Trad Gang
Main Boards => PowWow => Topic started by: Barry Wensel on April 29, 2008, 11:00:00 PM
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Girls keep diaries, guys keep logs or journals. When I first moved to Montana in 1973 I kept daily notes on my annual findings. I did so for close to twenty years. I lost the first ten years or so when a water pipe broke in my basement. I lost the next ten years or so, along with a dozen custom bows and most of my trophies, in our storage unit fire in 1999. Yesterday, I was going through an old briefcase looking for something and came across four cassette tapes that have been lost in the shuffle. Two of them were hour long conversations I had with Roger Rothhaar. One from 1974 and another from 1976. Besides them I found two 90 minute cassettes I recorded about my entire 1982 and 1983 hunting seasons. I started out with "I'm recording this for posterity while it's fresh in my memory." Then I went through the highlights of my entire September, October and November. I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed listening to it. Priceless! There were literally DOZENS of great memories I had totally forgotten about. I found it extremely interesting how I've changed over the years. Equally interesting, there were occurances I couldn't recall at all and others I remembered in vivid detail by just closing my eyes and listening to my own words. One thing I wish I had done moreso was to mention what equipment I was using at the time. I failed to do that. My suggestion to you younger bowhunters would be for you to start doing this for yourselves. Don't just write it down but actively record yourself either via tape or on camera making it more personal. The excitement in my voice when recounting the hunts was something you'd lose in writing it. It basically took an hour and a half out of my life each year to record something that now, almost thirty years later, is priceless to me. Do yourselves and your families a favor and make duplicates. Story them away in a little box in two different locations for safe keeping. Then just forget about them for 25 or 30 years. I guarantee you'll thank yourself and you'll thank me for suggesting it. Now, go make some memories. BW
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Barry
Great Idea.
And I thought Gene was the smart one :D
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Great advice.
A few years ago I bought a small, digital audio recorder. It's great for taking field notes that I can downlaod to my PC, burn to CD and transcribe when I get the time.
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I used to keep a journal of my hunts several years ago then just got lazy. I do need to start doing that again. Thanks for the reminder, Barry.
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Excellent advice Barry. I hope folks take it. It's so much easier and cheaper to do these days than 40 years ago.
I was extremely fortunate in that my Dad and two of my uncles were filming before I was born. My Granddad passed away when I was 9 but I have great footage of small game hunts I had with him and Dad.
You're right. This stuff is priceless, not just to me but to my kids and grandkids and who knows after that.
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Barry,
Thanks for the wisdom. I think the enthusiasm that blessed you will also touch our children and grandchildren. It may be the mystery that draws them to the special experience of the real world. Now some type of recorder is on my list for 2008.
Thanks
Dan Olson
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Barry, good stuff. Will do that.
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I like the video Idea if you could see your self 30 years ago with the sparkle in your eye recounting how existed you whir when recounting that season.
I will do it.
Cool B-man
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In the end, all we really ever have is memories.
Since my kids have become hunters instead of spectators, I have been writing a journal. A new entry only takes a few minutes, but I spend alot of time reading the entries that are already there. Details can fade in a very short time.
The video idea is better yet.
Best advice I`ve gotten in a long time.
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Barry, Along that same line, my father-in-law was a surgeon in Patton's mash unit in WWII. That unit went every where Patton went!
He never talked about it until his club had a Army-Navy night were a few veterans talked about thier war experiences. He had a hard time trying to get a 15 minute talk so he re-encountered his war experiences to the family for the first time. We never new that he was in Hitler's Eagle Nest (he ripped off a soap dish from the wall :) , opened up two concentration camps, learned about fixing broken legs with metal rods in the middle of the bone from an Xray of a German prisoner (German doctors had already perfected that procedure), on & on. He later became of of the first five orthropedic surgeons prefect the first total hip procedure.
He has passed away now...BUT I filmed that entire evening while everyone watched. I can't tell you how priceless that tape is!
