I recently found myself on a remote hunting trip with 6 younger fellows all of them 20 or 30 something. The days were short, the weather was pretty crappy, we didn't get to hunt the first 2 days and that left us with a lot of down time. It used to be that we would pass the time sitting around drinking coffee, sharing stories and getting to know each other a bit better. But on this particular hunt there happened to be wi-fi in camp and all those young guys wanted to do was sit around and stare at their cell phones, catch up on Facebook and God only knows what else. It was like pulling teeth just trying to get their attention long enough to get them to the table for meals and as soon as they were finished eating they went right back into the sitting room and got right back on their phones. I might be showing my age but if that's the way things are going to be from now on I'm damn glad that I grew up without the internet and cell phones. Have any of you other older fellows ever experienced anything like this? Is this the new norm?
Unfortunately, you are absolutely correct. The whole reason I hunt and fish is to get away from it all. I understand the importance of being "connected" in the event of an emergency, etc., but what is the point of going on a trip if you are going to be doing something you could be doing from your couch?
One of the best lessons that was ever told to me was along these lines. It was February of 2001. My mother was involved in the pharmaceutical industry. Specifically, it was a small chain that focused on homeopathic remedies and such, with prescriptions being a last resort. At any rate, they also had a compounding pharmacy. Something like 95% of medicines, pharmaceuticals and otherwise, have their origin in the tropics. Every other year, my mother would lead a trip to the Peruvian Amazon to speak with medicine men, shamans, and the like. This was to see what sorts of plants they used for particular ailments. It eventually turned into a publicity stunt, and one year they even had a PBS film crew come along. To this day, you can sometimes see it on TV.
Anyhow, in 2001, I had the opportunity to tag along. Our guide, Julio, was of a tribe that did not have an official name. Missionaries found his family when he was a young teenager, and eventually Julio went to the city of Iquitos for a formal education.
And now the point of this wordy reply. We were on either the Amazon or Rio Napo, and were watching the pink river dolphins. Many of the group were observing these unique creatures through their viewfinders, trying to document this experience on film. After several minutes of this, Julio very kindly, yet firmly, advised against trying to take photos. Instead, he insisted that we take in the moment. Enjoy it. Savor it. Instead of being so focused on snapping the perfect shot. As he put it, if we wanted a picture, we could look in a book, or in a Natural Geographic (with the internet not being what it is today). There are professional photographers that spend thousands of hours trying to get the perfect shot. The moments we were there with the dolphins were fleeting, so we should just take it in and make the memories.
That was a very poignant lesson for me as a 15 year old boy. Perhaps it is part of the reason my head is always in the clouds. Just observing, reflecting, and dreaming.
Speaking of dreaming...
We were also rocked awake one night by the bellowing, guttural roar of none other than Panthera onca. I have never had a more visceral experience. Suddenly the mosquito nets in which we were sleeping seemed quite...inadequate. To live in the days when one could hunt these powerful cats! See, there I go, dreaming, scheming, and wishing again...
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