# Technology vs Innocence



## campfire (Sep 9, 2007)

I 1961 my Grandfather gave me a shotgun for Christmas. It was a J C Higgins model 20, 16 Ga. pump. It was new and shiny and to a 13 year old boy it was Nirvana. For over 35 years I pack that gun hunting rabbits, pheasants, ducks, geese, mourning doves, sage hens, pine hens, black birds, magpies,clay pigeons and tin cans tossed into the air. The other evening my wife and I were sitting in our living room each playing on our own I pad. We were planning an upcoming ATV trip to Southern Utah, downloading geochaching sites for off line use with the built in GPS and studying trail maps also downloaded for offline use with the built in GPS. When we finished that my wife started watching a movie trailer on U tube and I turned to doing some research on my old shotgun. It took me about 15 minutes and a few taps with a finger on the touch screen of my I Pad to learn that my old J C Higgins was made for Sears by High Standard and though it was budget priced through Sears it was a quality gun. As one reviewer put it, " it was built like a tank and had the smoothest action I have ever experienced on a pump shotgun". I can confirm that. Even though it is now over 50 years old the action is still so silky smooth that you can hold it in one hand, point the muzzle skyward, push the slide release button and eject a round with just the force of gravity. As I sat there on my couch reading about my gun on the internet on my I Pad I couldn't help marvel at the wonderful conveniences modern technology has brought into our lives. Yesterday, I was in the basement cleaning guns and I picked up my old friend and fondled it, wiped it off and applied a fresh coat of rust preventer. As I was shouldering it and working the action listening to that very familiar sound I was taken back to a different time, a time when you could order a shotgun from Montgomery Ward or Sears and Roebuck and have it delivered to your home in RFD where ever, a time when if there were not a posted sign on the fence you could hunt there, a time when you expected to shoot a limit of three pheasants even without a dog and you could still experience the deafening roar of 20-30 sage grouse lifting off simultaneously, a time when you had time to lay on you front lawn on summer evening and watch a satellite move across the sky, a time when there was no internet to spread rumor and panic just because there is a democrat in the White house. As I carefully replaced my old friend back in my gun cabinet, I could not help wondering if the technology is worth the cost of innocence.


----------



## GaryFish (Sep 7, 2007)

EXCEPTIONAL post campfire. I grew up in a tiny town on the Salmon River in Idaho. I remember sleeping outside most of the summer, under a sky so lit with stars, it cast shadows. As kids, we were free to roam the streams, riverbanks, and local lakes in the summer - to fish, explore, and learn. Without cell phones, iPods, or internet. I wonder often, if I do my kids a disservice, raising them in the suburbs, vs. a small town somewhere. Of course, every generation since Adam has probably wondered the same question in one form or another.

The reality of today's world was clearly expressed by my sister last week. Her 7 year old son, was watching a youtube video on his Mom's iPad - of some kid playing with a toy, that the son had in his room. Upon seeing that, my sister took the iPad and they got in the car and went and bought a pair of roller blades. So it goes.


----------



## Kevin D (Sep 15, 2007)

Thanks for the post campfire.....


----------



## wyogoob (Sep 7, 2007)

Good post campfire.


----------



## svmoose (Feb 28, 2008)

Great post!


----------



## Ifish (Aug 22, 2008)

campfire said:


> I could not help wondering if the technology is worth the cost of innocence.


Amen! Great post!


----------



## xxxxxxBirdDogger (Mar 7, 2008)

I once won a county turkey shoot with my old Sears & Roebuck pump 20 gauge. There were over 100 boys in the contest. She sits quietly in the safe now, longing for those good old days.


----------



## scott_rn (Sep 11, 2007)

Campfire, I think my dad has that same gun. I carried it as a teenager in the late 80's when there weren't many pheasants around. 10-15 years later I found birds there, but now it's all houses.

I wonder if your grandfather felt the same way, comparing his technology to the innocence of the mountain men


----------



## stillhunterman (Feb 15, 2009)

Great post Campfire, thanks for that!


----------