Thanks Barry, you never know what will be one of your priceless mementos in the future...Doc
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AMEN!! :readit:
Killdeer :thumbsup:
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My granpa and uncles would many times set a tape recorder on the table at night during hunt. They would talk about all kinds of stuff. Stands, equipment, experiences, lessons. Just normal dinner table hunting camp conversations. I know it is great to listen to them 30+ years later. Great idea to do. dino
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Uncle Barry , thanks so much , you inspire me so much , I love this idea and plan to make it part of my hunts from now on. thanks Barry...Mark#78 ...That must have meant so much to you after these all these years, thats a blessing ...peace :wavey:
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Yeah...Barry's right.......and I kick myself a lot for not taking pics all those years!!!
I started taking pics about 5 years ago when we started Trad Gang...and I realised how much they can mean down the road. I now take more pics that I probably should...but I always seem to get enough to tell the story.
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I started keeping a journal in 02' with all the wind, weather, moon phase, temps, and barometer. It has been a huge help in determining a pattern according to the weather and when to hunt a certain location. I think the entries when things didn't go right are way more entertaining. :biglaugh:
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I agree with Barry and Terry- it'll become more precious with each passing season and I could kick myself for not having been more faithful in documenting the time that can't be lived over. Forty years of "once in a lifetime" experiences hanging out there and I wait 'til I can't remember what I came to the store for to realize have valuable they are to me and how much a record would mean to my sons. Thanks for the reminder Barry. Grant
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I've been doing it for about 8 years now. The last 5 years have been electronically. Good stuff for sure.
Jason
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So true. My wife tells me the best pictures are the ones kept in your head but I have a very difficult time showing those to anyone. I take pix and have them on my computer and periodically copy them to cd's and backups.
I should keep a journal also but I don't. Somethings I'd just soon forget but there be no since in writing them down cause I ain't gonna forget 'em anyway. Like the buck that didn't know I was there. Problem was I didn't know he was either. He be much, much quicker than me at 10 yds. Lesson learned without written documentation. I do know what you guys are talking about, tides wind rain, temp and all that stuff. Good turkey huntin' ya'll. :archer:
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Barry I started keeping a journal of every time I go to the woods to stump shoot, hunt, or just hike. I note the date, time, weather conditions and any animal sightings or sign. After a while you start to see patterns of where and when critters move and what they are looking for. I also take my digital camera to take pictures. Take Barry's advise guys and make some great memories.
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great idea Barry!!!! i need to do that, especially when i spen time in the stand w/ my grandfather and he's telling me all his old hunting stories. i still like them eventhough i've heard them many times over
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I started a journal in '87 when I switched to trad, I named it "Hunting Notes & Lies".
Now, 21yrs later, I'm on my 7th notebook. I not only record field notes but have family news, current events, and my own personal thoughts. My daughters know to keep them so my grandchildren (hopefully) will know what made me tick.
I only wish I would take more pictures. I really hate messing with a camera when bowhunting or hanging with the buddies at a shoot.
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I'm tickled you guys are taking my suggestion to heart. I wanted to clarify I too used to record all my daily findings in a journal. I listed where/when I hunted, time, temps, the weather, wind directions, etc. But the cassettes I was referring to in this post were made at the end of the season. I'd sit down and document every hunt I took that fall while they were still fresh in my memory. I not only talked about deer I got but also any misses and/or close calls. etc. Those were the happenings that were fading or gone from my memory that I appreciated so much now. I had some people say that'd like to hear them but frankly they are personal in that only I or maybe my hunting partners at the time and maybe my family could relate to. As an example on recalling a September elk hunt I said, "I packed into 'the Hole' on September 19th and camped in the same spot I did last year near the ameba pond just past the second rockslide." That info wouldn't mean a thing to anyone other than myself or partners. But it brought back a flood of memories about sleeping on rocks and how the ameba pond got it's name, etc. Anyway, if you can get over talking to yourself into a tape recorder or talking into the lens of a camera, I know you, your family and your hunting buddies will appreciate the end product 25 years down the trail. I'm leaving this afternoon for Florida to hunt hogs and make more memories. Thanks and cheers to all. BW
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Great sugestion, I am going to start doing that. See you tomorrow in Fla.
