Thanksgiving traditions

[Lefty]

When I was a kid we went to grandmas. As we got older we were in deer camp .
Often for our Thanksgiving dinner our mom would come up and we would have a traditional German dinner; Potatoes dumplings in sauerkraut and sausage. Deer heart and liver were a side dish is we had a deer.
With my kids, most years we goose/duck hunting in the morning along the Bear river before a typical Thanksgiving feast at my -in-laws.

Any Family traditions in your life?

[wawhitey]

My family is pretty well scattered. My parents live nearby and thats it. Ill be skipping the turkey in order to be out elk hunting this year. Hopefully the late archery season will be kind to me.

[WapitiTalk1]

Used to have a huge gathering/feast when we all lived in NW Montana. Oftentimes, my pop and the three sons would head out for an early morning hunt but it was really all about the ritual of just getting up on those frozen, high ridges and glassing a clearcut or two for a big rutting buck. We'd all be antsy to get back by mid day/early afternoon for the roast beast and all the fixings. Brothers, sisters, mom, are scattered all over tarnation now (Alaska, Montana, Wyoming, and me in Washington) so now it's down to Mrs. Phantom, myself, and four pups for Thanksgiving. Daughter will be back from the E coast for Xmas though, that will be nice. Oh yah, football on the tube is always going in the background

[CurlyTail]

Most of the family will gather at my house for Thanksgiving. The men will go out for a duck hunt in the AM, then Turkey Feast and Football in the afternoon.

One family tradition we have is to make the secret family Cranberry Sauce. Grandma searches the Earth for the best deal on Cranberries - she usually shows up with about 30 pounds. Everyone in the family has a spot on the assembly line - one person cleaning the cranberries, another peeling oranges, another peeling apples. My job is to put the produce into the grinder , and my son plunges it down. We then add sugar, scoop in freezer containers, label and freeze. Takes about 2 hours for a years supply of addictive yummy sauce, and everyone looks forward to that evening.

[ishy]

One of my favorites was after we all started to marry off and had in-law responsibilities we would just all get together the Friday after thanksgiving for a pie night. Thursday you are usually too full to really enjoy the plethora of pies. So we'd get together on Friday, no big meal just tons and tons of pies.

[six]

As long as I can remember. We deer hunt in the morning. Then its off to Mom's or another family members for food, family and football. Then we head out around 3 hunt until dark and come back in for more food, family and football. One of my favorite days of the year.

Black Friday my wife goes shopping with the girls and I get to hunt as much as I want.

[Indian Summer]

I have always small game hunted on Thanksgiving morning. You don't have to get up super early and the fast action is fun. A half day is good enough before heading back for dinner. This year as usual it will be at my sister in law's house. I love leaving the mess behind.

But I am doing something I haven't done for a long long time. When I was a kid deer season in Pennsylvania meant heading north to deer camp. The big woods. Back then the deer were scraggly little things. Any buck was a good one. The thing that made it though was being at deer camp and hanging out with the older guys and people from other camps. School must have been pretty quiet although I wouldn't know. But over the years the bucks in the south started really getting bigger and 95% of the people hunt from their house now. I haven't hunted up north since the early 80s. On Saturday morning I'm heading up to a friend's camp in Tionesta. The same place where my friend got the bear last weekend. The deer have been getting bigger up there. But I'm looking forward to the other stuff. Hunting doesn't start until next Monday and I love a campfire so I plan on having a hangover Sunday morning. I have a few other friends with hunting camps up there so maybe we'll make our rounds. The two guys whose camp it is are twins and they are some funny characters. I'll spend part of Saturday and all day Sunday finding that one tree to put a stand up. I feel like I'm stepping back in time to a scene from a Norman Rockwell Christmas card by going up there.

[Swede]

Most of my family almost always gathers at our house for giving thanks to the Lord for all He has provided, and just having a good time together.