done more than most people and have experienced things that some will never understand or appreciate. There is something really unique about being in the woods alone or with others. At 60, your doing more than most and you must be in good health. I've always said I would rather die a brutal death in the woods than peaceful laying in a bed.

Good for you and you should feel good about what you've accomplished. I have run across women alone, women with man, women with women, daughters, etc in the field. I hold no barrier or different thought towards them. I'm glad to see ya all there because we share a common interest in continuing our heritage. What could be wrong with that? (rhetorical questions)

bearmgc · « **Reply #3 on:** February 03, 2010, 01:56:38 PM »

Thank you sincerely. My son did a few early years of camping , fishing and hunting with me, but it never took. But the move out West was not really what he wanted, and I accepted that. I never found another man I was interested in enough to marry again, and my son accepted that. The good Lord brings us what we need, and I figured He just thought I could go it alone. I'm grateful for the experiences, yet must admit, spending it with a man I loved, would have made it supreme. Life is what it is.

hillbill · « **Reply #4 on:** February 03, 2010, 02:50:26 PM »

yu cant make a child live like yu do, only show them the life yu prefer and why yu prefer it.the knowledge yu give them will always be there.they may need it in the future.my children dont live like i do but know how to do it if necessary.yu will be surprised how many will return to what yu showed them.

bearmgc · « **Reply #5 on:** February 03, 2010, 03:19:08 PM »

Good words hillbill. At least they know it, in case they need it.

Dee · « **Reply #6 on:** February 03, 2010, 03:28:56 PM »

bearmgc, I had a grandmother that taught me to fish, and was patient with me when I was with her. My dad was busy doin his own thing, and workin, and my mother, although a good Christian woman was not in the slightest, interested in the outdoors.
But I loved the woods the first time I stepped into them, and would sneak off an go any chance I got. I learned to stalk and skin a squirrel on my own. A friend taught me to field dress a deer, and common sense taught me to how butcher it. I seemed to have a natural knack on how to set a trap, recognize game trails, the way things worked in the woods. Maybe it IS being half Cherokee, and maybe it is hereditary. I have no idea. I hunted a couple times with my Cherokee grandfather before he died, and I think that's where I got my love of it. He did.
When all my friends wanted to play sports I wanted to go to the woods. I played the sports awhile but the woods wouldn't leave me alone, and I gave'em up, and went back to the woods..
I learned to hunt alone, and fish alone. I was an only child, and had no one to draw from but myself and my mistakes, determination, and common sense.
Now at 60 years old, I go huntin, but I am happy now just Jeepin in, startin a small fire, makin camp coffee, and sittin on a stool with my back to a tree, and a good Winchester layin across my lap. Ya just never know what might walk by in the quite. It ain't half bad. I just walk a while, and set a while.

bearmgc · « **Reply #7 on:** February 03, 2010, 03:48:21 PM »

Dee, the old song "God bless the child who's got his own" really hits home. You made your way. I appreciate your insights. I'm chewing on the idea of accepting my limits, and doing that sittin' and walking thing, to enjoy what the wild still is. Yeah, yeah what is it about making coffee on a campfire? I just love it. Thanks, I needed that.

Dee · « **Reply #8 on:** February 03, 2010, 04:15:35 PM »

Quote from: bearmgc on February 03, 2010, 03:48:21 PM

Dee, the old song "God bless the child who's got his own" really hits home. You made your way. I appreciate your insights. I'm chewing on the idea of accepting my limits, and doing that sittin' and walking thing, to enjoy what the wild still is. Yeah, yeah what is it about making coffee on a campfire? I just love it. Thanks, I needed that.

Right back atcha bearmgc. Your post tells that you actually have been there. My wife of 22 years loves the woods on good days, but I like'em rain or shine, and she always encourages me to go. when the notion hits me.
It's really all that's real any more, isn't it?

bearmgc · « **Reply #9 on:** February 03, 2010, 04:27:17 PM »

Yes, I believe so. You got ya a good gal there. Be good to her, as I figured ya do.

slim rem 7 · « **Reply #10 on:** February 04, 2010, 03:20:31 AM »

bearmgc.. all i can say is what a woman.. i compliment you on your life,, lived as you chose ..slim
im gonna remember your name an be sure an read any of your post.. id hate to miss one ..now that i know more about you..

bearmgc · « **Reply #11 on:** February 04, 2010, 04:56:01 AM »

Bless you sir. Kind words, thanks.

rex6666 · « **Reply #12 on:** February 04, 2010, 05:45:08 AM »

A rare breed indeed, I have known one other woman like you. she was fun to hunt and fish with, has as nice as anyone, and tough as a pin knot. We ran together from the time
we were8-10 years old, broke my heart when she up and married at 26
just never thaought she would. My loss. I am 62 now, both my kids love
the outdoors and all ways have My daughter can out do her brother on lots
of stuff in the woods, and does not let him forget it.

