JohnCushman
Well-known member
I've been on here for 8 years now and haven't done one of these posts. So, I suppose it's about time...
My name is John. I'm originally from near Rochester, NY but live in South East Colorado now. I was a combat medic, retired from the Army after combat tours in Desert Storm, Bosnia, and Iraq. I started out my career as a corpsman with 2nd Marine Division, then got out and went in the Army. I was wounded in Iraq in my second IED, which ended up being an ambush, and I was shot twice while taking care of the other guys in my vehicle. I ended up with multiple brain injuries, a shoulder that was pretty much torn apart, nerve damage in my left arm, 4 herniated disks which are now fusing together in the wrong place, shrapnel in my knee and shins, and a sweet scar on my right cheek, plus the two bullet wounds and the Army and VA say I'm batshit crazy. I fought my medical board for 2 1/2 years, but was finally medically retired after 15 years.
I started shooting a bow at age 12. I found an old recurve in my grandmom's shed and started shooting it. I got to where I was shooting squirrels out of trees and decided I was good enough to hunt big game. I started hunting whitetails with a bow a few years later. The land I was able to hunt only let me shoot does, so I went to work on the population. My mother didn't want guns in the house, so all of my hunting was done with that recurve. I went to bootcamp a few days after I graduated high school, and that kinda put a damper on my hunting while I was in. I was out of the service for a few years, but I was working 2 and 3 jobs to make ends meet, so I didn't do very much hunting. I moved to Colorado when I retired from the Army because I watched all of the shows on TV with elk hunting and antelope and mule deer and whatnot and wanted to do that. I bought my first compound bow and rifle and haven't looked back. I'm still mostly a bow hunter, but have no problems taking the rifle for a walk. I finally shot my first branch antlered buck about 7 years ago. I have shot several antelope with a bow and rifle and muzzleloader. I'm 0-8 on archery elk, but it's my own fault and a story in to itself. I shot a couple of cows on private land tags. I have branched out to other states and have hunted in WY, MT, and OK. A bear is next on my list of animals I want to hunt seriously. I always get an archery tag, but mostly as a just in case tag. I have taken a bunch of turkeys with my bow, and a couple with a shotgun.
I founds hunttalk while watching an episode of On Your Own Adventures years ago. I was a total recluse back then and this was the biggest 'social' interaction besides facebook. I jumped in here full bored and made an ass out of myself a lot of times. I was a real asshole for a while and I know I ran people off the site, and was pretty close to getting kicked off of here a few times. I calmed down and became the kinder gentler Cush and life has been much nicer. I started fly fishing to get me out of the house, then I reluctantly started meeting people from here and hunting with them. It was a huge leap for me. I started out with a couple of antelope hunts, and made friends for life and hunting buddies. I got in to the bear hunt and it has been an amazing thing for me. To have a group of people so socially diverse accepting me with my quirks and anxiety has been very theraputic. Randy surprised me with a deer hunt to Montana this year. It's such a powerful experience for me I decided to try to put together an elk hunt this year.
So, this is me...
My name is John. I'm originally from near Rochester, NY but live in South East Colorado now. I was a combat medic, retired from the Army after combat tours in Desert Storm, Bosnia, and Iraq. I started out my career as a corpsman with 2nd Marine Division, then got out and went in the Army. I was wounded in Iraq in my second IED, which ended up being an ambush, and I was shot twice while taking care of the other guys in my vehicle. I ended up with multiple brain injuries, a shoulder that was pretty much torn apart, nerve damage in my left arm, 4 herniated disks which are now fusing together in the wrong place, shrapnel in my knee and shins, and a sweet scar on my right cheek, plus the two bullet wounds and the Army and VA say I'm batshit crazy. I fought my medical board for 2 1/2 years, but was finally medically retired after 15 years.
I started shooting a bow at age 12. I found an old recurve in my grandmom's shed and started shooting it. I got to where I was shooting squirrels out of trees and decided I was good enough to hunt big game. I started hunting whitetails with a bow a few years later. The land I was able to hunt only let me shoot does, so I went to work on the population. My mother didn't want guns in the house, so all of my hunting was done with that recurve. I went to bootcamp a few days after I graduated high school, and that kinda put a damper on my hunting while I was in. I was out of the service for a few years, but I was working 2 and 3 jobs to make ends meet, so I didn't do very much hunting. I moved to Colorado when I retired from the Army because I watched all of the shows on TV with elk hunting and antelope and mule deer and whatnot and wanted to do that. I bought my first compound bow and rifle and haven't looked back. I'm still mostly a bow hunter, but have no problems taking the rifle for a walk. I finally shot my first branch antlered buck about 7 years ago. I have shot several antelope with a bow and rifle and muzzleloader. I'm 0-8 on archery elk, but it's my own fault and a story in to itself. I shot a couple of cows on private land tags. I have branched out to other states and have hunted in WY, MT, and OK. A bear is next on my list of animals I want to hunt seriously. I always get an archery tag, but mostly as a just in case tag. I have taken a bunch of turkeys with my bow, and a couple with a shotgun.
I founds hunttalk while watching an episode of On Your Own Adventures years ago. I was a total recluse back then and this was the biggest 'social' interaction besides facebook. I jumped in here full bored and made an ass out of myself a lot of times. I was a real asshole for a while and I know I ran people off the site, and was pretty close to getting kicked off of here a few times. I calmed down and became the kinder gentler Cush and life has been much nicer. I started fly fishing to get me out of the house, then I reluctantly started meeting people from here and hunting with them. It was a huge leap for me. I started out with a couple of antelope hunts, and made friends for life and hunting buddies. I got in to the bear hunt and it has been an amazing thing for me. To have a group of people so socially diverse accepting me with my quirks and anxiety has been very theraputic. Randy surprised me with a deer hunt to Montana this year. It's such a powerful experience for me I decided to try to put together an elk hunt this year.
So, this is me...
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