Gerald Martin
Well-known member
- Joined
- Jul 3, 2009
- Messages
- 8,324
I've been sitting on this story for a while, waiting for the intersection of time and inspiration. Since it seems like that is happening, I wanted to share a few thoughts.
I've read studies over the years that indicate people are becoming more isolated from real relationships due to involvement in social media and the internet. While I can understand some of their concerns, my experience has been exactly the opposite. This reality was illustrated by a chance encounter my daughter Olivia and I had this fall with another Hunttalker.
We took a trip to southwest Montana for opening week of rifle season with my father-in-law and several brother-in-laws as part of a family camp/hunt. Our objective was to try and get my father-in-law his first elk. He has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease for several years and is seriously limited in how he can get around in the woods. He had requested we try a family camp as an opportunity to spend time with each other and have a good time.
I have hunted our chosen area in archery season for many years but never in rifle season. I knew it was going to be crowded opening week but never in my wildest expectations anticipated the hundreds of hunters and camps that lined the valley. I know there are also plenty of elk so we stuck with our original plan and tried to work around and with the crowds. As was to be expected, there were far more hunters camping and road hunting than there were out beating the brush.
Our elk hunting was nothing to write home about, one missed bull and some close encounters among our group. I hunted with Olivia almost the entire time and even though we put in several miles each day we were unable to penetrate the two to three miles it took to get into where the elk were pushed to. Hoping to give her and opportunity to fill an extra tag if the opportunity afforded, I had picked up an OTC whitetail doe tag for Olivia.
Our group called an end to the hunt on Thursday morning and each of us headed for home. Olivia and I decided to stick around for a couple hours and try to get her doe. The whitetails hold in the thick willows along the river bottom and my strategy was to put her on stand and make small pushes past her. We weren't the only ones with the same idea that morning and had a guy on horseback push the willows right in front of us as I set her up for our first stand. He ran a deer past us but it never offered a clean shot. Three more pushes and three more hours gave no more opportunities so we pulled the plug on the hunt and headed out of the mountains for our seven hour drive home.
We were about a 1/4 mile from the fence that marked the beginning of private property when we came around a turn in the road and saw two does feeding beside the creek. The were oblivious to us and in a legal area to shoot, bird in hand and all that so I told Olivia to jump out and fill her tag. I stayed in the truck and kept driving while she got off the road and sat down to shoot. By then the deer were getting nervous so she wisely shot the one that was broadside, dropping it in its tracks. Turned out to be a fawn doe.
She had no sooner pulled the trigger than an ATV comes around the corner heading towards us on the road. By then, I was parked off the road and was starting to walk back to Olivia. When the guy on the wheeler drove past I saw him look at me with a strange look and pull over. He turned off his machine and asked, "Are you Gerald Martin?"
More than a little surprised, I replied, "Yes, I am."
"My name is Jim Gappa" was his response to me. (He goes by JMG here on Hunttalk). I recognized his name from his posts on here even though we had never met. I'm afraid that I was a bit distracted with the excitement Olivia had over killing a deer and trying to ensure that it was finished. Jim and I exchanged a bit more small talk, he congratulated Olivia and then continued up the road.
Hopefully, Jim, when we meet the next time I won't be so distracted.
I've been reflecting on that chance encounter, made possible by the efforts and investment of Randy Newberg with his TV show and with the Hunttalk forum. This site has been the catalyst for meeting many different people, developing friendships and sharing adventure that would not have been possible without being involved here and then being willing to take the next step and plan adventures with forum members.
Some of those adventures and exploits have been chronicled in threads on this site and on Randy's show. Each one has left me richer in friendships and memories. There was the first Hunttalk Bear hunt in 2014... https://onyourownadventures.com/hun...Talker-Hunt-2014&highlight=hunttalk+bear+hunt. The fun of that hunt and Randy Hodges luck in drawing a goat tag made me beg to accompany him on his mountain goat hunt...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmBkS7m62PI&list=PLLdxutimd-JuTrZVtx0LAOtdC6hQvBNNJ&index=2 https://onyourownadventures.com/hun...na-Mountain-Goat&highlight=hunttalk+bear+hunt . We had so much fun on the first bear hunt it was a given that we'd do it again the following year...https://onyourownadventures.com/hun...Talker-Bear-Hunt&highlight=hunttalk+bear+hunt
2016 and all the public land transfer issues gave us a sense of purpose and urgency when we got together this spring...https://onyourownadventures.com/hun...t-Talk-Bear-Hunt&highlight=hunttalk+bear+hunt. Luck of the draw smote Randy Hodges (Randy11) with a moose tag and once again I begged to be allowed to tag along for part of the adventure...https://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?269256-A-Summer-of-Moose-and-Mosquitoes
This doesn't even begin to address the adventures that Travis Heater (Theat) and I have had together. We live in the same small town and had a chance meeting at the local landfill site before figuring out we both posted on here. We've put on a lot of miles and had some pretty amazing adventures together in the past several years. Hunttalk was the link that made the connection.
It doesn't address all the hunts that other Hunttalkers have taken that I wanted to be part of but couldn't participate in due to prior obligations.
As I reflect back on what I've experienced and the adventures I'm already anticipating this coming year with hunts on schedule, I'm profoundly grateful for Hunttalk being a big part of making the world smaller and helping me make new friends. The interactions I've had with a diverse group of individuals with a huge variety of experiences and beliefs that unite around common interests, has reinforced my belief that we have more in common that we do in difference.
Here's a big thank-you to Big Fin for putting up with the hassle of supporting this site and moderating the ideological warfare that occurs here. I hope it pays off in something other than satisfaction someday. Here's to all of you that I am proud to call friends after meeting you and to all the people I hope to meet and share adventure with in the future. It's a small world and the opportunity to connect with people you hadn't anticipated developing a relationship may be much closer than you imagined.
