On my first big game hunt (12 years old) (1959) I shot 2 mule deer and an antelope, all legal, in the first hour of the season and thereby shut down my hunting for the rest of the autumn, except birds. When I field-dressed my antelope, I laid an Estwing hatchet on the rear bumper of Dad's pickup, and that was the end of it

. Years later, I had the pleasure of taking my own 12 year old son antelope hunting, and he left a 1960's Marty Ruana M-stamp knife at the gut pile. That knife would have been a $350 baby now

! When I was a kid at the county fair, I learned that the carnies would take you up in the "bullet," and manipulate that car around until they had shaken out the pocket change and knives of everyone inside. Their buddies would grab the stuff off the ground and run with it. Lost my first knife that way, a yellow Case stockman. As recently as two years ago, I left my entire fanny pack full of goodies at a gut pile

, but we drove back and found it. My partner was hot, because it was a 75 mile round trip, but when we got home I settled him down with some red beers!