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Red....its pretty easy not to have to 'mess' with a camera these days. Just get yourself one of these now Dig Cams and keep it in a pocket for easy access. Don't take but 20 seconds to rip of a couple of pics.
Barry, I hear ya, me and a friend of mine have names for places in Cohutta, and we have our own 'The Hole' too, as well as, The Homeplace, Moonshine Falls, Saw Dust Pile, The Theater etc...and those names instantly put images and memories in our heads
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Barry... a personal thanks for this "pearl". That you and Gene are comfortable hanging around these parts is just pretty cool.
There are many who could, but don't.
We all benefit from you contributions! :thumbsup:
I sure hope that a lot of our brothers here, "get it".
I've done my share of journaling and regret those gaps in my life when I haven't.
To all... Never think that it couldn't happen to you, but after many years of this you're likely to find that there are just too many stories to remember them all.
Never thought that would happen to me, but it has.
:banghead:
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Great tip. I used to keep a journal documenting each hunt but then got lazy. When I moved last year, I came across one of them from several years ago. I sat down and read it for over an hour reliving those hunts. Smiling when reading the successes and laughing about the misses and close calls. The funny thing is, some of the best memories were not the successes but the friendships and places. I need to start keeping a journal again. I might need to look into one of those pocket digital recorders. I sure would like to have recordings of some of those past campfire conversations at the end of the day.
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Maybe more of us will video our hunts now.
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Great idea from a man who knows. That is one man I would like to have a campfire experience with. How much fun would that be? :thumbsup:
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It's funny how somthing so simple can be such a great idea.recording would also allow someone to write about it with great memory on detail years later.Thanks for the idea Barry.
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I kept detailed logs and pictures when I guided years ago, but havn't done it in years. I still like to read 'em when the mood strikes.
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Great advice Barry, I just started taking field note this past week during my Spring Gobbler hunt! I wish I would of done this years ago!! Thanks!
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I just got home from Indiana this evening. Barry probably flew over me somewhere along the way on his way to Florida. I thought I'd get on here while my emails are downloading. Maybe this is another one of those twin things but just last week I went through a bunch of old slides and had them transposed to CDs. While digging out the slides, I too came across several hours worth of audio cassettes I made in the late '70's about hunting whitetails. I commented in them that I might write a book someday. My first book transpired later in 1980. My wife and I even had a few laughs. My voice has deepened by a couple "octanes" since then and she chuckled when I commented several times when I said out loud "I was wrong there" after listening to some of my early theories. On a related note, I recently visited an old friend who worked on the Alakan pipeline in the mid-'70s. He mentioned how I had made him several audio cassettes with a tape recorder during my October bowhunts so he wouldn't feel so homesick and how he cherished those tapes to this day. I had forgotten all about them. Neat stuff. Its probably a good idea to have those old cassettes transposed to CDs while they are still useable. One of the Wensel family traditions is to annually listen to an old audio tape entitled "Christmas 1976" of our kids opening their Christmas presents.
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I just returned home from my Florida pig hunt with Marty McMahon, Bill Urban, Hogdancer and the boys. We had another GREAT hunt that also needs to be recorded for posterity. Also a note to Bill Turner who posted above he'd love to share a campfire with us. Check out the thread posted this morning regarding Biggie Hoffman having to drop out of the Quebec Bear Quest hunt leaving June 6th. There you go. It'a a SUPER bear hunt at a reduced rate with a great bunch of Tradgangers. And last I heard there weren't many bears in Texas. Give Tom Phillips a call ASAP because that slot won't last long. BW
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Great idea Mr. Wensel, a couple of years ago, I went to a talk by Flip Pallot, a noted salt water angler and host of his own tv show, "Walker's Cay Chronicles". (Also an admitted bow hunting fanatic) His whole talk was on the value of taking a camera with you on every fishing trip to record and keep the memories of the trip alive. I have done so ever since, and it has only been 2-3 years, and I am amazed at the forgotten memories until I look at those photo's. The idea of vocally recording a hunt or get toghether with friends is great, I will do so from now on, especicially if I can match the vocal recording with photos, (ya gotta love technology,....sometimes!)
