Recently I was visiting my brother in-law Devon Rolf, a patent attorney with Garmin International (Most of you outdoorsmen know Garmin by their handheld GPS units and fishfinders). Our families were getting together, the girls catching up on the news inside while the guys (Devon, me and three of my sons) were out workin' in the woods. A few years ago Devon moved out on some acreage outside of town, and we were clearing some walking trails... no doubt we were checking out all the signs of deer activity while we were out... rubs, scrapes, droppings, etc. My 8 year old son Christian found a nice antler from a 12 point buck out there. He wants to mount it somehow in his room to hang stuff on.

After we were done with our work, we sat down in the pasture to rest a bit. (You know how good it feels to sit and rest after doing some good ol' hard work.) The girls, anxiously awaiting our appearance, spied us sitting there from inside the house and they (My wife Nancy and our two daughters, and her sister Becky and her four daughters) promptly brought out some soup, homemade wheat bread with butter, and refreshments. (The men are teaching the boys to work, and the women are teaching the girls to bless the men... ain't that the way it should be?) As we were sitting there eating the fixin's the girls brought out to us "hard working men", I was observing Riley, Devon's old Golden Retriever. I said, "I bet Riley really likes it out here in the country." Devon responded, "You know, since we moved out here I've really seen his natural instincts come to the surface." I sat and thought about that for a minute, and replied, "You know what Devon, its the same for men..."

Have you ever watched a dog that is chained up or stuck in a house? All he does is lay around and sleep. He's depressed! But you let him off that chain... give him some room to roam... he's running and tracking critters down! Just like ol' Riley is happy chasing after a couple deer or coyotes... doing things he was created by God to do... (He sure wasn't created to be cooped-up in a house in the burbs...) Men are happiest when they are outdoors... workin', sweatin', freezin', and gettin' rained on... you know what I mean. And we're really happy when the girls bring out the refreshments, and make such a big fuss over their hard working men.

There is something about the corporate America scene that robs a man of his manhood. His hands get soft... He doesn't get out in the fresh air... He's away from his family... the wife he loves and his dear children. Men, I guess that's one reason why I have such a passion for the outdoors. It's more than the hunting. It's more than the fishing. It's about getting outdoors, with the ones you love, and feeling like a real man.

Well said, nothing better than having your hands in a gut pile up to your elbows, or making chips of metal or wood in the garage!!!!!

Can't recall the wife or daughters bringing me lunch in the out-of-doors. You're a lucky man.

I'm a country boy imprisioned in a metropolis with too many family responsibilities and ties to strike out for the far reaches so deeply yearned for. Feel like that chained dog in the back yard! always planned on the retirement years to shuck the city ways and get back to my roots - life has a way of sidelining the dreams and goals of old farts!

Anyway, we can always look forward to when (if) the fall tags are drawn and the sorting of hunting togs begins, along with all the just as exciting planning.

Your story truely strikes a chord with me. Raised in the country but stuck in the city out of 'financial necessity'. Some call it financial slavery. There's a dog two houses down I take turns cussing at and then feeling sorry for. Every morning at the crack of dawn he's starts barking and won't shut up for hours. I hate him when we're trying to sleep in. Then I look at him couped up in his 8' by 12' chain link jail. I have never seen anyone playing with him, talking to him, nothing. He's a creature meant to run with the wind and can't go 13 feet. Kinda like some of us guys, I guess........
P.S. Do you suppose your girls could give my wife some lessons?

Amen to that dlingner! I am also a county boy stuck in the city and I get cranky when I don't get an outdoors fix. My wife needs to come spend some time with yours to learn the ways of doing things. I work with a lot of "city boys" and they look at me like I came from Mars when I talk about sleeping out in the woods, making jerky from my deer harvest, etc. I can't understand them in living life through the sports teams they follow. I think fewer people (especially men) would be sufferring from so many stress related illnesses if they just got out in the woods more and just enjoyed communing with nature. I am off on a quail hunt this weekend to take some of my own advice. Have a good one all!

Amen to that dlingner! I am also a county boy stuck in the city and I get cranky when I don't get an outdoors fix. My wife needs to come spend some time with yours to learn the ways of doing things. I work with a lot of "city boys" and they look at me like I came from Mars when I talk about sleeping out in the woods, making jerky from my deer harvest, etc. I can't understand them in living life through the sports teams they follow. I think fewer people (especially men) would be sufferring from so many stress related illnesses if they just got out in the woods more and just enjoyed communing with nature. I am off on a quail hunt this weekend to take some of my own advice. Have a good one all!

Well put!
In the city, sometimes I feel like Walter Mitty. But by Friday afternoon, both myself and my dog are chomping at the bit to get out of town.

When we first got married 34 years ago, and had our first child, my wife didn't understand that need and thought I was selfish. Little by little she realized that it made me a better person when I went hunting, and I took better care of her for it.
Even thought she never cared for it, she understood my need.
Now, all of these years later, she wants me to go just to get me out of the house. I FINALLY WON!

Now that my son is married with a new child, his new bride also doesn't understand the need to get away from her. I told him that the wait is eventually worth it, as I drive away heading to the hunting camp.
These young brides don't always understand that it's nothing against them. Just adds thickness to the marriage!

The hunting camp for me is always about burning that first log of the year, swapping lies about former girlfriends, football, old dogs,politics and hunting stories, but usually by midnight, we're all talking about our families.

The tradition goes on---
TPV