Renowned author and wildlife sportsman, Jim Casada, is hosting an online auction of a vast array of items from his personal collection. Indeed, you will find, for every thing there is a season.
A fine double-bearded gobbler from one of the author’s many hunts
Although a strong case could be made for some of the Psalms, I would argue that there are no finer, more meaningful verses in the Bible than those in Ecclesiastes 3 in the King James Version of the Bible. In all lives there is, as we read, “a time to every purpose, . . . a time to be born, and a time to die.” With advancing age for the sportsman, one verse in particular is particularly powerful. It reads that there is “A time to get, and a time to lose; a time to keep, and a time to cast away.”
If you are like me, and I strongly suspect such is the case with a goodly number of readers, one of the myriad joys of being a sportsman is accumulating, admiring and utilizing what might be described as the tools of the trade. Such items can take myriad forms — display items for cabinets or shelves, mounts to hang in a trophy room or study, things you actually utilize at the proper season that are stored in a mud room or closet — or perhaps simple mementoes that take you longingly back to a special day or treasured trip full of grand memories.
No matter the nature of such “toys,” as my late wife sometimes referred to them when the dust became a bit too thick or the one massive room I had set aside as “mine” too cluttered, we all must realize that while they may have tremendous appeal to us for others, especially immediate family or eventual heirs, they are another proposition entirely. I’ve reached the age when it is time to think about such matters, uncomfortable though they may well be. Mind you, I have every intention of continuing to write just as actively as I have for the past four decades, and I’d like to think there are multiple books and many a story yet to come from whatever it is that serves as my muse. Still, I’d like to think I’ve always had a decent degree of practicality and frugality about me, and if that isn’t the case, rest assured that my parents, both of whom reached young adulthood in the early years of the Great Depression, did their level best to install such attributes deep within my innermost being.
The caricature depicts me in a favorite position, with a book, surrounded by mementoes, and with a soothing libation.
Therein lies the underpinning for this column — the season has arrived. My only child has no knowledge of any aspect of hunting, and while she has done a moderate amount of fly-fishing over the years it’s by no means a consuming passion for her. The same holds true, but to an even greater degree, for my granddaughter. They don’t need the burden of dealing with all sorts of things, some of them quite valuable or with an appreciable degree of historical significance, about which they know next to nothing. Ask yourself about your own situation in this regard, and no matter what your age, I have a few suggestions for you to consider.
*If your Will doesn’t cover key items in your sporting holdings, it should, and if you have special items, such as a gun handed down through generations of the family, be quite specific about what to do with them.
*Make a list of key items — all guns, any fishing gear (such as, for example, two antique bamboo fly rods I own) of particular note, and the like — and stipulate what is to be done with them.
*If you have some specific destination in mind, especially a non-profit organization, check with them to be sure they’ll be interested. A ball park evaluation or, better still, a formal appraisal, might also be in order. That will come in handy for tax purposes or if, heaven forbid, you should lose items to theft or some other outside development.
*Should you intend to obtain what my Grandpa Joe always termed “cash money” (he had so little of it the redundancy was richly merited) for your collectibles, take steps to sell or specify how they will be sold. No one, other than possibly an expert appraiser, is likely to have a better grasp on the value of what you own, and certainly you are uniquely qualified when it comes to providing provenance for a giving item and perhaps sharing its special history.
*Consider consigning some items to a local or national auctioneer. I’ve taken a tentative first step in this regard with a local online auction, and if you want to check out the listings, which will likely be available for bids by the time you read this, here’s the auctioneer’s link with each item described and with several accompanying photos.
You may access the online auction here.
A peek at my cluttered study—note the dozens of suction yelpers and other turkey calls in the photo—gives more than ample indication of a need to dispose of some treasures.
Beyond these general thoughts and the one specific step I’ve taken with a third party, I’ll share another initiative I’ve taken on this front and invite you to be involved. It required a week of solid work, but eventually I managed to get all the vast collection of turkey calls in my possession listed, described and priced (of course I held back a few of my “go to” hunting calls along with a select few holding special meaning for me). I’ve sold a small percentage of them already through alerting subscribers to my monthly e-newsletter of their availability and providing them with a detailed list including prices. However, most remain available, and whether you are interested in custom-made calls or standard commercial offerings, you might well want to check out the e-mail blast my webmaster sent out or else look at the Word file I’m trusting the editor of this newsletter, whose knowledge of technology exceeds mine by a degree that words such as infinite or quantum don’t suffice to explain. Simply put, he knows how to do such things and I don’t.
If you find something you want or would like additional information on, just contact me by e-mail (jimcasada@comporium.net) and I’ll let you know if it remains available. Everything will be on a strict first-come, first-served basis and the list provides all the requisite details. For me this whole process is painful, but it is also pleasurable. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve picked up a call and suddenly been transported back to a special hunt, some wonderful companion afield or a particularly memorable gobbler. It’s just that now’s the time for others to have an opportunity to savor some of the physical items connected with a sport that long ago laid hold of a corner of my soul.
Born in Bryson City, North Carolina, Jim Casada has had a long career as a teacher, author, and avid outdoorsman. He grew up in a time and place where families depended on the land and their community to survive. Many of the Smoky Mountain customs and practices that Casada reflects on are gradually disappearing or have vanished from our collective memories.
In A Smoky Mountain Boyhood, Casada pairs his gift for storytelling and his training as a historian to produce a highly readable memoir of mountain life in East Tennessee and western North Carolina. His stories evoke a strong sense of place and reflect richly on the traits that make the people of Southern Appalachia a unique American demographic. Casada discusses traditional folkways; hunting, growing, preparing, and eating wide varieties of food available in the mountain region; and the overall fabric of mountain life. Divided into four main sections — High Country Holiday Tales and Traditions; Seasons of the Smokies; Tools, Toys, and Boyhood Treasures; and Precious Memories — each part reflects on a unique and memorable coming-of-age in the Smokies. Buy Now