John
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Ironically enough, I've got a few taped interviews with a couple of Wensel Brothers from the late 90s in my own collection!
TOMANO
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Excellent idea, I so fresh to the stick and string I havn't had a chance (time/money) to get out of my 6 yrd range in the laundry room yet. Cept for the few arrows I shot from the living room, through the kitchen, through the (open) sliding glass doors and into two straw bales in the back yard. Too bad one of them strayed and made a nice hole in the kitchen wall!
So hopefully by this time next year I can add to this experience.
Can't wait till the last week of May --I'm going to be watching my first arrow fly to the heavens in the wilds!
shade seeker
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Thanks Guys!
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I've Never put anything on audio or video..I do write down all that I do out in the woods. Been recording my events in the woods starting 1979 when I first starting trapping. Then in 1981 when I could bow hunt.. Like Barry and Gene say write it down years from now you will get a kick out of it... Write it down.. Remember have fun with it..Learn from it...Tdog..Love the Brothers....
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Now you can take Barry's advice and help the kids.
Barry and Gene have agreed to autograph a couple of all weather logbooks for the auction for the winning bidders. These are military ones being used by our troops right now.
(http://i50.photobucket.com/albums/f311/vermonster13/Logbook001.jpg)
Thank you sirs.
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We have a hunting journal up at the cabin, and after every hunt those who wish write down their experience. It includes time of year, weather, what you hunter for, what with, how with, sightings, and harvested animals, and then gives you plenty of space for the stories. It is great to read them years later. We have had it about 6 years now.
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Great idea. I too use to keep a journal but then got lazy also. But like Terry I take lots of pics now adays. It's so easy with digital. It's definately not only trophy pics either. But for years I'd always would just file those pics away either actual pics or CD's and put them in a box. Every once in awhile I'd stumble on them and look through them. It was alot of fun and brought back tons of memories so I decided I needed to display those pics. So I got a BIG poster board frame and made a big collage till it was full and then hung in my bow shop.Actually turned out to three poster board frames. Man I can't tell ya how many times I look at those pics now and also when friends or family comes up they look at em. We also did it of family pics and they hang lots of places in the house. You can pick up some really nice large cheap frames with glass at those stores with the ugly pics that never sale. I admit you look kinda foolish walking out of the store with everyone wondering what the heck you see in that god awful picture! lol But I know in a little while it'll be transformed into a personal master piece.
Now adays in the digital age at the end of every season I make a CD of all the pics but pick out the ones that have the most meaning to me and make a digital collage standard paper size and print it for say the season 07.
This thread reminds me though I need to go back to writing a journal though.
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I have never really been in to mounts, Yes I do think they are great looking.. I'm more on a Euro-mount person, but even then I not have any kind of mounts... I have been taking pic's but should be doing more of that & taking my MiniDVC out in to the woods when hunting/scouting well you get the picture.
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Gene,,I don't suppose you remember a man by the name of Ed Pitchkites do you? I'll bet you do! Ed is one of a kind and one of the old "legends" around here. Anyway,I clearly remember listening to cassette tapes of conversations you and Ed sent back & forth to each other. It's amazing to listen opinions about things back then and how they have changed over the years! There was one of them that you were talking about a "big smiley" faced hunter that was trying to make a name for himself in bowhunting. I don't suppose you remember who that was do you?
Barry,,you and Gene have always been an inspiration to bowhunting and this topic is yet another. I kept written journals for about 10yrs but then for some reason I stopped and started more picture taking instead. A combination of both of these and some recording sounds like a great idea. Thanks!
