This is the old home place that I grew up in. That's my mother sitting in front of the porch. The other picture, on the left, I went back and took fifteen years later. The old house always had a fresh coat of paint on it when we lived there, but now it is pretty run down. As far as I know, the house is still standing and being lived in today.

LOVE THE WILDERNESS
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I grew up as a child, to the age of 14 in the backwoods of West Virginia. We lived on a 68 acre farm on top of a huge mountain, surrounded by nothing but woods and wilderness. My step father started teaching me gun safety using a Daisy, BB Gun at the age of 6. When I was 8 he let me start shooting the 22 rifle he had, in the orchard behind the house. When I was 10 I got a genuine Steven’s, single barrel, 20 gauge, shotgun, for Christmas, and to top it off my mother bought me the best Rabbit Beagle in the county. I was on cloud nine. The adventures that dog and I had over the next four years, running wild through the West Virginia backwoods, gave me enough fond memories of the wilderness to last a lifetime. Hunting to me came natural. To me it was and always will be, my favorite thing to do, but to my parents it was my job. We were very poor at the time and My step fathers eyes were so bad he couldn't shoot, so It was my job to keep meat on the table. Plain and simple, if we wanted meat, I had to kill it, but I seldom came home empty handed. It was all fun and games to me back then, but it helped to mold my character. It made me realize that other peoples lives depend on what I do with my life. I can be a big help to other people or a big hindrance, depending on how I live my everyday life, and how I do my job. If we don't fulfill our responsibilities in life others will suffer to. However life should never be all work and no play. We still have to take time for ourselves and get back to nature once in a while, or enjoy some other hobby that we like to do.

By-HENRY CHAFFIN