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I know many of you have been to many different places, to all parts of the world, hunting. Others, well, have only seen the grass on one side. In this post, none of that matters...
I have seen a few different places myself, but not nearly what I would like to see in my lifetime. I love to hunt, and I am not necessarily saying I need to go and hunt these places, because I don't. I would like to visit the Rocky mountains... put my boot on the slope at the bottom and start that trek. I would like to see Saskatewean, or any part of Canada, in the dead of winter.
But there is one place that I know will be in my heart forever, one place that no hunting location on earth will ever replace...
There is a place for me that calls my name... a place that has that certain smell, that certain feeling in the 5am darkness with a flashlight. That certain place engulfs me in, pulls me... I am severely addicted to it...
Everytime I am at the bottom, looking at it, I need to climb it. I need to visit the top.
There is a place, for me, that when I am there, I feel like I am free... I crave this place, I want this place, I need this place...
Without it, I am a nobody. I would be lost without it...
You guys get the picture, right???
There is that one place you guys have hunted, and maybe still do, and hopefully... crave to hunt... you live to hunt this one place...
Whether it be a mountain, a hollow, a ravine, or a small farm. Maybe a small woodlot, or maybe an entire mountain range.
For me, the place I speak of resides in Tioga County. This place, my friends, is where I think about many nights going to bed.
It is a large ravine overlooking the Pine Creek Valley in Tioga County. I hunt it every first day of bear, I make a point to make the trek up to the top, which usually takes 1 hour... in the morning darkness. I will sit for the first half of the day before lunch, and before we start our traditional pushes. I used to hunt deer up there alot, before the seasons were combined. I don't spend near the time here as I would like... but I spend time there nonetheless...
This place is special to me... I hunt alot back around home, alot with the bow, and I can tell you, nothing calls to me like this one ravine. It has it's own smell... it's own feel, and it's own look. It beats the heck outta me like no other. But I love the feeling of letting it slap me around
But when I make it to the top, I am free. As free as an eagle gliding over a valley. I feel like I am king of the world. No other place does this to me.
While I have treestands back home, and certain hollows or ravines I like to hunt in other places, there is nothing that compares to "my special place"...
I get to the top, lean my back against the same 75 year old hemlock every year, and watch the gigantic ravine below me. I watch Pine Creek snake it's way through the enormous valley below. This hemlock, which is named "Big George", hugs me. It cradles me and protects me, and when I am snuggled up next to it, I feel safe.
I watch all kinds of critters, that I am most likely the only human they have ever seen, go about their everyday business...
I live for this place, and to be quite honest, I feel like it lives for me too.
This humungous ravine is "that one place" that just calls me, I need to visit it every year... if I don't, my season is not complete.
Tag filled or not, it doesn't matter. Climbing this ravine, feeling that lung explosion and the cold air inside them in the darkness, is special to me. That is my success...
I never feel like I didn't accomplish something after I make the climb... although the real work has yet to begin with our traditional pushes and drives, this visit year after year is a complete success for me. I always come home a happy camper, with a smile on my face...
While we hauled bears out of there before, and my first buck years ago, that is all just icing on the cake...
While I have climbed other ravines in these mountains, this one is very genuine in my heart. It treats me well, has it's own personality.
We know each other well... I have seen the dark side of it, sleet and hail, and blizzards. I have seen the 60 degree sunny days. While some conditions would be considered life threatening, I know this ravine will always hold me tight, and will never steer me wrong. It will keep me safe... the small trickle, and a very small tributary to the Big Pine Creek below, always guides me home.
This, my friends, is my special place. A place I hold dear in my heart. A place where I crave to be.
Here is my ravine... while not the best picture, you can see where I like to spend my time in the fall, and make my yearly trek to the top for my annual stand in bear season... overlooking the Pine Creek Valley, right in the middle of bear country.
No place I'd rather be...
I thought this would be a great opportunity for you guys to share this "special place" as well... pics or no pics, big or small, let's hear where you heart belongs... Let's hear about those places fellas!!!