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I want to again clarify written journals are great, but recording yourself is a lot quicker and easier (I can talk faster than I can write or type). By recording yourself via tape recorder and/or DVD you can hear the excitement in your voice. Filming yourself is even better, as you can see how much you've changed, what equipment you were using then, etc. when viewing the tapes 25 years from now. I'd love to be able to sit down right now and watch recorded video footage of my dad, my son-in-law and friend Paul Schafer (who have all passed)talking about hunts we just shared together. Written journals of those hunts would be appreciated.. but live, taped recordings of those hunts would be way more outstanding. There's no way the written word could portray the expression a live recording will do. Thanks. BW
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Great Idea
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:campfire:
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Priceless!!!
:campfire: :coffee: :archer2: :campfire:
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Indeed… :campfire:
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I started keeping a hunting journal in college. That's dwindled a bit now to the point of it just being an Excel sheet that I fill out after each hunt at home, but I still do write-ups about all of my out of state trips. I figure someday down the road it'll be interesting to look back on.
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I've kept a running account of most of my bow hunting years. Reading back through them awakens memories and small details long forgotten.
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15 years ago I posted on this thread that I keep a hunting journal/diary and hopefully I would have grandchildren to pass them on to.
I still religiously keep up with the journal and I have four granddaughters!
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I have kept a journal since I got my first longbow in 1983. So glad I did. Something to think about for the new bowhunters.
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Thanks for digging this gem. I too have kept a journal. Audio and video would be even better.
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I started hunting in 1967. I started keeping a written log of my hunts in 1982. Day, dates, stands I hunted from, weather info, type of equipment used and deer I've seen and deer I've shot. I just finished compiling all the statistics from my 2023 bow season. Barry, you're 100% correct. It's incredible to look back and read this stuff !
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I still have all the pictures taken of every hunt of 30 years of bow hunting
I look at them every couple years and smile with watery eyes what a great adventure !
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Hmmm like saying a satchel and purse ain’t the same thing? A diary and journal are both just for girls! Hey I’m kidding by that. Years ago at Harrisburg show I broke your chops and you were quick witted coming back. God bless you brother. Actually a great idea. Some guys are smarter than they look. I’m not referring to you of course.
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Hmmm like saying a satchel and purse ain’t the same thing? A diary and journal are both just for girls! Hey I’m kidding by that. Years ago at Harrisburg show I broke your chops and you were quick witted coming back. God bless you brother. Actually a great idea. Some guys are smarter than they look. I’m not referring to you of course.
Who are you reporting to suppose? I've never been to that shoot in my entire life.
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Hmmm like saying a satchel and purse ain’t the same thing? A diary and journal are both just for girls! Hey I’m kidding by that. Years ago at Harrisburg show I broke your chops and you were quick witted coming back. God bless you brother. Actually a great idea. Some guys are smarter than they look. I’m not referring to you of course.
Who are you reporting to suppose? I've never been to that shoot in my entire life.
I don’t follow you exactly Terry? Not sure what reporting to means? Also was not a shoot I said show. Around here we call it the Harrisburg show. It’s in Harrisburg Pa. Think it’s the Great American outdoors show nowadays. Id say that was maybe around 2000.
Anyhow, I walked up to Barry, said something off handed to break his chops. Not disrespectfully like I wasnt here either. He instantly came back with as good of a comment. Guess that’s one of the things I relate to most. He’s got super quick wit.
Hope no one took anything incorrectly
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No worries Sir! :thumbsup:
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When we moved years ago,my wife was doing a clean up and tossed about 9 years of my journals.So I stopped writing everything down,sorry now that I quit writing my journals.
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When we moved years ago,my wife was doing a clean up and tossed about 9 years of my journals.So I stopped writing everything down,sorry now that I quit writing my journals.
Are you still married? :biglaugh:
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Great throwback from the earlier days of Tradgang.!!!
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Great throwback from the earlier days of Tradgang.!!!
What he said ^^^ !!!