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My most remembered hunting trip..

Lee Whitsel

Silver $$ Contributor
Many years ago my friend Randy and I talked after church on Sunday about going to another state to hunt and try something new he agreed. Being in south central Pa. we chose to slip south to West Virginia to do a hunting trip. Called the game warden in that area just over the border and he game us a list of farmers with deer problems. We took of and went to Lead Mine West Virginia and checked in with a wonderful old couple named Pardons. They welcomed us to come and hunt with open arms. We came back on the night before hunting season. It was very cold and damp with light rain coming down and a bad weather report. Mrs. Parsons came over to our tent out in their fields and offered us to come in and stay in their spare rooms. We declined as we didn't want to be a burden on them. But she gave us a slice of yellow cake with chocolate icing and it had hickory nuts in it. It was so good. WE asked if we could get out of the rain and sleep in their 2nd barn that had no stock in it just machines and hay. We promised we would not have a fire in there. o.K. so we set up and sleep in the hay mound and was put to sleep with the pitter patter of rain all night long on the metal roof of the barn. Never got cold and was the best night sleep ever. We got up in early hours dish water froze in the pan. After a hot meal slipped up on a ridge and got a very nice 5/4 whitetail. My grandparents told me how nice it was to be in a barn with a metal roof in a rain storm they where right I never forgot that trip.
 
Great story. Thanks for sharing. Brought back memories of my childhood going
to my grandparents farms. Typical West Virginia people. I moved here 20 years
ago from Maryland and love it and it's people....oh...I am now one! Do you know
why West Virginia people are the smartest people in the Country? Because they
had the highest percentage of any state voting for Donald Trump!
 
Wife and I were introduced to West Virginia when our Grandson played football at WVU. Beautiful country and friends that we still have. Only downside was it seems that I was always walking around a mountain and needed a little longer leg on the downside.

Take me home Country Roads!!!
 
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Lee Whitsel said:
Many years ago my friend Randy and I talked after church on Sunday about going to another state to hunt and try something new he agreed. Being in south central Pa. we chose to slip south to West Virginia to do a hunting trip. Called the game warden in that area just over the border and he game us a list of farmers with deer problems. We took of and went to Lead Mine West Virginia and checked in with a wonderful old couple named Pardons. They welcomed us to come and hunt with open arms. We came back on the night before hunting season. It was very cold and damp with light rain coming down and a bad weather report. Mrs. Parsons came over to our tent out in their fields and offered us to come in and stay in their spare rooms. We declined as we didn't want to be a burden on them. But she gave us a slice of yellow cake with chocolate icing and it had hickory nuts in it. It was so good. WE asked if we could get out of the rain and sleep in their 2nd barn that had no stock in it just machines and hay. We promised we would not have a fire in there. o.K. so we set up and sleep in the hay mound and was put to sleep with the pitter patter of rain all night long on the metal roof of the barn. Never got cold and was the best night sleep ever. We got up in early hours dish water froze in the pan. After a hot meal slipped up on a ridge and got a very nice 5/4 whitetail. My grandparents told me how nice it was to be in a barn with a metal roof in a rain storm they where right I never forgot that trip.
Click to expand...
Correction/// their name was Parsons if I remember c0rrectly wonderful folks never meet finer people than Mr. and Mrs. Parsons.
 
That's a great story, and you began on the right foot by planning it after church. Contacting the warden in the area was a brilliant idea also. After that, I'm thinking you were simply being blessed -- right people, right place, right time -- a guy tends not to forget stuff like that. jd
 
Great story. It is really nice when folks go out of their way to make a hunt enjoyable. I've been a life-long hunter, hunting many creatures along the way - big and small. Your story made me think about what was the most memorable of them all. I'd have to say it was when I visited an uncle who lived on a Tennessee farm in 1970 (I came from California - a city boy at the time). He woke me up in the middle of the night and said "come on - were going to do a little hunting for breakfast". With a flashlight and a .22 rifle, we walked down a cow path to a pond in the "back 40". He lit up the bullfrogs on the bank with the flashlight while I aimed for the white throats, putting a bullet (most of the time) in the head of those that weren't too deep in the reeds. My aunt cooked up the legs for breakfast in the morning while my uncle and I sat on the porch, cleaning the rifle. I still think about those legs "jumping" around in the pan when salt was put on them. That was a very memorable experience in my young hunting days. The frogs weren't so much "trophys", but the company of my uncle who wanted to give me a new experience made that a very special trip. Often, we get caught up in grander endeavors - but sometimes it is the simplest of hunts that we think back on the most - at least for me. Thanks for sharing that.
 
I've been hunting and trapping critters for 55 years now, and pretty much always lived within walking distance of many of the critters I hunted. I'm probably guilty of taking for granted some of the "golden memories" that have occurred in my life.

That being said, some of the MOST memorable hunts, are ones that I don't even want to remember.:rolleyes:;) jd
 
Most memorable was dove hunting with my dad. We walked to the field and it had high tension power lines running across the middle of field. We took a six pack of beer and some sardines and crackers. I had 1 box of 7-1/2’s and my dad had a box. I borrowed his pump mossberg with a dang polychoke. It was almost the perfect setup because all the doves had to fly by me. My dad and i killed our limit within a couple hours and had a full box of shells left over - just couldn’t miss. We cleaned the birds in the field . When we got back soaked them and put Italian dressing on them and cooked all on a grill for supper. I ended up spending the night at his house because i had more beer with supper.
 
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Mine was with my middle daughter (12) and her first deer hunt.
We had tags for "over-east " in Minnesota which just happened to be in blizzard conditions (14" total was the final measurement). She humped up and down the coolies like a champ and never complained. We had MREs for lunch and supper.
She ended up with a fork horn on the last day one shot at about 60 yds. in blowing snow. I was really proud of that girl...still am as she's been my hunting partner ever since.
 
