It wasn't until my first marriage that I got interested in hunting. I was 26 and my ex-wife's family got me involved in hunting. My friend Ryan Cook got me started hunting upland birds over his Springer Spaniel and his son-in-law's Golden Retriever. Another friend, Steve Higley, got me interested in hunting waterfowl. Most of all, I love being outdoors and also the rush of making a good shot and the satisfaction of eating or using what I hunt.
After my divorce a couple years ago, I started looking for a dog I could use to hunt birds with. This eventually led to the purchase of the pup I'm working with now.
I find that taking my boys with me hunting is a great way to spend time with them and to teach them outdoor skills. These are skills that can benefit them the rest of their lives. Some kids can get good at video games. I'd rather my kids get good at skills they can use to be more self-sufficient.
Here are some pics of my boys last summer with their first shooting experience.
Derek:
Tony:
Drew:
Backwards baseball cap is a must. Maybe that's why I'm such a terrible shot. That and I'm left eye dominant and shoot right-handed. I need to start shooting left-handed, it's supposed to help, at least according to my Army trained sister that is also left-eye dominant and right-handed.
ReplyDeleteToo funny Leslie. The boys turned their hats around because they couldn't see well with them on right.
ReplyDeleteI am also left eye dominant and right handed but I don't think I could ever get used to pulling my shotgun left handed. I've been working on shooting my handgun while aiming with my left eye and have been seeing better results.
I'd at least give a shoutout to your current wife who supports such a hobby! lol. :) Hunting is just one of those things...I think it's right for some, not right for others. We're in the not right for us category. And while my kids do love to play video games, we also choose to do lots of other outdoor things as a family...and I'm trusting that they'll get Brandon's smarts to bring home their own kind of bacon someday. lol :) But I am glad you've found something you love to do.
ReplyDeleteThanks Rachel. Kaci is supportive of my hunting and starting to get into it herself now. She views it as another way of being self-sufficient. I think it's odd that people have hunted and raised their own food for thousands of years and it's only in the last 50 or so years that people have forgotten w here their food comes from. I like having the knowledge that I can still provide for my family whether it be through hunting or raising my own food in the event of a natural disaster or economic crisis.
ReplyDeleteI hope you didn't think I was referring to your kids when I was talking about video games. I am sure that they do other things to balance out their lives. I was referring to kids who only sit and veg in front of a TV all day or play video games to the exclusion of all else. There are kids who lack essential social skills because all they ever do is game all day. I like playing video games too, although I don't have it in my home, and my kids get plenty of video game experience when they are at their mom's. I don't pay for TV anymore and don't let my kids play video games here. We play lots of board games and read and build forts and watch movies. It works out well. We also go on hikes as a family and this summer I plan on camping with them a lot too. At any rate, my point is that there are a lot of skills kids miss out on by being hooked up to video games all day. Even if people don't hunt, it's good to learn basic survival skills. Boy Scouts taught me that. :)