Trad Gang
National Bowhunting Orgs => Veterans Forum => Topic started by: longbowman on March 05, 2015, 01:30:00 PM
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I was wondering how many of you had the chance to bow hunt while serving. I was fortunate enough to spend nearly four years in Great Falls, MT and I lived the dream of hunting out west while there. I took bull elk, mulies, whitetails and black bear all with my recurve during that time. It was a blessing to serve and a blessing to have those types of opportunities as a hunter.
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I was stationed at Ft. Wolters, Texas after VN (best job I ever had, flight instructor). Did a good bit of hunting out near Breckenridge, Tx, and then found the love of my life whose father had some prime deer country near Stephenville. I missed a few deer with my Bear recurve, but some rabbits and armadillos caught hell.
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For some dumb reason while stationed at Ft. Sill I never hunted there. I was an OK citizen, reservist, mobilized inside the state yet would travel 200 miles back to McAlester to hunt. (Lived in the Mac for 10yrs & never had a trad bow to apply there also.)
But as a DoD CIV I hunted deer & elk on post. Many guys don't like Ft. Sill but it can be a blast for the sportsman. Tons of small lakes & ponds, lots of hunting opportunities including deer, unlimited pig, elk, small game, ducks & even pheasant!
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I hunted Fort Lewis, WA and Fort Stewart, GA
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I hunted all over Alaska's ABC islands carrying nothing more than a '62 Kodiak and cedar arrows. I look back at the things I did and realize I must have had a guardian angel sitting on my shoulder to keep me from being brown bear poop.
Jack
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The only thing I hunted was women and Muslims. It's a regret too because I had the good fortune of traveling all over with a lot of freedom to do as I pleased... And I did. It just wasted hunting critters.
Last time I was overseas I was in Iraq and kept seeing golden jackals (Iraqi coyotes) all over the base. Well I couldn't very well go busting off rounds on a base in a war zone. Thats a good way to get shot. I feigned over how to hunt these things and eventually came to the conclusion that I needed a bow. Well eventually I got home and dug out an old Browning Nomad Stalker out of a closet and wondered if it would do. I got on a local hunting forum and asked and a fella started posting pictures of every big game critter known to man that he had taken with a trad bow. He sold me on the idea and had me to his house and set me up. Great guy.
BUT immediatly after that I hung up my Spurs. Now I think about the thousands of places Ive been both here and overseas with all the things I could have bow hunted. Now I pay to travel; se la vi!
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Well being a medic in the USAF was more like a 9-5 job then being in the military.
I mostly gun hunted whitetail in Mississippi and then while stationed in plattsburgh NY I met a lifelong friend and we began our bow hunting adventures together .
We hunted and fished nearly every weekend .
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During 1966 thru 1969 the war in Vietnam was getting hotter and hotter and the jobs I did were tied directly to that end and time to hunt was scarce. I was stationed at Fort Sam Houston with the Nursing Department in the Medical Field Service School as the NCOIC. This was after basic and AIT at Fort Leonard Wood, Missour. Once the Army found out I had a college degree they shipped my to the Marine Base at Camp H.M. Smith where I served in the J3 operations Division of HQ, CINCPAC on the island of Oahu, Hawaii. There we worked three shifts 24/7 until I was discharged in 1969. Unfortunately, I worked the midnight to 8 am shift, and fortunately there were no officers around at night. Schofield had game to hunt but the 11th infantry were stationed there and were constantly training so that base had limited access. After discharge I went back to college to get an advanced degree and worked in higher education for about three years before accepting a position at Delta State University where I taught for 28 years. It was in Mississippi that my real love for bowhunting began. Mississippi is definitely a hunters state.
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Spent about 5 of my 8 years in Fort Riley Ks. The last two years of my enlistment I was attached to the natural resources department. I did quite a bit of hunting and fishing on and around post but some of the stuff I was able to do with the natural resources guys were a lot of fun! Small mammal trapping studies, Hoop nets on Milford and the rivers around base for turtle densities. Massive food plot maintenance. Aerial elk counts. I was there when the feral hogs starting showing up on post and this Florida boy was able to teach those biologists a thing or two about chasing pigs! LOL
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Looking back is pretty cool! A friend I met while in Montana worked in Admin so he saw all the upcoming duty changes as they came through. When his would come up he would volunteer for duty in a section that needed his rank. Several times he took a rank set-back in order to stay there and hunt. He spent 14 mths. in Alaska and 22 yrs. in Montana before retiring. He loved to hunt that much. He retired to Idaho. Quite the guy!
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During my three year hitch there was little time for hunting. My last year was in DC, but the civil upheaval of those days left no time. I did hunt while home on leave once and had a great time with my dad.
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I was able to take my first deer while station at Little Rock AFB after several years of trying. I didn't have a mentor to show me the way of traditional archery so it was a steep learning curve.
The base had (and probably still does) a good healthy deer population and the problem wasn't seeing deer it was hitting them :banghead:
Spent many a days a field bow hunting during the 1988 - 2002 time I was stationed in the area.
Good times!
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Camp LeJuene had some bow only areas that were pretty good. 29 Palms had Big Bear area a few hours drive away for desert muleys. Aberdeen MD used to have a good hunting program but I've heard its changed alot. Came home to Ohio whenever possible for whitetails...............
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Didn't get to do any hunting but I was able to check out archery equipment from Base Supply and do some target shooting while I was at Udorn Thailand. 'Course it was out along the perimeter where they'd sprayed all the herbicides but what did we know.
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Still on Active Duty, stationed in Pennsylvania. I step out my door and I'm hunting.
When I was stationed at Camp Pendleton, I used to hunt the ranges there.
Maj Tom
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The only place states side I was stationed was 29 palms and I got screwed with schools battalion. Poor me. Ha! I don't know how many long lunches I took hunting dove. I would drive out the gate and pull over. Doves and quali everywhere! Plenty of trips hunting desert mules too, all around 29 palms, lake arrow head, big bear, above palm springs. That was great I even went to lom pic I think an air force base and huntied wild boar. Put in for but was never drawn for elk and sheep. Those where the days.
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I grew up duck hunting and rifle hunting deer in Louisiana. It wasn't until I got stationed at Altus AFB, OK that I picked up bow (compound) hunting. I wasn't very successful but I had a blast and learned a lot.
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The only time I had to hunt was at Ft. Hood in the last couple of months before ETS in 1974. Went sheep hunting once. Also, III Corps put on an archery tournament shortly before I got out. I took 3rd place shooting a 65# recurve.
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I was able to hunt in Germany while stationed over there. It was a wonderful experience.
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Spent my first year going through training and MOS schools, then four years all around the Pacific, stationed in Iwakuni. I did some fishing in Pensacola, Japan, Wake Island, and Alaska, but no hunting other than on leave to Virginia. But man, did I see a lot of moose in Alaska, plus some other critters, however it just wasn't in the cards to hunt. Then theres an island near 'kuni with tame deer everywhere, the sika like we have in Maryland's Eastern Shore. They're protected there, so all you can do is pet them, feed them deer cookies, and don't let them dig through your pockets because they will eat your ferry ticket. I regret not getting outdoors more in all the countries I visited, instead of all the bars and other "establishments", but I had a damn good time. I figure I'll have more opportunity to hunt in the future than opportunities to do all the traveling I did
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Was stationed at Minot AFB and hunted everything I could. Love that country for hunting. Deer, duck, geese, grouse, pheasant, and dove. Missed most but had a blast flinging arrows at them.