Oldshooter · « **Reply #13 on:** February 04, 2010, 05:58:17 AM »

As they say now "You go girl" Good post, I enjoyed the read! My wife is a country girl that loves to go on the hunts and be in the outdoors. She can shoot too! You dont wanna mess with her and a 39A marlin lever gun!

Thanks for the Post, Ma'am!

bearmgc · « **Reply #14 on:** February 04, 2010, 06:13:01 AM »

Guys, thanks for letting me share my thoughts, makes an old gal feel good. The outdoors has always been a big part of my life. I never got stuck much in vanity, but ability was most always my focus. While I still have decent health thank God, the general physical declines have just thrown me off balance. I've been an RN for many years, and it works on the joints and the back, running on floors that don't give much, for 12hrs. But the kind words and your gentle inspiration have surely built my hope and confidence, to tackle the great mountain of age with grace. I am most appreciative.

powderman · « **Reply #15 on:** February 04, 2010, 07:47:01 AM »

I started hunting riding on my Dads shoulders. I was lucky to have a Father, who was also a wonderful Dad. He's been gone 33 years now, and theres not even ONE day I don't think of and miss him. POWDERMAN.

Sourdough · « **Reply #16 on:** February 05, 2010, 04:17:55 AM »

bearmgc: We have a lot in common. I spent years working an odd shift where I was off when everyone else was working. So I ended up hunting and fishing by myself. I moved to Alaska back in 1971, and have been doing everything usually alone. Now I am retired and everyone I know is still working. So at 60 I am still going it alone. But I have noticed I am slowing down.

Last fall I packed a Grizzly hide out on my back to the 4-wheeler. It took two weeks to recouperate. I find I pass taking Moose and Cafribou when alone. Animals I would have taken a few years ago, but now I just don't want to do all that work alone. I still go out alone, and enjoy seeing the sites, just as much as I ever did. It's just I don't now do the same degree of traveling. I don't alwaysw climb to the top of the moutain, I'm content with the view from half way up.

williamlayton · « **Reply #17 on:** February 05, 2010, 04:32:19 AM »

Bearmgc
You sound like my mother a lot.
After my dad sied she never remarried. Now she was not an outdoors person but she was independant.
She told me it was easier for a woman to make a home alone than a man--and, she is correct, though I have know men that preferred the single life.
It is what it is, is a very good and understandable statement--that is the way I have treated life, without looking back too much.
I have enjoyed the reads and the tales--it is a fun ride.
Blessings

SHOOTALL · « **Reply #18 on:** February 05, 2010, 04:51:55 AM »

Lots of good things here , If i had to live in town it would be like jail. My kids have shot ,camped , hunted and fished since they were born or so it seems .

bearmgc · « **Reply #19 on:** February 05, 2010, 11:49:21 AM »

Sourdough, holy cow! A grizzly hide. Did you flesh it out and tan it yourself? I've got a bison hide from one I shot, but I had help on that one, along with quartering it as well. Grizz hide gotta weigh more than bull bison hide. You got Grit! I live in a small town so not too bad, but winter is almost like jail for me, mainly Jan and Feb. Then I climb out inspite of the snow and go flyfishing the tailwaters. Used to make quilts in winter.

kynardsj · « **Reply #20 on:** February 05, 2010, 11:58:41 AM »

bearmgc, for a lack of a better way to say it, you sound like a Hell of a woman. If you were closer I'd love to share a cup of campfire brewed coffee with you and listen to you tell some stories that I would surely enjoy.

littlecanoe · « **Reply #21 on:** February 05, 2010, 05:52:09 PM »

bearmgc,

I enjoyed your posting. I was thinking about your experiences and the passion that comes through in how you share and express the pleasure that those days brought to you.
I would suggest that you start writing a memoir or book. You may have a good product sitting there staring at you since most such books are written by men.

