Outdoor keepsakes make “Keeper Memories”

Fishing, hunting, camping, hiking, and all other experiences in the outdoors are fun and rewarding for a wide variety of reasons. One may, for example, speak of the sense of accomplishment that arises from being successful in the taking of fish or game, the good feeling one always gets from “just being there” and taking part in something pure and natural, or perhaps he is just plain grateful for having access to activities in which his entire family may play a part.

Every one of these reasons for enjoying an outdoor endeavor is good and worthwhile. Many outdoors people will say with equal conviction, however, that the best thing relating to the outdoor experience is the lifelong collection of memories it fosters for those of us who participate. Considering this and looking back, that is a point difficult to debate.

The venerable outdoor scribe “Uncle” Homer Circle once coined the descriptive phrase, “keeper memories.” How appropriate that is. Memories and cerebral keepers should ever be an integral part of being a hunter, and angler, or an outdoorsman who opts for more “non-consumptive” outdoor activities. But memories are not just limited to the heart and mind alone. There are some pretty neat ways to preserve special recollections more concretely and thereby render them even more meaningful.

“My son,” said avid bass angler Grant Jamison, “will be able to tell his children and grandchildren years from now precisely how many largemouth bass he has hooked and landed over the course of his angling career. When he was eight years old, he began compiling a bass-fishing ‘life list’ beginning with that first little fish he caught all by himself. He’s continued with it ever since.”

According to Jamison, the young man, now 17, simply adds up his total catch on an index card after each fishing trip. If he ever needs to recall just how many largemouths he has caught in his lifetime, he simply steals a quick look at the compiled list.

“I really wish I had thought of doing something like that when I caught my first bass those many years ago,” Jamison concluded.

It comes to mind that a beginning angler who catches his or her first fish today could start a simple tally, follow through with it, and decades from now know the exact number of fish taken during an entire lifetime. For more detail (not to mention more “keeper memories”), the youngster might include such data as where each fish was caught and/or the circumstances and conditions surrounding the catching. A truly industrious and meticulous record-keeper might even break the list down species by species. Most would likely agree this might wind up being a good thing to have and pass along.

Then, of course, there are the lures on which one’s most memorable fish are caught. Why not retire them and set them aside? Later, when the fisherman holds that certain plug, worm, jig, etc. in his hand, the time, the place, and the feeling he had at that special moment come back much more vividly than when he trusts it to power of recall alone. Most have learned, after all, that the fondest recollections in the world tend to grow quite hazy with the passage of time.

Hunting memories can be concretely and inexpensively preserved as well, all without a taxidermist’s bill running into hundreds of dollars. Spent shotgun shells and rifle cartridges, for instance, are easily picked up, pocketed, and saved. Dates, type of game taken, and place names can be recorded on plastic shotshells with an indelible marking pen or scratched into brass rifle hulls with an inexpensive etching tool. Other, more detailed, information such as time, conditions, etc. may be recorded on note cards or in a bound journal. Some hunting clubs and individual sportsmen even purchase decorative-cover books designed for just this purpose. They make attractive, informative coffee-table “décor” for dens and hunting lodges.

“Think about it. How nice would it be to always have the ability to go back and think about even the smallest detail of a memorable past hunt after a long passage of time?” mused Mississippi hunter and whitetail guide James Snyder.

Wynona Freeman, age 72, by her own admission has never picked up a fishing rod or shouldered a firearm in her life. Yet, she is no less an outdoors person than the most avid hunter or fisherman among us. As a keen birdwatcher and hiker, she has spent more than half a century pursuing those interests all across the country. She also keeps and maintains a beautiful garden and, placed tastefully among her immaculately tended shrubs, flowers, and trees are rocks, pebbles, and other interesting woodland artifacts collected on hikes and birding excursions in 38 states and 4 Canadian provinces. Ms Freeman may also possess the most impressive collection of dropped feathers anywhere outside a museum ornithology display.

Taking photographs is by far the most common method of preserving outdoor memories, but it is surprising just how few sportsmen and outdoor enthusiasts remember to carry a camera along on their outings. A well-composed photo, or even a hurried snapshot, is an excellent companion piece to other simple keepsakes and for some the only thing needed to preserve for posterity the record of a memorable outdoor trip. Today, basic photography is a relatively simple craft that no longer involves a bag full of expensive cameras and accessories. There is really no excuse nowadays not to “snap a few pics.”

The obvious point is there are innumerable ways to permanently deposit those wonderful outdoor recollections into our memory banks. Most are simple, some are unique, and all are worth the time and effort. However one chooses to log his memories, he should do it.

And by all means start early. It is no fun at all to look back and mutter, “I sure wish I had something to remember it by.”