[mobirdhunter]

Originally Posted by Russell E. Cleary

Garry:

We do have some great sporting traditions here in the Northeast, but our regional Megalopolis is trending toward the effete.

We have teen-age boys around here now who have never baited a hook or shot a gun.

I look toward the West and South (and far North) of our country to lead in extending the outdoor ethos in the future. Paddle-boarding, mountain-biking, hiking and bird-watching are the main businesses today of our venerable sporting camps. They are great activities; but I think we’re missing something essential if we are not occasionally out there extracting something wild to eat.

Russell, I feel blessed to have found my way to Northern Missouri. The top two tiers of counties in Missouri have a smaller population now than they did in 1900. A good proportion of the local young men, and a fair number of young women, do hunt and fish. Sadly, most of them leave the area as there is little for them to do to support themselves. Farming is still the biggest "industry;" roads are poor, but generally sparsely traveled; taxes are low; gun laws lenient; and we are not a destination for too many, other than deer and turkey hunters. There's nothing flashy about us here in, what I like to call the "Middle-Middle," but it's home for us now, and I am just OK with that.