lc

Clodhopper · « **Reply #22 on:** February 05, 2010, 08:40:55 PM »

My Grandmother taught me how to farm and grow food. Also how to skin squirrels and deer. My Grandfather died when I was 10 and I lived with her until I left home. She never remarried, said it took too long to housebreak and train a man where he was worth anything and she didn't have time (to busy raising me). She used to wake me up at night and send me out to shoot whatever (possums, bobcats, coons) was messing with her chickens. Pretty good training for a 10/12 year old boy. Not too long ago a fox started getting my chickens here. I decided since they wasn't laying eggs he could have them. Rather have the fox in the neighborhood than the sorry chickens. He makes a good neighbor. Grandmother would have whipped my butt!

Now that I'm 62 I have also slowed down some. I can still make to the top of the mountain (the little one behind the house) it just takes me longer. I think that I see more game now a days because i spend more time looking and less walking.

Not too many women our age have lived the life you have bearmgc! Congrats, you done good!

Sweetwater · « **Reply #23 on:** February 05, 2010, 10:02:07 PM »

Seems like late 50's and early 60's is where good sense takes over and reminds us we are not 25 anymore, male or female. I've had to quit surveying this winter for that very reason. A day in this mountain terrain working, and I need three days to get my knees and ankles unswollen and out of pain. Been sort of glad for the winter layoff, but we haven't had any snow to speak of and the temps have stayed pretty much in the high 30's and low 40's. and no wind! Now to figure how to earn a living for the next few years, nothing to retire on, so like a lot of others. LOL

Fly fishing the tailwaters - with the wind or against the wind? LOL really just kidding. I tried fly fishing the Green River between I-80 and the Seekskadee Refuge and the wind just played havoc. I did like it in on the Sweetwater River and hunted those Big Sandy Openings some. Actually did most of my fishing on New Fork Lake and Louis Lake. Mainly hunted between Meadow Lake and Boulder Lake with deviations to all the other areas of interest between the Utah Border and Hobart Jct (south to north) Dempsey Ridge, Pomeroy Ridge through to LaBarge Creek and into Snyder basin and back onto Deadline Ridge; Horse Creek, Greys River areas and then also south of Green River and Rock Springs to the border. Dearly loved the Louis Lake area at South Pass - where my first elk and a lot of trout came from. I should have run into you somewhere, but I sure don't recall. My wife's first husband took the desire to hunt out of her, long story, but she loves to go with me as long as I don't get into the real steep, rough stuff. She sees more game than I do and, after 13 years now, is developing some interest in having her own big game rifle, again. There are plenty in the rack for her to choose from in proper calibers and some are even fitted with small stocks. Her choice will be HERS. She does have two 22rifles and a 45Colt Bisley Blackhawk that she is deadly with in standard loadings.

My sister came to Wyoming (alone) 10 years ahead of me (1975) and hunted the Raspberry Ridge area North of Bondurant. She really liked it up there. We are both gone now, and she has become a city girl again, at 62. I, however, at 60, simply refuse to be citified and get out in the wild as much as the budget will allow.

My wife's mom has been riding a lone trail for some 30years now. Said her late husband was the best and she couldn't accept anything less. Just not worth it to her. Makes sense to me, if that is the choice taken.

I spent 5 years alone in Wyoming, between wives, and they were lonely and some of the best and worst of times in my lifetime. Freedom of choice was probably the singlemost standout best part of it. No one to argue over why I ......... just didn't happen. That part was great. A lot of the rest of it was between there and the pits. I just really don't like to be alone. I salute you for the life you've made, and what you've done with your choices. Your son may show up someday, in full pack. When we were kids, my sister didn't even like to go to our cabin at the lake. She weren't country 'til she got to Wyoming and found out it was survival. Choices. She was there 16 years or so and learned a bunch about the wilds and loved it. Now she's spent nearly 20 years in or on the fringe of a city and has left the woods for good. She was here for Christmas and loved riding around Lake Pend Oreille and riding up Schweitzer Mtn to the ski lodge. Had no interest in getting out and hiking or doing any shooting. Just not there anymore. Hope I don't ever get there.