Nice story, yes the simple things in life are many times the best. That said, being dry and warm while camping out (barn or tent) certainly makes for a much better experience.

A couple of my most memorable hunts.
The hunt I decided it might be great to back pack in and there was snow. Needless to say it didn't go well for a guy that was used to packing mules or the pickup.

A wonderful hunt was one with my hunting partners of many years, we truck camped on the forest but throwing distance from the wilderness boundary. Found a nice place where we could walk out of just off a secondary road (dirt) got the frame tent up and a fire going, everything in it's place. Next three days we cut firewood and BS'd, but didn't hunt. Finally one day a guy that drove by a couple times or more a day stopped and said, ok I've been going by for days and you guys are always in camp, what gives. We simply said we don't see each other all year so we've been cutting firewood and catching up. We also said, the elk aren't going anywhere... He smiled and kinda shook his head, then left. The next day we figured it was time to actually hunt and a day later got into elk.

What many folks don't get is hunting in many cases isn't about killing something, the experience and time in the wilds with good friends is what it's really about. Meat down is a bonus, then the work starts.

Oh BTW, when I was a youngster working for an outfitter I was the one asking the question. I was packing for a bunch of dudes, these mostly were doctors, lawyers, folks that could afford a guided hunt. Some of these guys never left camp, I mean not at all. One day I just had to ask what gives. This one doctor said, well we come out here to get away from our wives but don't want to hurt their feelings, the others nodded. It made perfect sense.
 
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Lee Whitsel said:
Many years ago my friend Randy and I talked after church on Sunday about going to another state to hunt and try something new he agreed. Being in south central Pa. we chose to slip south to West Virginia to do a hunting trip. Called the game warden in that area just over the border and he game us a list of farmers with deer problems. We took of and went to Lead Mine West Virginia and checked in with a wonderful old couple named Pardons. They welcomed us to come and hunt with open arms. We came back on the night before hunting season. It was very cold and damp with light rain coming down and a bad weather report. Mrs. Parsons came over to our tent out in their fields and offered us to come in and stay in their spare rooms. We declined as we didn't want to be a burden on them. But she gave us a slice of yellow cake with chocolate icing and it had hickory nuts in it. It was so good. WE asked if we could get out of the rain and sleep in their 2nd barn that had no stock in it just machines and hay. We promised we would not have a fire in there. o.K. so we set up and sleep in the hay mound and was put to sleep with the pitter patter of rain all night long on the metal roof of the barn. Never got cold and was the best night sleep ever. We got up in early hours dish water froze in the pan. After a hot meal slipped up on a ridge and got a very nice 5/4 whitetail. My grandparents told me how nice it was to be in a barn with a metal roof in a rain storm they where right I never forgot that trip.
Click to expand...
Let me suggest an idea. If you have a friend 0r family member with a barn with a metal ask if you can take some children and an 0ld blanket and just lay down in the hay m0und with some cookies and milk and just listen t0 the rain pitter patter 0n the r00f some rainy day and make s0me mem0ries that will last a life time.
 
Easy, Zimbabwe in 2008 after Cape Buffalo just before Christmas. Twelve days, coolest one was 108*, hottest 118*. Rained about 23 hours a day. I went from 132 lbs to 109 in eleven days and walked just at 100 miles.
Got my Buff on Day Eleven, and a no cost souvenir of Buffalo Ticks. Loved every minute of it.

I've made two more trips, South Africa in 2010 and 2012 for Plains Game. It's where my Avatar picture was taken. 300 WM, one shot at 142 steps.

Africa, the Ultimate Hunt...
 
I've spent most of my life as an outdoorsman, trapping, hunting, fishing and canoeing, even lived for three years in a tent in northern WI. I'll be 80 next year, still at it and hope to make more memorable hunts. I have a bunch of them under my belt already, close calls with death, smart critters, trying new things.

One that brings fond memories come early on. I was stationed in Taiwan in the mid 1960's. I belonged to the we had a military gun shop that set up hunts around the country, so we got to know where to hunt. My friend and I planned a combination duck and dove hunt to the east side of the island. A typhoon hit the island and we both had to do storm duty, him with the AF and me with the Seabees to help with possible evacuations. Well the typhoon turned out to sea and they told us we free to go and had replacements if things changed. So we took off in his rattle trap 55 Chevy. Then things got interesting.

Our hunting trip included crossing the mountains on a one lane road cut into the mountain side with steep walls on one side and cliffs on the other. The typhoon decided to pummel the island again and we were caught in the middle of it. Narrow mountain road, 100+ mph winds and rain in sheets. Some place my friend had to drive with his hand out the window to feel the cliff wall to know where the road was. We made it across the mountains and into the town.

In Taiwan at the time you had to check in with the local police and register your guns. It was also a good place for info on farms to hunt. We got checked in and given a good place to hunt. The hotel was comfortable and was attached to a restaurant with great food. The storm went back out to sea during the night and we were greeted with a beautiful morning.

We set up on a rice paddy dike and waited for daylight. What a morning, the storm had driven the ducks into the mountain and they returned to the coast in waves. Shooting was almost non-stop until we ran out of shells. Total was 139 ducks in four hours. I've never had a duck shoot where I could shoot ducks as fast as I could load. It was incredible.

We took the ducks into the police station and ask them to set up a dinner for that evening at the restaurant for all the police and distribute the rest of the ducks to local families that suffered in the storm. Needless to say, the food and comradery were incredible and there were always places to hunt and the nicest hotel rooms available to us.

The trip back was uneventful.

Sorry no pics as it was long ago and the few photos I had were long lost in my travels.

AWS
 
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