Not so long ago, I told you about an old friend who passed away this past winter. Walt Shupe was part of our turkey hunting clan, and he was a little different.
One of his old buddies in the West Virginia State Parks system told me he always said Walt wasn’t happy unless he was miserable. By that he meant rain, snow, cold, and harsh conditions didn’t seem to faze Walt when it came to outdoors adventures. Walt was also a big fan of Robert Service and his poetry and would often quote his writing in hunting camp. His favorite (and mine) seemed to be “The Men That Don’t Fit In,” with the first lines being those famous words: “There’s a race of men that don’t fit in, a race that can’t stay still; So they break the hearts of kith and kin, and they roam the world at will.”
(READ MORE: Our friend Walt made his mark in turkey camp and beyond)
I have been thinking a lot about that these past weeks and how a lot of our brothers in the outdoors world seem to delight in not fitting in. They don’t want to be like everyone else; they want to do their own thing in the woods and on the waters.
Want a few examples? OK.