I've read studies over the years that indicate people are becoming more isolated from real relationships due to involvement in social media and the internet. While I can understand some of their concerns, my experience has been exactly the opposite. This reality was illustrated by a chance encounter my daughter Olivia and I had this fall with another Hunttalker.
We took a trip to southwest Montana for opening week of rifle season with my father-in-law and several brother-in-laws as part of a family camp/hunt. Our objective was to try and get my father-in-law his first elk. He has been diagnosed with Parkinson's disease for several years and is seriously limited in how he can get around in the woods. He had requested we try a family camp as an opportunity to spend time with each other and have a good time.
I have hunted our chosen area in archery season for many years but never in rifle season. I knew it was going to be crowded opening week but never in my wildest expectations anticipated the hundreds of hunters and camps that lined the valley. I know there are also plenty of elk so we stuck with our original plan and tried to work around and with the crowds. As was to be expected, there were far more hunters camping and road hunting than there were out beating the brush.
Our elk hunting was nothing to write home about, one missed bull and some close encounters among our group. I hunted with Olivia almost the entire time and even though we put in several miles each day we were unable to penetrate the two to three miles it took to get into where the elk were pushed to. Hoping to give her and opportunity to fill an extra tag if the opportunity afforded, I had picked up an OTC whitetail doe tag for Olivia.
Our group called an end to the hunt on Thursday morning and each of us headed for home. Olivia and I decided to stick around for a couple hours and try to get her doe. The whitetails hold in the thick willows along the river bottom and my strategy was to put her on stand and make small pushes past her. We weren't the only ones with the same idea that morning and had a guy on horseback push the willows right in front of us as I set her up for our first stand. He ran a deer past us but it never offered a clean shot. Three more pushes and three more hours gave no more opportunities so we pulled the plug on the hunt and headed out of the mountains for our seven hour drive home.
We were about a 1/4 mile from the fence that marked the beginning of private property when we came around a turn in the road and saw two does feeding beside the creek. The were oblivious to us and in a legal area to shoot, bird in hand and all that so I told Olivia to jump out and fill her tag. I stayed in the truck and kept driving while she got off the road and sat down to shoot. By then the deer were getting nervous so she wisely shot the one that was broadside, dropping it in its tracks. Turned out to be a fawn doe.
She had no sooner pulled the trigger than an ATV comes around the corner heading towards us on the road. By then, I was parked off the road and was starting to walk back to Olivia. When the guy on the wheeler drove past I saw him look at me with a strange look and pull over. He turned off his machine and asked, "Are you Gerald Martin?"
More than a little surprised, I replied, "Yes, I am."
"My name is Jim Gappa" was his response to me. (He goes by JMG here on Hunttalk). I recognized his name from his posts on here even though we had never met. I'm afraid that I was a bit distracted with the excitement Olivia had over killing a deer and trying to ensure that it was finished. Jim and I exchanged a bit more small talk, he congratulated Olivia and then continued up the road.
Hopefully, Jim, when we meet the next time I won't be so distracted.
I've been reflecting on that chance encounter, made possible by the efforts and investment of Randy Newberg with his TV show and with the Hunttalk forum. This site has been the catalyst for meeting many different people, developing friendships and sharing adventure that would not have been possible without being involved here and then being willing to take the next step and plan adventures with forum members.
Some of those adventures and exploits have been chronicled in threads on this site and on Randy's show. Each one has left me richer in friendships and memories. There was the first Hunttalk Bear hunt in 2014... https://onyourownadventures.com/hun...Talker-Hunt-2014&highlight=hunttalk+bear+hunt. The fun of that hunt and Randy Hodges luck in drawing a goat tag made me beg to accompany him on his mountain goat hunt...https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UmBkS7m62PI&list=PLLdxutimd-JuTrZVtx0LAOtdC6hQvBNNJ&index=2 https://onyourownadventures.com/hun...na-Mountain-Goat&highlight=hunttalk+bear+hunt . We had so much fun on the first bear hunt it was a given that we'd do it again the following year...https://onyourownadventures.com/hun...Talker-Bear-Hunt&highlight=hunttalk+bear+hunt
2016 and all the public land transfer issues gave us a sense of purpose and urgency when we got together this spring...https://onyourownadventures.com/hun...t-Talk-Bear-Hunt&highlight=hunttalk+bear+hunt. Luck of the draw smote Randy Hodges (Randy11) with a moose tag and once again I begged to be allowed to tag along for part of the adventure...https://onyourownadventures.com/hunttalk/showthread.php?269256-A-Summer-of-Moose-and-Mosquitoes
This doesn't even begin to address the adventures that Travis Heater (Theat) and I have had together. We live in the same small town and had a chance meeting at the local landfill site before figuring out we both posted on here. We've put on a lot of miles and had some pretty amazing adventures together in the past several years. Hunttalk was the link that made the connection.
It doesn't address all the hunts that other Hunttalkers have taken that I wanted to be part of but couldn't participate in due to prior obligations.
As I reflect back on what I've experienced and the adventures I'm already anticipating this coming year with hunts on schedule, I'm profoundly grateful for Hunttalk being a big part of making the world smaller and helping me make new friends. The interactions I've had with a diverse group of individuals with a huge variety of experiences and beliefs that unite around common interests, has reinforced my belief that we have more in common that we do in difference.
Here's a big thank-you to Big Fin for putting up with the hassle of supporting this site and moderating the ideological warfare that occurs here. I hope it pays off in something other than satisfaction someday. Here's to all of you that I am proud to call friends after meeting you and to all the people I hope to meet and share adventure with in the future. It's a small world and the opportunity to connect with people you hadn't anticipated developing a relationship may be much closer than you imagined.
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