60 years a Bow Hunter

October 14, 2015, 08:15:00 AM

I pray that I can still hunt when I am 80, or 90, or at least up till the day "they throw dirt in my face"!

Good luck, Ron!

Bisch

Warden609 · October 14, 2015, 08:19:00 AM

Happy hunting

twitchstick · October 14, 2015, 08:59:00 AM

Way to go!

awbowman · October 14, 2015, 09:04:00 AM

Good luck Ron

Ron LaClair · October 14, 2015, 09:21:00 AM

Thanks for the well wishes.

I wrote this poem a while ago, the older I get the more it applies

"Memories of yesterday"

Yesterday, when I was young there were so many bows just waiting to be strung

so many feathered shafts to send upon the wind I never thought the time for that would ever end

A thousand hunts I planned, I dreamed they'd be so grand but some just slipped away like weak and shifting sand

I never seemed to have the time to make them all real, now late in life it seems I've lost some of my zeal.

Yesterday when I was young, the hills I climbed were steep but I crested them on the run

now it seems the valleys are where I prefer to be, my legs are old, no longer do they want to carry me.

Youth and strength it seemed could conquer anything, no challenge left untried, no bow I couldn't string

I gave no thought to what the future held for me, I only knew that arrows on the wind would set me free.

Now Yesterday has past me by, but I still like to watch my arrows as they fly,

the bows I shoot are not as heavy as before, and I don't shoot them quite as often anymore

Those hunts of years gone by, though they're in the past, I have such sweet memories, and those memories will last

So I can relive again those Golden times back when, those Golden times back when,... I was young

Sam McMichael · October 14, 2015, 09:48:00 AM

Dang, I just turned 66, so you have been bowhunting since I was a little bitty piss ant! Congratulation, sir!

2nocks · October 14, 2015, 10:45:00 AM

longbowman · October 14, 2015, 10:54:00 AM

I'm just a couple years behind you in the number of years bowhunting my friend. Time goes by so fast! As I sat in my stand last evening I was reflecting on each year. At least you shot at your first deer! I stalked to within 20 yds. of mine and then it fed to within 5 of me and all I did was pull the bow back and let it up...I just couldn't let go! Happy birthday by the way.

Ray Lyon · October 14, 2015, 11:24:00 AM

Ron, you've had a great many experiences with more to come. You're opening story has been repeated many times. 39 years ago this fall, I had my first 'encounter' while bow hunting as a 15 year old. I was 'still hunting' on an island that was probably a mile long and half mile wide in West Bay off of the peninsula I grew up on in Northwest Lower MI. They were having a special hunt to reduce the overgrown deer population. My first opportunity of my bow hunting career came when a doe came along and at ten yards broadside my arrow hit the ground next to her front hooves! I shoot a little better than that now, however the thrill is still there for me. I hope the thrill still continues for 25 more years until I'm your age as well and I hope your grandson Jordan get's that thrill next week at Shrewhaven.

Tree Killer · October 14, 2015, 12:04:00 PM

You started in 1955 Ron, the year I was born. Many more to come my friend!

Tree Killer · October 14, 2015, 12:05:00 PM

You started in 1955 Ron, the year I was born. Many more to come my friend!

ron w · October 14, 2015, 12:13:00 PM

I had a young lady hold the door and call me Sir at the coffee shop this morning

.......Keep at it Ron and I hope you have great time at Shrew Haven this year.

Tradcat · October 14, 2015, 01:11:00 PM

Congrats Sir !

Greg Szalewski · October 14, 2015, 01:27:00 PM

Happy 60th ol boy. Keep em coming.

elkken · October 14, 2015, 01:33:00 PM

Congratulations Ron ... It's great to see the passion still burning after all those years.

I'm about ten years behind you on the date of my first shot at a deer and I still recall it like it was yesterday.

Good luck on your hunt this year !

LookMomNoSights · October 14, 2015, 01:33:00 PM

You are truly an archery and bow hunting icon, Mr. LaClair...... and I thank you for all that you have done and continue to do. Thank You Sir!

DennyK · October 14, 2015, 02:48:00 PM

Congratulations Ron, I hope you have many more seasons to look foreward to! Have a great hunt with the crew at Shrewhaven. Looking foreward to reading it. Watch out for that Ghost of Armstrong Creek.

Denny

Owlgrowler · October 14, 2015, 03:27:00 PM

Go get 'em, Sir

John3 · October 14, 2015, 03:41:00 PM

Hope you bowhunt another twenty years...! I'm at 28 years this season and can only pray I make 50.

STICKBENDER98 · October 14, 2015, 04:04:00 PM

Congratulations on an awesome accomplishment. This is my 33rd season bow hunting, I hope I'm still going as strong as you are when I reach your age. And there's nothing wrong with a pretty girl holding the door for you in my book. Good luck to you and all your fellow Shrew Haven camp mates.