Outdoor activities trump video games

I could reason that I am a busy man. Between classes, work, and my family, I find enough to keep me busy. One additional “activity” that I find enjoyable is watching the Outdoor Channel. That may come as no big surprise to anyone. I often enjoy watching hunters in their quest for wild game across the globe. Every now and again they offer advice that goes beyond the standard hunting recommendations.

My favorite show on the Outdoor Channel is “Michael Waddell’s Bone Collector.” It appears that he values the bigger picture when it comes to the outdoor experience. He caught my attention in one episode when he said something to the effect of, you won’t remember your best day playing video games, but you will remember your best day in the outdoors. In this particular episode he helped his son harvest a deer. He was aware that his son would remember that for the rest of his life and it was a special moment they shared. Those moments don’t exist in front of a television.

Admittedly, I have played my fair share of video games. Not the video games that my grandpa could imagine, but the type that can consume you for a whole day while you drink pop and eat Doritos. With that said, I truthfully can’t recall my most successful day playing video games. However, I can recall multiple experiences in the outdoors.

Those memories began when I shot my first mallard duck, which happened to be banded. I can be detailed enough to let you know that there was fresh snow on the ground, the exact location on the creek, and that my yellow lab retrieved it for me. I can reflect on the first deer I ever shot. It was just a small three-point mule deer, but I can remember the excitement I had when he went down, excitement that can’t be explained. My wife and I have had many experiences together in the outdoors. Once we had to manually pull a deer across a frozen creek in the middle of December during muzzleloader season.

The aforementioned memories and many more will never be replaced, and I can always say that I shared them with someone.