The Outdoors Is Filled With “Untold” Stories

Back in 1996 I snapped this picture of some bark on an aspen tree while elk hunting out in Colorado during the muzzleloader season.   I took pause, because although I had been hunting for several days the only other human I saw during my days afield was my buddy, Mitch.   Yet, I was intrigued by this “hunter graffiti” and stopped for several minutes to ponder about the person who had gone before me on this very land.

Indeed, L.B.K. from Virginia was a very lucky man.   With just a few simple little letters etched into the tree he told me (and subsequently others) everything we really needed to know.   He proclaimed his achievement and gave inspiration to others in the future who were attempting this same feat.   In fact, this sort of hunter graffiti, as I call it, was quite common in the mountain range where I hunted near Craig, CO.   Each told a story that by no means was permanent or destructive to the landscape, yet it reminded others of the triumph some other hunter was once feeling.

Occasionally when I walk through the woods I have to ponder these artifacts left by sportsmen who have gone before me.   Even for just a few moments I have to wonder what was going on in the minds of the people who left their marks for others to obviously see.

In Colorado it was markings in a tree.   In Montana it was an old hunting shack in the middle of nowhere long since abandoned by the original builder and ravished by years of brutal extremes in the weather.   In Maine it was a small, nearly unrecognizable gravestone left where one would not suspect a buried body.   In Minnesota it has been countless old, dilapidated tree stands that perhaps have not been used for decades.   The list goes on.

Indeed, when I walk the fields and woods while enjoying the outdoors my mind often tries to connect with others who have walked there before me.   These telltale signs other outdoor enthusiasts have left only fills my mind with more intrigue as to what they were doing in this very place.   We could so easily walk by most of these “artifacts of the past” and pay no further attention.   Or we can use the stopping point as an opportunity to perhaps connect with the spirit of our sportsmen brethren who have walked this very land before us.

Perhaps it’s just me, but when I hunt or fish in areas that have a deep history associated with the location it provides special meaning for me.   In many cases that history may be well known and widely published, but nearly all the areas where we recreate have stories of the past and most just don’t happen to be written or widely shared.   No doubt…these areas can be just as intriguing.

So, this fall and beyond when you are out tromping through the woods keep your eyes open looking for signs indicating that the area currently being explored has some history worthy of observing.   In most instances we will never fully comprehend the full story of why that object is there proclaiming a message.   But that’s really not important.   What is important is realizing as sportsmen we all share these lands and our time enjoying a particular area is only momentary and often very brief.   By imagining what other sportsmen may have been doing at that very spot we preserve an important connection with our heritage.   The fact remains, some of the best outdoor stories are those that remain untold and sources for future wonderment by others.

2008 Jim Braaten. All Rights Reserved. No Reproduction without Prior Permission.