by Doug Bahrenfuss

stock photo of crow

Now that I’m older I like to look back at my life growing up.  There were so many ups and downs I remember. Top of the list, when I graduated from high school, was the Viet Nam war. A guy 18-20 years old wasn’t sure at that time what your future would be like. The military draft was in full swing, so your life had the possibility of changing at a moments notice. That being said, I have fond memories of when I was 15-16 years old of throwing a gunny sack of crow decoys over my shoulder, grabbing my shotgun, and some days walking 15 miles just to hunt the”black bandits”, a nickname we had for crows, since they are known for invading the nest of other species of birds and destroying their eggs. Today there is a hunting season for crows, but years ago you could hunt them year round, and even collect a bounty on the ones you could bag.  My decoy spread was pretty slim, mainly to cut down on extra weight to carry, usually consisted of about  5 crow and 1 owl decoy.

When I first started to hunt crows, to learn the art of calling, I bought a 45rpm record of instructions. I’m sure it drove my Mom up the wall when I would put the record on the player and turn up the volume, then sit in the living room and copy what I was hearing on the record. I’m sure that’s the reason she never tried to stop me when I grabbed the bag of decoys and gun and headed out the door for the entire day.

These days I don’t know anyone that still hunts crows, but for me, my brothers, and brother-in law, in those days, looked forward to summer crow hunting as much as we did pheasant season opening day. It was great family time together, time outdoors.Another sport we enjoyed as a family was squirrel hunting. It was a perfect way to get youngsters that were too young to carry a gun the chance to be in the outdoors and enjoy nature.  The kids didn’t know it at the time, but they were a real asset when it came to squirrel hunting. The adult with the gun would stand motionless at the bottom of the tree while the kids walked to the opposite side.  Many times the squirrel hiding in the tree above would creep around the limb to avoid the kids, but doing so would reveal himself to the shooter.   All in all the kids were the perfect teammate to the hunters.

What made squirrel hunting even more enjoyable were the recipes my Mom and sisters had for cooking them.  Many times we would all get together for a delicious squirrel supper, which made everything special.  These days I don’t know anyone that hunts squirrels on a regular basis.

Seems like when we were young my brothers and brother-in law could always find a reason to hunt.  Summer meant running a series of gravel road bridges, stomp on the bridge and wait for all the pigeons to come flying from under the bridge. It was a great way to practice your shooting before pheasant season.

We also had friends that were farmers and also raised cattle.  Many a summer sunday afternoon we would grab the 22s and walk the river pastures they had for their cattle with hopes of putting a striped gopher in our cross-hairs.  It was a fun time, plus the farmer was happy to have the little rodents thinned out some.

Seems like only yesterday I watched my young son become an avid hunter himself, and we would tromp through heavy cover with his hunting dog, waiting to flush out another rooster pheasant. One of  my best memories was of being with him when he shot his first deer with a bow. On the flip side of that feeling was realizing how quickly he left me “in his dust”  when it came to dropping a pheasant out of the sky, and also shooting nice bucks with his bow season after season.

Although it may seem like only yesterday, my son is grown with two boys of his own. Even my Grandsons have a way of , from time to time, of leaving me in “their dust” when it comes to catching fish or shooting a nice tom turkey. But it’s just as enjoyable for me to watch my son or his boys battle a fish on their line as it is to catch one myself. It’s just the next generations to enjoy the sports in the outdoors that we grew up with.  In the years to come they will someday be able to look back at their “Good Old Days” and also re-play some of their fond memories, that’s what makes it all worth while.

MEMORIES  ARE PRICELESS !!!!   Enjoy the outdoors.