The Turkey Call Auction Winner..


GWSmith

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I figured that this would be interesting to share with the rest of you. I thought you all may like to know the kind of people that you share the forum with. I know I'm blessed to have many of you and pray it can continue for a very long time.

This is what the winner of the Turkey Call Auction(to benefit Norm and Mikes trip to Alaska) chose to do after placing the winning bid.

(I did ask permission to post about what happened first from Chris - I was going to write something but knew after re-reading the PM's it would be better to let you read what went on behind the scenes)

I thought that went very well.

Will you tell me a little about yourself so I can tell people about the guy who made the call?

Got kids? What do you do to pay the bills? A New Yorker your whole life?

Thanks,

Chris

Chris, I'm 48, Married, no children living at home anymore, and I really would rather be hunting. I basically take the winter off and hunt locally. Occasionally my Wife goes hunting under her sound reasoning of "Only if you can keep me warm". Hunt primarily private land by permission and share the processed game with the landowner. ThanksGiving Week in West Virginia is spent hunting with my 77yr old Dad. We have been doing this since 1998 together at the same place each year. We take 4-6 deer each year there and mainly have a great time just being there. I proud to have taken this picture of him back when he was a spry 73yrs old:

HappyDad2.jpg

He has been taking me hunting most of my life and now it's starting to turn around the other way...I just feel intensely priveleged to still be able to hunt with him. I remember way back to sitting on his knee and watching "Mutual of Omahas Wild Kingdom with Marlin Perkins". Even back then he would tell me what was right or wrong about what we saw happen on that show and it's one of my best memories.

Since then I've hunted in Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Indiana, West Virginia, and New York.

I went to a Wild Game dinner over near Rochester NY. where Tim Andrus was going to be speaking after the meal. He gave a great seminar about doing "Out-Of-State Hunts". After the seminar of Tim's there was a drawing for a matched pair Rifle/Muzzleloader combo. Of all the people to have won that it turned out to be my Wife! Interesting thing about the entire day was that she was intrigued about the 1hr workshops people where putting on before the wild game dinner and she wanted to take in a few of those.

I did to...one of the workshops ended up being about "How to make Turkey Calls"...that how this started.

Good tales, good times. You are right to appreciate hunting with your dad. So often we don't fully appreciate that stuff while we are living it, but only after we have lost the opportunity. I wish you would do me a favor. Would you give call #1 to your dad with my regards, and someday if you make another one, go ahead and send one of those to me? I'll Send my money to Mike on Monday.

You'll never make another call #1, and you'll never have another dad.

Let me know.

thanks,

Chris

P.S. I talked to my Dad earlier today and he wanted me to thank Chris for his generous gift to help Norm and Mike experience Alaska.

Dad has his own memories of the beautiful place and he is the second guy from the right in this magazine cover I did of his picture:

DadsPics0012.jpg

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Thank you for the kind words, but some of the folks around here have set the bar pretty high on generosity. I am happy to be a tiny part of this effort. Gary was willing to give up his first ever call for Mike And Norm. That says a lot. My Alaska trips have been such a source of great memories, it's a blessing to share that.

HB

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