The Draw of the Hunting Camp Experience

All of us have a time, or span of time in our lives that we can point back to and say life is better because of it. It doesn't matter if we are 12 years old or 72 when we first experience that time, it carries with us and shapes our lives going forward.

When I was a kid, my family purchased a 40-acre parcel of land and built a comfy little 24x36 cabin with a fireplace. From that year forward I have spent 364 days each year longing to be in hunting camp for opening day of deer season. It isn’t just the hunting that draws me and many others to that hunting camp… it is the hunting camp experience that makes us long for that time together. For me and many others, the couple of days that lead up to deer season is the best time to be there.  No one is going out to hunting stands or working too hard at getting ready, we are just spending quality time together.

What is it about a hunting camp that draws us in this way? I believe it is a combination of many things. A few years back, a new friend came for his second hunting season with our group. When he arrived, he got hugs all around as if he had been coming for many years. Within minutes of coming into camp, he said, “This is like a family reunion, only better. Here I like everyone.” I could argue that it isn't “like,” instead it is a special kind of love that draws us together; a love that isn’t found in many places. It could be related to a church family. The people in camp become family and they care for each other.

A good hunting camp shares in the chores and responsibilities of the camp. When there is firewood to cut, the group jumps in. When water needs to come from the well, hunters go together to carry buckets. Guys who don’t wash a dish all year are often the first to jump up and grab a towel. There is a special bond that makes it easy and fun to serve each other. 

When the hunting starts, everyone shares in the duties of dragging deer and the success is shared. To borrow a saying from the Three Musketeers, it’s “All for one, and one for all.”  At the end of the day, a hunting camp gathers around the “buck pole” to hear the first round of stories and laugh. Once the ceremonies move inside there is another gathering. I’ve never been to a hunting camp that does not have a dining room table that draws everyone together.

The table in our hunting camp was a big pine slab table made by my father and me. It easily seats a dozen hunters. Just 6 feet away is a big living room with two sofas, several recliners and rockers. Rarely does the living room fill up, but the dining room table is always a buzz of activities. Stories are told over and over again, and old stories are brought up from the past. Well-known card games like Euchre, Cribbage and Pinochle are played as well as some obscure games like Sheepshead and Crazy Fiest. No one has any idea what the score is and it doesn’t really matter, it’s all about being together.

Hunting camps come in all shapes and sizes. While some might have an old fashioned log cabin or an official lodge, others can have the same experience in a wall tent or a temporary canvas, or tar paper shack. What the camp is physically made of isn’t nearly as important as the relationship between the people at the camp.

Life goes by so fast, but the comradery of a hunting camp lives on from one generation to another. Whether you are 12 years old or 72, a hunting camp can be a place and an atmosphere that will draw you in and draw you back year after year.