Kahuna Rendezvous 2014!

Just Brother Jas and I this year or our annual bow hunting/camping trip in honor of our departed friend and hunting mentor, Kenny "Kahuna" Koepsel. Buckhorn State Park in Necedah, WI - on the shores of Castle Rock Lake. That bow hunting time of the year. No - no pics of deer. Alas, the WI DNR in their infinite wisdom designated this park (as well as much of the state) as "bucks only" with a bow. First time I've ever hunted when I couldn't shoot a doe. Ohhh I probably wouldn't have hit anything anyway. But this trip is never about just deer hunting - it's about being in Nature. Ate like we were at a 5-star restaurant and survived a low of 13 degrees one night. And yeah - we're in a tent. Warm in the tent (really). It's getting out from under the covers that's the tricky part.

And for those of our brethren who were missed during our rendezvous, a poem...

"To Those Who Have Come and Gone"

by Jeffrey James Ircink

 

That well-worn path you trod,

amongst the smells of cedar and pine, of breakfast and coffee, of leather and canvas,

Earth and Fire – your presence still lingers.

The cool air rings of your gestures and musings – your essence.

We tipped our glasses to men – those who have conversed like we – about past sojourns and of Nature – all that which binds them.

This – is our solace.

The wind and water, the flutter and hoot – all the sounds of the forest do not break

your deafening silence.

Someday we too will be talked about.

To those who have come and gone,

We would rather you did not leave.