I've missed out on alot.

[woof]

A great thread. I'd just like to say that in my opinion, the heroes are the ones who didn't have the great dads but managed to grow up, find it on their own, and most importantly break the cycle and become the great dads they didn't have.

 

[RangerVA]

My Dad took me and my brother’s hunting only because we begged and begged to go. We were rarely allowed to shoot and never really taught any marksmanship skills to speak of. Taking his Son’s along with him when he and his buddies went hunting/drinking was mostly a burden to him, not quality time with his sons.

I’m 34 now and am an active shooter (don’t care much for hunting). My father however thinks I’m a bad person because I own handguns and black rifles with pistol grips that have “no sporting purpose” as he says. As of late my parents have been wrapping them selves up in evangelical Christianity and being that I’m not a Christian they want little to do with me, but that’s fine I’ll persevere and find my own way.

 

[rantingredneck]

My Grandparents raised me after my father divorced my mother before I was born and my mother went back to dating and partying. My Grandfather became my Dad. That's what I called him. That's what he was to me. My Dad took me hunting and fishing. He introduced me to gardening and growing things as well. Everything I know about being self-sufficient I learned from him. I had a great teacher.

He's gone now, succombing to cancer in 2002. My Father-In-Law has sort of become a surrogate father for me in the 8 years that I've been married to my wife. We hunt and fish together now and I'm still learning things from him. To the OP, I am truly sorry you missed out on those things. Had it not been for my grandparents I would have missed out as well and had a much rougher upbringing.