Not all the best Bucks in the woods have antlers.
I was born in Peoria, Ill., where hunting mainly consisted of rabbits, squirrels and pheasants. I now live in the Northwest, where I hunt everything from elk, deer, bears and even cougars.
I am sending this letter to share one of the most memorable moments in my life. It involves my grandmother, Nellie Mulligan, who has passed. She was the greatest influence on my hunting pastime.
I was about 12 years old when Grandma bought me my first Buck knife, a 119 Special. I don’t know what she paid for it, but it just as well could have cost a million dollars because Grandma had fallen on hard times after my Grandpa passed.
I am now 52, and last year I cracked the handle on that very knife.
I took it to Buck in nearby Post Falls, Idaho, and asked them if it could be repaired. They said it couldn’t, handed me a brand new knife and tossed my old one in a bin to be disposed of.
I was saddened at the loss of the knife given to me by my grandmother and explained the story to the clerk at the counter. She promptly asked the gentleman in the back to find my old knife, which he did. And I got to keep the new one.
Buck has made a lifetime customer, but I probably won’t need another knife until I’m in my 90s.
Thanks, Buck, for an excellent product and helping keep the memory of Grandma Nellie alive!