A week or so after Ted Nugent left bear camp my
father harvested another trophy bear in Canada. He's taken
a lot of great game in his lifetime and one thing he likes to do is scout
out a trophy and hunt for that particular animal until an opportunity presents
itself.
This always frustrated me, I've seen Pop pass on some
fine game because it wasn't the one he was after and he's ended up going
home empty handed. This never seems to bother him, he has the patience
of Job and a wealth of experience and a fine collection of trophies.
Frank Addington Sr.
I laughed until I cried a few years ago when I took
Pop bowhunting at the famous KING ranch in South Texas. We must have
seen over 150 trophy deer in two days. It was funny to see him so
confused. He was out of his "climb the stand and wait" environment
and had never seen so many huge bucks in two days!
Anyway, he enjoyed this year's bear camp since Ted
Nugent was there. (see earlier story on bowhunting.net)
Mom wasn't there, this was her first missed bear hunt in many years.
She's taken 16 or 17 nice bear with her bow and usually gives the guys
in camp a run for their money on big bear.
Cathy Addington
Since she didn't go, she let Uncle Ted use her stand and he ended up
harvesting his bear from Mom's stand.
Pop knew a huge bruin was near his stand so he patiently
waited. I think it was the second to the last night of the hunt
when
he ended up bagging a great bear. It was huge! It was to
become his second biggest bear ever, the largest one being
the bruin he took in 1997.
The main thing is that my father is the most unselfish
person I know. He'd let a few other folks hunt this stand earlier,
even though he knew the large bear was there.
He had a great time seeing Ted and the other hunters
in camp get their trophies. He's also the kind of man that would
skip an evenings hunt to work on someone's equipment to help get them back
ready for the hunt the next day. Many times I've seen him do this.
Just remember this as you look at his photos with
game that he has hunted his entire life and had a huge amount of experience
under his belt before he started "trophy hunting".
Always remember
to appreciate the entire experience bowhunting offers---the misses, the
times you take a son or daughter along that "spooks" the game away (I have
done this..), the campfires and stories with friends, and the animals
you harvest.
Any game taken by fair chase legally is a trophy, keep
that in mind. Save being a trophy hunter until you have harvested
plenty of game. Afterall, most of us don't have the patience
of Job or my father.
As always, thanks for reading. Until next time, Adios & God Bless.
Shoot Straight,
Frank Addington, Jr.
Frank Addington Jr.
Instinctive
Archery Exibitions
