Pictured here is Jess Turner ( a military buddy of his ) and Homer in uniform outside of Monterrey , Ca , aka Fort Ord . As he dug around a little black box of pictures you could tell Mr . Davis was excited and proud of his time in the Army . He is a proud veteran . He recalled another Army buddy of his , Emil Banovitch that he never could track down . His last know location was around the Whitefish area so if anyone knows the status of Emil be sure to contact Montana Woods N Water so we can inform Mr . Davis .
Homer left the military on 31 October 1945 . Homer bartended for several years for the Whitefish VFW and the Troy VFW . He later purchased the Halfway House in 1956 . At that time the road ( Hwy 56 ) was a gravel road . Back then he stated “ The winters were tough and there were no phones .” He told me a story about a bar fight that broke out between the bar keep and a patron resulting in the death of a local man many years ago . If I recall we wrote a story about that in the December 2015 issue of Montana Woods N Water .
Mr . Davis was an avid outdoorsman chasing , bear , deer , elk all across NW Montana . He loved hunting the Bob Marshall Wilderness area and the Yaak . He may not be able to hunt or shoot anymore but this World War II veteran has killed a many elk , deer and bears with his old rifle . He excitedly told me about the last elk he killed up in the Yaak . He regrets he was never drawn for a moose tag after all these years . Mr . Davis is pictured here with his old Springfield 30-06 topped with a Leupold 2 X 7 Vari X I .
Mr . Davis was an avid fisherman as well . He liked going to the Yaak and catching cutthroats . He said , “ That was my best place to go but I had to quit going because the Montana Fish & Game put another Grizzly in there and it was a little too dangerous for me .”
As much as I hated getting off the hunting and fishing stories I wanted to know how he felt about the introduction of the wolf into NW Montana . He was not happy about it , “ I wish they had never been put here , the deer and elk are gone . They ruined a lot of really good hunting .”
Our conversation varied off from there to the condition of our nation and state . Mr . Davis went on to say , “ Times are really different . 1945 was a wonderful year for America . Politicians and lawyers have ruined this country . Montanans will hold their own … through the years we have proven to be pretty stubborn . The big cities are going to catch hell when it all breaks lose .”
I asked him if he had any advice for the next generation . Here is his words of wisdom , “ Be an honest person , live an honest life and always do the best you can .”
It gave me great honor to interview Mr . Davis and attend his birthday celebration . I wish I had more room to share some of things he shared with me . Mr . Davis , this country , the state of Montana and Montana Woods N Waters salute you and thank you for your service to this country . Let ’ s talk again on your 101 st birthday !
To see all the pictures I took during the birthday party go to www . montanawoodsnwater . com / events . I recently received a video from Mrs . Benefield that I am going to try to get posted on the web .
There were two other ladies that I would like to recognize from the birthday party ... they were so sweet . Go to page 27 to meet Betty Peterson , age 99 of Troy , MT and Donna Tunison also of Troy , MT , age 86 . So the next time you think you are to old to go to a party ... let these ladies show you how it is done .
I want to also thank the staff of the Halfway House for honoring Mr . Homer T . Davis . You guys made it all happen and on behalf of the family , friends and neighbors we thank you ! Great job !
Again , I wish I had more room to post all the pictures but go to our website ww . montanawoodsnwater . com / events and check them out . Feel free to download any of the pictures you want .
Continued on page 27 .
17
YESTERDAYS OUTDOORSMAN CONTINUED