Weasel
Moderator

I've been interested in hunting, fishing and the out of doors from my earliest memories. We lived on a large lot that was over grown with weeds and I spent many hours out back playing safari with an old Daisy BB gun that I couldn't cock because I was too small. I didn't have BB's anyway, but if I could get someone to cock the gun, I liked the way it sounded when I pulled the trigger.
My first real outdoors experience came when I went with my grandparents for a couple of weeks and lived in their travel trailer in a remote area. I was four years old and my grandfather took me fishing. There was wildlife everywhere. My grandmother bought carrots and lettuce so I could feed the rabbits that lived all around us. It was at this place that I saw my first bobcat.

We moved to a suburban area when I was seven. This new home was near many open fields that further fueled my love of the outdoors. When I turned nine years old my uncle bought me a Daisy BB gun of my own and I could actually cock this one myself. I mowed lawns and did odd jobs so I could buy BB's, and outdoors related magazines. I checked out and read most of the books on hunting and fishing that our county library had on hand. When my friends and I would go to the store, they bought comic books and I always bought Outdoor Life or some other outdoors magazine. Yep, I was obsessed, but not just with hunting. I loved everything about the out of doors. I loved the feeling of the clean air, the fragrances of the sage, pines and junipers. I was fascinated by the rocks, water, plants, animals, even the soil. I wanted to know more about everything.

When I was fourteen my older sister had a boyfriend that hunted. He didn't have anybody to go with so I started skipping school to go hunting with him. He let me shoot his J.C. Higgins single shot 22 rimfire and he shot his 20 gauge Remington 870. We managed to bag a few rabbits and quail on occasion but when my mother found out, she put a stop to it. I still managed to get out on a few weekends between then and when I turned eighteen.

Finally, I turned eighteen and could legally own my own firearm. I bought a near new Remington 870, 12 gauge for fifty dollars even. I had a job, a car, a gun, my own place and a desire to experience as much of the out of doors as possible. Five months after turning eighteen, I bought my first predator calls. They were a Burnham Brothers C-3 Long range, the S-2 close range bite call and the squeaker bulb. I also ordered the 45 rpm instruction record from Burnham Brothers. My predator hunting addiction was just around the corner.

I managed to call a couple of coyotes before I finally sealed the deal on a bobcat. I took several bobcats before I was able to connect on a coyote, but by the time I did I was hooked on the idea of calling animals to me.

I got a job in sporting goods retail and this gave me access to the latest information and a chance to buy all of my outdoors gear at a discount. I doubt if I ever took home a full paycheck as I was always buying something new or upgrading what I had. It was at this job that I met a couple of folks that belonged to the California Varmint Callers Association (CVCA). One of the guys invited me to hunt one weekend and we really worked well together. I joined the CVCA and he and I started hunting contests. We made a great team and seemed to know what the other was thinking at any given moment in a calling situation. Since then I've gotten as much pleasure out of calling animals for others to shoot as I got when I first called animals for myself.

To this day I still hunt big game, small game, waterfowl, upland game and of course predators. I've taken muledeer, elk, pronghorn, hogs and many types of other game. I have yet to take a redfox, but it is on my short list of "must do's" before I can't hunt any longer.

Weasel