**A Journey of Passion For Outdoor Adventures and Conservation

The joy of the crisp fall air. The crunch of dry leaves beneath our feet. The silence of sitting alone in blind watching nature all around as we wait for the right game and the perfect moment to provide for our family’s needs. Thanks for visiting us today. If you’re here, then you are someone who likely loves to hunt. You may be an avid hunter or just getting started. You likely have a love for the outdoors. That love has brought you to our site and this article. I’d like to share some of my love for the outdoors and why I believe in protecting the nature we all like to enjoy, as we start sharing some adventures together.

**A Lifelong Passion Since Childhood

But who am I and how is it that I'm here writing to you on our site promoting hunting and conservation? I don’t know about you, but I like to know who I'm talking to. I thought I'd take the opportunity to introduce who I am, why I believe in conservation, and how my love for the outdoors and hunting has grown.

This love began at a young age growing up on a Northern Michigan farm and enjoying family camping, hunting, and fishing with my family. I remember the first time going hunting when I was about eight years old. I had trouble sleeping through the night, but excitement can do that to you. The sun wasn't up yet as we ate a bowl of cereal. Soon we were putting on our winter boots, snow pants, and heavy coats. I was getting more excited by the moment, as I wanted everything to be right. My father put his hunting knife onto his belt, and I was sure to put my own small knife in my pocket. Then we put on the essential blaze-orange before stepping out of the farmhouse.

The cold morning air bit at my face, but I barely felt it in the excitement of the moment. We passed through the fence and walked back through the orchard field, soon crossing a second fence line and finding a spot at the edge of the woods. We sat under a low-hanging evergreen tree. My dad reminded me to stay quiet and sit still as we watched the small field in front of us. He told me the smallest sound or movement could scare the deer away. He had taught me the importance of sitting silently long before this while fishing in our old metal fishing boat. Stillness and waiting are a great part of truly enjoying nature and the art of hunting and fishing.

I remember the sounds of nature all around us as the darkness slowly became light. The silence of the dark was soon broken by the sounds of the forest waking around us. The small peeps of the birds high in the trees. Then came the chattering and scampering of squirrels running from tree to tree above us. The trees creaked around quietly as the breeze blew over us and through the trees behind us. It was a special time spending time with my dad, and though I wasn't old enough to actually hunt at the time I was learning important lessons and feeding the growing love I had for nature. This was a love that was built on a heritage of farming, fishing, hunting, and the enjoyment of the outdoors.

A Growing Passion for the Land and Conservation

We were taught from a young age about caring for the land that cares for you. I was the youngest of 3 children and at the age of 6, we moved to the farm left to us after our grandfather passed away. Our grandfather had been a small dairy farmer, and while the working part of the farm had dwindled in size, we still raised animals to provide for our family. I grew up running over the 80 acres of our family farm and learning the trees, ponds, creek, swamps, fields, and hill that created the back border of our property.  We also farmed hay fields and ran cattle on a hundred-acre section of land my grandmother owned a mile down the road from where we lived. Knowing the property and caring for the land went hand and hand, as it does for most farmers.

I know for myself and the families farming and living where I grew up, the farmers I've known in Indiana and Illinois, and the many hunters I've met over my more than 50 years of life that conservation is as much a part of who we are as the enjoyment and provision that are given. Caring for the land and maintaining healthy wildlife is vital to creating strong ecosystems. Strong ecosystems result in healthier land providing wildlife space to thrive and giving healthier land for raising crops or animals as well.

This care of nature includes a deep respect for life and care for the land. We were taught from a very young age that life was to be respected. The value of all people was instilled in me from birth, both as we were taught in Sunday School and by the example of my parents. This value of human life meant understanding the significance of life of all things. In raising animals for food, hunting, and fishing I learned the important lesson of caring for the land around us, only taking what we needed, and helping to preserve a future of the world that provides for our needs. To have the enjoyment of nature means protecting what we have for our future and the future of those who come after us. Just as my father learned from his father I’ve instilled this to my own son. I also believe in promoting such care to others I meet along the journey of life.

A Passion for Hunters, Outdoor Enthusiasts, and Conservationists

Somewhere along the way, I think there has grown a misconception about hunters and farmers in our modern world. Many people fighting for conservation efforts in the world have deemed farmers and hunters to be evil and wrong in some way. We hear of protests against farms and agriculture and the occasional staging of anti-hunting actions taken against hunters. I'll admit that whenever we lump a group of people into a category, we often forget that the bad apples tend to stand out, which I think has happened to many farmers and hunters. The reality; however, is that farmers, hunters, fishers, and outdoor enthusiasts tend for the most part to be at the top of conservation today. They understand that to sustain a future of having a healthy food supply we need to care for the land that provides for that supply.

That first hunting and the earlier fishing trips with my father began my lifelong love of the outdoors. I won't say that I'm an expert in the field by any means. Life has taken me to different areas, and I've had years when I couldn't get out and hunt as much as I wished. In the past several years I've had the opportunity to get back into hunting and fishing more often. I'm also at a stage in life where I again have access to spending time on my family's land. There are also opportunities lining up to allow me new adventures in areas of hunting I've not had in the past I look forward to sharing some of my own stories, the stories of others I know who are just like we are; loving the outdoors and looking for ways to help make their own experiences better. I am excited about the possibilities of sharing the things I have and will experience as we travel this trail of hunting experience and learning together. I hope you will join me and others who are writing their own stories for The Inside Spread as we hope to inspire you in your own outdoor and hunting adventures.

Enjoy your outdoor hunting journeys,

You can read more of my writing and follow my blog posts at https://shippywoods.com