Ron sent me a PM in which he sort of asked me to reflect and give my thoughts as to where I feel we are today in the �deer camp experience� compared to my initial vision and intentions which I shared on page 1 of this � post, thread, story or whatever this is.
It�s not a bad idea and I don�t mind doing so.
This past year, possibly 2 years in particular have been very trying. Very trying times.
Sometimes in life we get derailed, you get enough stuff happening all at the same time and it can just sort of throw the train off the tracks. It�s happened to me.
Our children are growing up, entering adulthood, which doesn�t always go well. My employment in recent years has been nothing short of miserable and mentally torturous, to no fault of anybody in particular, it�s just simply evolved that way. We lost a dear family member, a primary fixture in our deer camp structure and overall chickenbuck group adventure/lifestyle. That doesn�t seem to be getting any easier to deal with or to even think about. We were also basically forced from our home of a dozen years which we literally homesteaded, cleared by hand and built ourselves. We did our best to make the move an improvement, but it still wasn�t easy to do.
Lots of changes, lots of serious changes recently.
And we�re not done yet, for close to 2 years now, Pam and I have felt like the contents of a snow globe that someone has been violently shaking. You know it takes a while for everything to settle down after the shaking stops, but the shaking hasn�t stopped yet. That thing will be shaking for another 3 months, then maybe we can start trying to settle in, see where all the pieces fall.
That is a vague snapshot of the current state of �chickenbuck central command�. lol.
Now I�ll try to touch on Ron�s question.
The initial goals for this camp effort were designed around healing, mentoring, uniting and strengthening family. Fun, was a priority. Laughter, memories, tradition.
As for the hunting portion of the plan, It was never about QDM, never competitive, never really all that serious about hunting success. More so it was about the effort, the experience of the effort, the sharing of the experience and the support of each other�s efforts. Learning as we go, passing on what we know and sincerely wishing each other well in our efforts. That was the initial intent and that is now an established camp culture which we continue to maintain.
The sense of belonging is something I wanted to provide from early on. I think that has gone rather well.
Here�s how I see it from where we are today.
Huge success, I mean home run. We achieved more than I ever thought possible. The unity portion of the goal exceeded expectations, that is the understatement of the year right there. The physical occupant members of the group far exceeded expectations with participation coming from cousins, nieces, nephews, aunts, uncles, parents, friends of relatives, friends of friends� even friends made here on this site that became actual members of our camp.
Then there is this, this �. thread or whatever we call it. 80 million views? Why? It boggles the mind.
All of our virtual camp member regulars that interact here in such a civil manor. Like a group of old men that gather at a small town caf� daily, chit chat about the weather, the world, kids and grand kids, whatever.
I don�t know if moderators have been simply quick and diligent in removing any sort of cyber bully/troll efforts here or if it�s just somehow existed as some sort of �clean zone� all on its own. Regardless, it fascinates me. The fact that people actually can get along just fine on the internet.
Now, as to the activities and adventures we�ve taken on as a group. Once again, exceeds expectations.
Seriously, annual gatherings at deer hunting time would have been a successful accomplishment. But we�ve not limited ourselves to deer season for our �deer camp�.
Let�s see�. We have deer hunting, we have small game hunting, ATV rides, snowmobile rides, firewood gathering, general camp construction/improvement projects including deer stand and trail work. Blueberry picking, bbq cooking and summer night bon fires (all seasons actually).
Those are just the things we do around camp.
As a group away from camp we�ve done boundary waters canoe trips, walleye fishing tournaments, sturgeon fishing, Colorado elk hunting, ice fishing, pontooning� (that is a thing right?)
I�m declaring huge success all around.
Now back to current day. We all suffered a great loss last spring, we lost our Dusty and it�s simply knocked the fun and enthusiasm out of many of us. It�s hard to figure out how to proceed forward without him.
But we have to pause for reflection, think back and ask ourselves why did we start this thing in the first place? It was for healing, it was for forging a path forward out of the darkness of great loss.
It worked back then, and it can work again now.
Somewhere up on a cloud there�s a short guy with a big smile, hair slicked back 60�s style, chained wallet in his blue jeans pocket. And he�s waiting for us to figure it out, we built the tools to deal with this sort of thing almost 7 years ago. Why aren�t we using those tools?
He helped build it all, I mean he really towed the line. And we�re not using it, not correctly anyways, not to its full potential.
It�s as simple as that.
So, I challenge all chickenbuckers that might be checking in here and reading from time to time. Those that find themselves in a bit of a slump like me, get up here. Let�s get out there and dust things off, pick up our old ways, the enthusiasm, smiles and laughs. We don�t need a plan or an agenda, let�s just get out there and do something. The great part about deer camp is that there is ALWAYS something to do, something always needs fixing or improvement lol.
Let�s throw some logs in the fire ring and catch up on each other�s lives. Let�s plan a few adventures/get togethers for this upcoming summer. Call me, txt me, what ever. Lets pick a date, we'll all call/txt each other and who ever can make it will make it. Not everybody can always make it, but that's fine. We just have to get something rolling again.
Ok, now back to our regularly scheduled weather groveling.