About the Author: Larry Graser
Born and raised in the Buffalo New York area and still live in general area after 54 years.
My father was a hunter. He hunted duck, geese, pheasant and deer with his younger brother and numerous friends. As a very young boy I remember dad bringing home some ducks and a few geese from the Alabama Swaps here in WNY. I just marveled at those animals! We had a dog but I don't recall much about it, a German Shorthaired pointer named Fritz.
Dad never shot too many deer in his early years but has made up for that in past 25 years. A few nice bucks and plenty of doe have helped to keep him involved.
When I was about 8 years old in 1969 dad bought ten acres near a friends hunting camp in Ontario County. About a year later he had a small ranch style home built and darn near every weekend was spent there for the next 13 years. The die was cast! I had a buddy who was a year younger than me that was a year round resident of the area. He and I did everything together for many years. Our parents trusted us with guns at very early ages and we never let them down, always contentious of safety and our surroundings. Dad sold the house in 1983, much to my disappointment but I understood his reasons.
I stayed friends with my old buddy in the area and I started to spend more time with dad's friend who's place we were near. Many many days have been spent in the area that is really my home away from home!
I've been fortunate to have hunted a number of states and a couple Canadian Provinces. Pennsylvania, Texas, Alabama, Colorado, Wyoming and Alaska. In Canada I've hunted Saskatchewan and Quebec. Some great memories have come from all those hunts but none like my memories of friends and family in New York. On those hunts I've shot mule deer, antelope, black bear and elk. Successful with all but elk took a few (more like 5) hunts to finally experience the fun of quartering and packing out a bull.
I've had some great mentors over the years. A few have passed on but others are still close to me and I hunt with them yearly. The times spent with them over the years are precious memories to me. I've taken hundreds of pictures and continue to snap the shutter each year!
My hunting has evolved a bit, the biggest changes for me involved archery hunting. As a young boy in the 60's the only game in town for me was an old longbow. After a few years I got my first recurve, that would have been a Bear Grizzly. Cedar shafts, Microflight fiberglass shafts and the Easton Aluminum Gamegetter then the old standby XX75 Autumn Orange were all different shafts we used back then. Broadheads were a mixed up assortment of Bear, Zwickey, Bodkin, Hilbre, Ben Pearson etc. Around 1978 I got my first Compound. That lasted until about 1986 when I met a fellow named Tom Daly. He introduced me to the "new" recurve bows of the day, semi custom works of art. I was hooked on recurves and longbows for the next 13 or 14 years before going back to the compound. The compound is just a more efficient tool in my hands.
As a young hunter I did some hunting of birds; mostly preserve pheasants, a few duck hunts and crows. In 1995 I started to do some nuisance goose hunting in Niagara County. Plenty of geese were taken on those hot September days but the mosquitoes usually drew more blood on us!
While riding around in search of a field full of geese for the next days hunt I started to notice all the local mourning dove. We spotted them on wires, roads, watering holes etc. My interest was peaked and I started to look into some areas in Pennsylvania to hunt them. Finally in 1998 a friend and I went down to PA., looking for the little brown bombers. The hunt was a success and we found birds in places we didn't expect them. I hunted them with friends and family and I count those days afield as absolutely some of my fondest memories in the field. What could be better than sitting along side your father or close friends, sipping on a soda, maybe smoking a cheap cigar and laughing about the easy birds you've just missed?? I haven't done much dove hunting recently for a number of reasons including the fact that my dog has had some health issues but hopefully I'll get back to Pennsylvania or better yet, be able to hunt them here in New York State!
My father was a hunter. He hunted duck, geese, pheasant and deer with his younger brother and numerous friends. As a very young boy I remember dad bringing home some ducks and a few geese from the Alabama Swaps here in WNY. I just marveled at those animals! We had a dog but I don't recall much about it, a German Shorthaired pointer named Fritz.
Dad never shot too many deer in his early years but has made up for that in past 25 years. A few nice bucks and plenty of doe have helped to keep him involved.
When I was about 8 years old in 1969 dad bought ten acres near a friends hunting camp in Ontario County. About a year later he had a small ranch style home built and darn near every weekend was spent there for the next 13 years. The die was cast! I had a buddy who was a year younger than me that was a year round resident of the area. He and I did everything together for many years. Our parents trusted us with guns at very early ages and we never let them down, always contentious of safety and our surroundings. Dad sold the house in 1983, much to my disappointment but I understood his reasons.
I stayed friends with my old buddy in the area and I started to spend more time with dad's friend who's place we were near. Many many days have been spent in the area that is really my home away from home!
I've been fortunate to have hunted a number of states and a couple Canadian Provinces. Pennsylvania, Texas, Alabama, Colorado, Wyoming and Alaska. In Canada I've hunted Saskatchewan and Quebec. Some great memories have come from all those hunts but none like my memories of friends and family in New York. On those hunts I've shot mule deer, antelope, black bear and elk. Successful with all but elk took a few (more like 5) hunts to finally experience the fun of quartering and packing out a bull.
I've had some great mentors over the years. A few have passed on but others are still close to me and I hunt with them yearly. The times spent with them over the years are precious memories to me. I've taken hundreds of pictures and continue to snap the shutter each year!
My hunting has evolved a bit, the biggest changes for me involved archery hunting. As a young boy in the 60's the only game in town for me was an old longbow. After a few years I got my first recurve, that would have been a Bear Grizzly. Cedar shafts, Microflight fiberglass shafts and the Easton Aluminum Gamegetter then the old standby XX75 Autumn Orange were all different shafts we used back then. Broadheads were a mixed up assortment of Bear, Zwickey, Bodkin, Hilbre, Ben Pearson etc. Around 1978 I got my first Compound. That lasted until about 1986 when I met a fellow named Tom Daly. He introduced me to the "new" recurve bows of the day, semi custom works of art. I was hooked on recurves and longbows for the next 13 or 14 years before going back to the compound. The compound is just a more efficient tool in my hands.
As a young hunter I did some hunting of birds; mostly preserve pheasants, a few duck hunts and crows. In 1995 I started to do some nuisance goose hunting in Niagara County. Plenty of geese were taken on those hot September days but the mosquitoes usually drew more blood on us!
While riding around in search of a field full of geese for the next days hunt I started to notice all the local mourning dove. We spotted them on wires, roads, watering holes etc. My interest was peaked and I started to look into some areas in Pennsylvania to hunt them. Finally in 1998 a friend and I went down to PA., looking for the little brown bombers. The hunt was a success and we found birds in places we didn't expect them. I hunted them with friends and family and I count those days afield as absolutely some of my fondest memories in the field. What could be better than sitting along side your father or close friends, sipping on a soda, maybe smoking a cheap cigar and laughing about the easy birds you've just missed?? I haven't done much dove hunting recently for a number of reasons including the fact that my dog has had some health issues but hopefully I'll get back to Pennsylvania or better yet, be able to hunt them here in New York State!