Firsts In Missouri 2022

[gitano]

I grew up in Alaska, where there are no bobcats. What many that are younger than 50 don't realize, is that "the good ol' days" weren't very good for hunting most things. Several species of game animals (bighorn sheep, pronghorn antelope, and wild turkey to name three), were almost driven to extinction, and certainly extirpated from much of their original range. Even whitetails, that are now at nuisance levels in some places, were rare in some of those same places in the 50s. ALL predators, including bobcats, were "shot on sight", and consequently, were quite rare to see until the 90s.

As I said, I've seen A LOT, (several 100s for sure), of striped skunks, just never a LIVING one AT RICK'S. (At one point, I came very close to getting one for a pet.)

That said, there is still plenty of stuff for me to see and do for the first time. Even as a fisheries scientist that studied in the Midwest, I had never caught a smallmouth bass until a few years ago. I've still not caught a walleye. By the same token, how many walleye fishermen have caught an inconnu/sheefish, or even an Arctic grayling?

That's why I get excited when I get to see or do something new! Even if it's only "new" to the place where I saw it.

Paul