As I said before I was born and raised a "city" boy. My grandfather, a Sicilian immigrant, lived in a rural area. He used to take me fishing for whatever was in the local streams. We usually only caught carp and other fish that did not taste very good. This was a wonderful time for me to learn about the outdoors. As I grew up I started to enjoy this time with my grandfather and he taught me how to shoot a .22 rifle and shotguns. My grandfather used to take me in the woods and show me where the tracks were and how to track the animal. He mostly hunted for rabbits and squirrels so that was what I learned about. In the early '70's there were lot's of pheasants in central NY so he would take me along with him when he went hunting. I really do not remember all of our successes but most of all recall that wonderful time we spent together. Through my teenage years there were more important things than hunting. As that time passed, so did my oppurtunities to learn from my grandfather. He died in 1987 and never he knew my appreciation for the outdoors. I miss him dearly and wish I could share with him my experiences. I never did any hunting or fishing while I was in the Marine Corps or in college until I went to my wife's (then girlfriend)camp(SEE PAGE 2). That first trip was a nightmare. The county road to the gate to their road was rutted and the center of the road was crowned. This hurt the transmission to my car. It took an hour to go 15 miles. Then I had to go the 2 1/2 miles back on our road, needless to say I was not impressed. Then I went fishing for brook trout and caught a few nice ones. I also had an allergic reaction to the hundreds of misquito bites I got. But the most interesting thing that happened on that trip was the three deer that came up to the edge of our pond and fed while I was in a boat 30 yards away! I thought that hunting would be easy up there.
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