fishing4sanity
Well-known member
We recently said 'goodbye' to a great family friend. Cal was 87 years old and his health had been bad for the last few years, so his passing was not a surprise and he very much wanted to go. I just wanted to pass on what a great mentor he was to me. When I was a young teenager he took me fishing and when it was time to go, he pulled out two garbage bags and gave me one to help pick up all the trash that others had left behind, as a kid I didn't want to pick up other people's garbage - I wanted to fish until the last possible second! Anytime I fished or hunted with Cal we picked up garbage, and now I do the same when I take my grandsons fishing. On another occasion I was goose hunting with Cal and a very large flock of Canadians was circling the decoys, I was waiting for Cal to call "take 'em" but he didn't say anything. The birds kept circling the decoys, I was beside myself wondering why we weren't shooting, then something made them flare away (probably me rubber-necking uncontrollably at all those geese) and we never even shot! I was dumbfounded and there was Cal, grinning ear-to-ear, talking about what a marvelous experience that was just to watch and listen to all those geese. Now, when I hunt with my sons I sometimes find myself watching them shoot at the geese or ducks instead of shooting for myself. Cal didn't always catch the biggest fish or shoot the most geese, but he was the best sportsman I knew and I'm a little better sportsman because of our time together.
