My dad loved to hunt and fish. And he bought paraphernalia for both. Often times he would build his own fishing rods. He usually saved money by buying an old WWI military relict infield riffle, with a wooden stock all the way to the tip of the barrel, from a magazine. He would have it re-chambered, and bored out the barrel to take a 300 magnum round. Then he would put a scope on it. So the rifle didn’t have sights, if the scope got bumped or broken he couldn’t shoot. I’m sorry to say that I did not keep that gun, I should have kept it but I didn’t think I needed it because I don’t hunt. Mom sold the gun after Dad died.
He was a big game hunter; he would hunt for deer all the time. But he would even go up to Canada and hunt bear, moose an elk. I remember he got a moose in Canada once. He had a storage locker in a store in Juanita for the meat. Back in those days you could rent the freezer space in a store to keep your game. Hunting was more acceptable. Today there has been a big movement to limit guns and for animal rights. You used to be able to wear a fur coat but now if you run across an animal rights activist you get spray painted.
I was on a trail once when I heard a deer coming. I knew it was a deer because of the thud, thud, thud sound. Not like horse trotting, but the thud of a deer bouncing as it runs. I was standing on the trail and heard it coming toward me, I got down with my 30-30 lever action gun, I cocked it and put it up to my shoulder. Then up over the hill came a doe bouncing, as soon as she saw me she jumped off to the side and was gone. I could not shoot a doe because I did not have a doe tag. If it had been a buck it would have been an easy kill for me but the buck would have probably fallen right on me. I remember I was scared to death wondering if I was going to be able to do this. I was looking for the antlers and didn’t see them then the deer bounded sideways and I was very much relieved.
He would take me hunting with him and he had a hunting partner, Cliff Schroeder, an auto mechanic. That is where I really developed my love for listening to Husky football. My dad made sure that were ever we were we had a portable radio. We would go out hunting early in the morning; we were on the trail long before the sun came up because the animals need to eat at twilight and dusk. But by noon we would be back at camp cooking up lunch on the campfire or stoves, and listening to Washington play football.
This was back when I was 14, 15, 16, somewhere in that vicinity. I never got interested in hunting, I wasn’t into killing deer. I hated to go out and kill animals I had all the meat I needed in the market. I did like to fish but Dad got me hooked on listening to Husky football. I knew it was important because my dad hunted on the weekends, but we had to be back at camp at noon to hear the game. You could get away but you couldn’t get that far away. 
A Bit Of Husky Information
Seattle didn’t have a professional football team for years and years. When pros started out they had a real small national football league. They eventually expanded into AFL and NFL. So we only had one football team in the area, The Husky’s. Seattle has always been a football town. Do you know when people stand up and do the wave at a football game that stared in Washington Husky’s stadium. Even today we are the loudest team. WA stadium and Qwest field (Seahawks) are the hardest stadiums to watch a game in because you can’t hear the plays. Seattle has the loudest fans and some of rowdiest. The number 12 is flown from the top of space needle because we where the 12th man. It all started with WA Huskies. Did you know this? WA Huskies have a rooter club, fan club, that follows the team. It is the largest travel team in college football. When WA went down to Florida to play Miami (longest trip to an away game in the US) we filled a whole side of the stadium with our team. We pack it in! Huskies are never without a lot of noise and fan support wherever they go, even clear to Florida. Unlike some schools that don’t even have a rooter club, there is no crowd noise when playing away games.
That spirit is what my dad caught. I’ve followed the Huskies all my life, but this summer will be the first time I will seen a game in the Husky stadium, ever. Josh has caught the spirit if Husky football, I’m not sure how but he really has.
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