I have seen a few different places myself, but not nearly what I would like to see in my lifetime. I love to hunt, and I am not necessarily saying I need to go and hunt these places, because I don't. I would like to visit the Rocky mountains... put my boot on the slope at the bottom and start that trek. I would like to see Saskatewean, or any part of Canada, in the dead of winter.
But there is one place that I know will be in my heart forever, one place that no hunting location on earth will ever replace...
There is a place for me that calls my name... a place that has that certain smell, that certain feeling in the 5am darkness with a flashlight. That certain place engulfs me in, pulls me... I am severely addicted to it...
Everytime I am at the bottom, looking at it, I need to climb it. I need to visit the top.
There is a place, for me, that when I am there, I feel like I am free... I crave this place, I want this place, I need this place...
Without it, I am a nobody. I would be lost without it...
You guys get the picture, right???
There is that one place you guys have hunted, and maybe still do, and hopefully... crave to hunt... you live to hunt this one place...
Whether it be a mountain, a hollow, a ravine, or a small farm. Maybe a small woodlot, or maybe an entire mountain range.
For me, the place I speak of resides in Tioga County. This place, my friends, is where I think about many nights going to bed.
It is a large ravine overlooking the Pine Creek Valley in Tioga County. I hunt it every first day of bear, I make a point to make the trek up to the top, which usually takes 1 hour... in the morning darkness. I will sit for the first half of the day before lunch, and before we start our traditional pushes. I used to hunt deer up there alot, before the seasons were combined. I don't spend near the time here as I would like... but I spend time there nonetheless...
This place is special to me... I hunt alot back around home, alot with the bow, and I can tell you, nothing calls to me like this one ravine. It has it's own smell... it's own feel, and it's own look. It beats the heck outta me like no other. But I love the feeling of letting it slap me around

But when I make it to the top, I am free. As free as an eagle gliding over a valley. I feel like I am king of the world. No other place does this to me.
While I have treestands back home, and certain hollows or ravines I like to hunt in other places, there is nothing that compares to "my special place"...
I get to the top, lean my back against the same 75 year old hemlock every year, and watch the gigantic ravine below me. I watch Pine Creek snake it's way through the enormous valley below. This hemlock, which is named "Big George", hugs me. It cradles me and protects me, and when I am snuggled up next to it, I feel safe.
I watch all kinds of critters, that I am most likely the only human they have ever seen, go about their everyday business...
I live for this place, and to be quite honest, I feel like it lives for me too.
This humungous ravine is "that one place" that just calls me, I need to visit it every year... if I don't, my season is not complete.
Tag filled or not, it doesn't matter. Climbing this ravine, feeling that lung explosion and the cold air inside them in the darkness, is special to me. That is my success...
I never feel like I didn't accomplish something after I make the climb... although the real work has yet to begin with our traditional pushes and drives, this visit year after year is a complete success for me. I always come home a happy camper, with a smile on my face...
While we hauled bears out of there before, and my first buck years ago, that is all just icing on the cake...
While I have climbed other ravines in these mountains, this one is very genuine in my heart. It treats me well, has it's own personality.
We know each other well... I have seen the dark side of it, sleet and hail, and blizzards. I have seen the 60 degree sunny days. While some conditions would be considered life threatening, I know this ravine will always hold me tight, and will never steer me wrong. It will keep me safe... the small trickle, and a very small tributary to the Big Pine Creek below, always guides me home.
This, my friends, is my special place. A place I hold dear in my heart. A place where I crave to be.
Here is my ravine... while not the best picture, you can see where I like to spend my time in the fall, and make my yearly trek to the top for my annual stand in bear season... overlooking the Pine Creek Valley, right in the middle of bear country.
No place I'd rather be...

I thought this would be a great opportunity for you guys to share this "special place" as well... pics or no pics, big or small, let's hear where you heart belongs... Let's hear about those places fellas!!!