Now, I've digressed quite a bit, but then I tend to do that. Hope we do meet someday, maybe a hot cup of coffee over a small fire at noonday. Never know. My son is engaged to a gal from Riverton, though a date has not been set, that I know of - LOL. I did find out last month that my daughter in Denver is planning to marry in Sept of 2011. That gives me time to put in for the 2011 Elk Season and my choice is area 100, though will be dictated by the Wyoming big game lottery. That takes me from the Green River to Jeffrey City and I-80 to the Lander Cut-Off, unless that has been changed in the last few years.

Life in and around the wilds has been a great ride. Glad you are on it. (I tip my Stetson to you).

Regards,
Sweetwater

slim rem 7 · « **Reply #24 on:** February 05, 2010, 10:58:35 PM »

i believe your mother was right william about men needing a partner mabe more than a women..
i know when my 33 yr. marriage ended,, after semi getting over the shock to the system..that takes a while,im telling you ..i sent word to my ex,, by the grapevine before i started looking again ..
that i intended to do so,an hoped she would..a person ought not be alone..but she never has,, i don t think..
shes tougher or less needy than myself..
i ll alway love my first wife ,,i don t let my kids doubt it for a minute..but just a case of to many bridges crossed an too much water under the bridge ,,finally took our being best friendship,, away from us..
we just grew further apart each day,,after a pretty big break in trust at about the 25 yr. mark..
no it wasn t infidelity.. was money management that planted the seed that finally took our marriage down..
always two sides to every sad story like that..
but this man does need a women,,by his side.. best creation god has ever come up with in my opinion.. slim
..ps now to you people thinking about marrying,,or young marrieds....trust is the glue that can only be broke by one or the both of you ..
don t break it for any reason..two people can handle anything if the trust is solid between them..i believe that..

bilmac · « **Reply #25 on:** February 06, 2010, 01:58:20 AM »

I'm a loner too. Got lots of good hunter & fisher friends since we've moved back to western Wyo, and I'm afraid I may offend them at times, but I just like to be by myself most of the time. I'm 65 and I put in for another moose license this year and If I get one it will be by myself. I figure I can bone it and pack it a little bit at a time if that is what I have to do. I don't have to be back to work by Monday anymore.

I bought a piece of ground last year and it requires massive amounts of work. I am finding out that if I am moving and keeping busy the joints feel better than when I sit around too much.

My kids, a girl and a boy, aren't into the outdoors much either, they know how to do it and I guess that's all I owed them. They are both taking up gardening though. Maybe it's better that they are a little tamer than me, I would think that trying to be a wild man like I was would have a lot of disappointments today compared to the way things were 40 or 50 years ago.

bearmgc · « **Reply #26 on:** February 08, 2010, 03:58:01 AM »

Wow! I just got back from my 3 nights of work to find all these wonderful stories! I do truly enjoy reading them. Oh, Sweetwater, I was probably either a half mile upstream or a half mile downstream from ya most of the time.

I sure do wish to God, that I could share a cup of java with each of you, and trade the stories, and hear the history from first hand, with all the richness that has filled your lives. Thank you for the inspiration.

Sourdough · « **Reply #27 on:** February 08, 2010, 12:03:44 PM »

Bearmgc: For a person who has been in the outdoors as much as you have, I'm sure you have some stories to tell. Again I wish I could sit and share a campfire, and share experiences with you.

As for the Grizzly hide, It does not weigh as much as a Buffalo Hide, not near as big. And while I fleshed it, I took it to the tannery to have it tanned.

burntmuch · « **Reply #28 on:** February 08, 2010, 12:14:04 PM »

Bearmgc. I believe you are sitting around a campfire with friends telling stories. Thats how I look at this site.

Id rather be walking in the woods right now. But this helps when cabin fever kicks in

Sweetwater · « **Reply #29 on:** February 08, 2010, 12:57:07 PM »

Quote from: burntmuch on February 08, 2010, 12:14:04 PM

Bearmgc. I believe you are sitting around a campfire with friends telling stories. Thats how I look at this site. Id rather be walking in the woods right now. But this helps when cabin fever kicks in

Nice Touch! Pass the coffee, Please? Would you like another roll? It's overcast today, but no rain or snow. What kind of winter is this anyway - no snow! rhetorical questions - no response requested

LOL

Regards,
Sweetwater