Hitchhiker
Changing with the times vacation. By Brock Ray n July, Anna and I pulled a travel trailer to a public campground in the mountains of western North Carolina. Our children in tow, we took along shing gear, bicycles, and archery gear. At the end of the week we returned to Alabama, concluding our rst such family camping trip. We will do it again, and soon, too, I anticipate. Ironically, this trip took the place of a more expensive vacation we had planned in Colorado. As the trip to the Rockies drew near, it became clear we were hard pressed to be away from our home businesses for the two weeks needed for this trip. We scaled back, looked closer to home, and discovered a wonderful vacation outing that we all rated as our best ever. It seems everyone works harder and longer these days, and time is just as scarce as extra money for family recre-ation. However, if you are determined to spend time outdoors with your family enjoying God's amazing won-derland, this big ole country is spangled with close-to-home, largely overlooked destinations. We had a great time and all of us are eager for our next budget vacation. I www.interstatesportsman.com The Good Ole Days Are Now... By Brock Ray S eventy-five years ago many hunters in the eastern US rarely saw a whitetail or a wild turkey. Elk were gone from the eastern US, and these animals along with the pronghorn antelope were in alarming declines in the West. Buffalo were believed to be on the edge of extinction. Sunlight blocking flights of carrier pigeon were gone, and waterfowl in general appeared headed in the same direction. Only quail, rabbits and squirrel could be hunted in many areas east of the Mississippi. Thanks to the generous funding from hunters, federal and state wildlife agencies, nearly all populations of wildlife have been restored, but even more importantly they a protected a vital wildlife habitat. Deer are more numerous now than when Columbus arrived in the new world. Bear numbers are at record highs and this will be a banner year for waterfowl available to hunters. It is not a perfect world, and not one with more than its share of daunting challenges. However, if you look around at the wildlife and game that is available in such abundance, this clearly is as good as it has ever been in modern times. Hunters, the country owes all of you a big thank you. It was the foresight and willingness to sacrifice on the part of sportsmen that enabled the modern conservation story to be so successful. www.42outdoors.com