rtraverdavis
Well-known member
Hey everyone.
I've meant to do this for a few weeks now--introduce myself properly, rather than just sit back and read what you all are posting. I've never been part of a forum before, but I have a lot of respect for Randy Newberg, and this Hunttalk Forum seems like a really cool thing. Just a little background on myself:
I'm a 34 year old teacher, husband, and new father (not necessarily in that order) from Vancouver, WA. I grew up hunting and fishing, but really only took to hunting in 2015. Growing up, my dad loved to hunt and would take me with him in search of deer or elk in the fall, but I mostly spent my time sleeping in the truck. I just didn't get it. Fly fishing was my thing. With fly fishing, there was always something going on. It didn't seem that way with hunting. But last year I joined my dad for a mule deer hunt in central Oregon and killed my first buck. It was sort of traumatic at first--I made a bad shot because I was over-confident in my shooting abilities and had to track the buck over the course of a day. I eventually found him and killed him at close range, but I felt terrible for the pain I'd inflicted because of my arrogance. My dad helped me dress him, and told me stories of similar experiences he'd had, and as the deer went from being an animal to being meat, something sort of came over me. Rather than let that experience turn me away from hunting forever, I felt this deep drive to learn from my mistake and to try to do better the next time. The next morning, I watched my dad drop a buck with a single shot, and that sealed the deal. We both had meat for our families, and I had a new obsession. Since then, I've been like a born addict who's found heroine. I've tried to learn and absorb everything I can about hunting big game in North America, hence finding this forum, and hence this lengthy introduction. Last month I went back to the same unit I where I screwed up last year and killed a nice buck with one double-lung shot.
I'm very interested in conservation and want to get involved. I've recently become a supporting member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and RMEF and would love to get together with other members of those organizations (or others) from SW Washington to see how I can contribute to the efforts for preserving public lands and habitat for the critters we love so much. I'm a pretty busy guy between my job and my family life (my daughter is five months old, is my other obsession besides hunting, and hates sleeping) but if anyone out there can point me in the direction of a local chapter meeting, I will do what I have to do to participate. Thank you. I'm glad to be here.
-Randy Davis
I've meant to do this for a few weeks now--introduce myself properly, rather than just sit back and read what you all are posting. I've never been part of a forum before, but I have a lot of respect for Randy Newberg, and this Hunttalk Forum seems like a really cool thing. Just a little background on myself:
I'm a 34 year old teacher, husband, and new father (not necessarily in that order) from Vancouver, WA. I grew up hunting and fishing, but really only took to hunting in 2015. Growing up, my dad loved to hunt and would take me with him in search of deer or elk in the fall, but I mostly spent my time sleeping in the truck. I just didn't get it. Fly fishing was my thing. With fly fishing, there was always something going on. It didn't seem that way with hunting. But last year I joined my dad for a mule deer hunt in central Oregon and killed my first buck. It was sort of traumatic at first--I made a bad shot because I was over-confident in my shooting abilities and had to track the buck over the course of a day. I eventually found him and killed him at close range, but I felt terrible for the pain I'd inflicted because of my arrogance. My dad helped me dress him, and told me stories of similar experiences he'd had, and as the deer went from being an animal to being meat, something sort of came over me. Rather than let that experience turn me away from hunting forever, I felt this deep drive to learn from my mistake and to try to do better the next time. The next morning, I watched my dad drop a buck with a single shot, and that sealed the deal. We both had meat for our families, and I had a new obsession. Since then, I've been like a born addict who's found heroine. I've tried to learn and absorb everything I can about hunting big game in North America, hence finding this forum, and hence this lengthy introduction. Last month I went back to the same unit I where I screwed up last year and killed a nice buck with one double-lung shot.
I'm very interested in conservation and want to get involved. I've recently become a supporting member of Backcountry Hunters and Anglers and RMEF and would love to get together with other members of those organizations (or others) from SW Washington to see how I can contribute to the efforts for preserving public lands and habitat for the critters we love so much. I'm a pretty busy guy between my job and my family life (my daughter is five months old, is my other obsession besides hunting, and hates sleeping) but if anyone out there can point me in the direction of a local chapter meeting, I will do what I have to do to participate. Thank you. I'm glad to be here.
-Randy Davis
