for the past bout 8 years...(since I got out of the military and am able to hunt) I am strictly by the book.... I have the NC hunting time table printed out and laminated and I WILL NOT shoot anything not a single minute before legal shooting time...and WILL NOT shoot anything after legal light has ended....not even 1 minute after! I makes sure I tag everything and I have all my necessary orange or whatever im supposed to have.... I try to do it all as legally as possible.......... .......reason being.......... when I was 19.....me and some of my friends decided we were gonna go fire lighting....(this is shining a deer with a spotlight and shooting it at night) ILLEAGLE as heck..... well....I ended up killing a BEAUTIFUL 9 pt on random property......one of the guys with me also shot a big 6...... we had both in the back of the truck and I was driving...and the law got behind us and I tried to run...and it ended up with them taking the truck....the guns...and us going home in a cop car..... now before we ever seen the law...it started bothering me....BAD......I told my friend "what am I gonna tell my dad bout how I killed him?" he said...just tell him I killed him at his place...but I knew I couldn't be proud of him....ever.....hunting is a big part of me and my dads GREAT relationship and I could not live my life wit him being that proud of me and me knowin what happened....so I said "you can have him...say you killed both of them....I don't wont him" well...ended up payin a hefty fine.....got my truck back a couple days later...got my guns back while I was in boot camp...(dad got them from the courthouse for me) point is....never do anything that you wouldn't be proud of doing. never kill and animal that you would not be proud to tell the story of. never kill one that you would not be proud of the manner in which you took him... be on your p's and q's and take them ethically and try hard to keep your ethics and legalities in line with each other when the legal system allows it. anyway.....probably made half of yall hate me....but that's my confession...and why I hunt by the book. I knew that when I killed a NICE BUCK....I would have to hear from everyone (and trust me....everyone in the community heard the story and has talked all bout it) that "you killed that at night" or "yea...we know how you hunt" no one can EVER say that about any deer I ever kill from that night on without it being a lie....and it will stay that way...that's why Im very proud of the first bow kill I made.....it is a very big accomplishment for me emotionally and in a hunting sense..... sorry bout the spill guys...just getting it off my chest...
Wont hold it against you Bo, about the only thing all young men are REALLY good at is making mistakes.
LOSER!!!!!!!!! Just kidding Bo, everyone makes mistakes, and almost everyone has skeletons in the closet. It sounds like you've learned from your mistakes and it has made you respect the game you pursue a lot more . Keep doing the right thing and be an ambassador for bow hunting. Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
I think every young person does something while hunting they wish they could take back that is part of maturing. You learned from your experience that's what's important. Some people don't learn or don't care. Keep doing it legal and have fun
Takes a real man to own up to that. Probably feels good to get it off your chest. I don't hold it against you. We ALL make mistakes that we aren't proud of. Who knows, maybe some kid is reading this now and maybe he learned a lesson from your story. Thanks for sharing and good luck this season.
glad to hear we have one less poacher on the road. the best part is that you are preaching your gospel about what is right and what is wrong. most people probably go out and keep poaching thinking it is a big game. great to hear you are on the right side of things now. hopefully your buddy has learned as well.
Meh...had buddies in high school that did it all the time. I told them time and again how wrong it was but I never made a dent. Glad you learned your lessons from it and moved on.
If I had to admit to all my wrong doing's, well it would take up far too much space. It's what you take away from it that matters, soumds like you learned your lesson and that's all we as a society can ask for and accept. It's one thing to do something like that as a dumb kid, completely different when you are teaching ethics and profiting from it like we see far too often in today's world.
Good post. We've all done stuff of which we are not proud. I could write a book about the dumb stuff I've done. Good luck this season brother.
The friend that got me back into duck/goose hunting about 15yrs ago has really bad ethics. It rubbed off on me and then another good buddy of mine talked some sense into me. The laws are there for a Reason. If we all broke the laws, everything would be way out of whack. Imagine if there was no rules in all the other sports we play! Thanks for sharing that Bo. I dont think anyone here will be casting stones. Like everyone else said. We all have a few skeletons in the closet from being young and dumb.
