VTX Related Rides > West Texas

Gator's first hunting trip

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tom cat:
The boy can shoot. But hunting is a whole different deal. 
The little man needed his spirits raised right after his second basket ball injury. He fell on his elbow hard enough to go to the ER during practice other night. Today, 3 plays after he did a excellent tip off ageist a kid half a head taller than him, he got tripped by the looser of the tip off and landed on the same elbow. Momma sent him home with me,two Motrin and a ice pack for two hours.Back to the ER if it still hurts after two hours. I don't argue with her about such things. It was done. She finished coaching, then was off to soccer with the girl child, and a Merrie Kay party after that.  I, not being in the mood to deal with a whiny 7 yo, at the ER, on a Saturday afternoon, came up with a plan.
The stars had come together, Yes, the kids elbow took a hit, then another. No, I do not think he is seriously hurt. When a 7 yo quit,s a game he is doing well in, Yea he is hurting. I played the hunting card.
Hay Gator, Ya get to feeling better, we will load up the guns and go hunting. Jesus might could have cured a broken wing faster and better, but that worked for me. Never underestimate the power of enthusiasm. His injury was real, to him, more than it was real to me.
He slept most of the way in the truck, to the public hunting grounds. We got there with around 3 hours to hunt.  We came equipped with shot guns and shells, from slugs to #8 anything legal to shoot was in danger. Not much, but we were there for real.
We were in deer hunter territory, with other hunters, lots of them in sight. I am sure some were pissed with the old man and The kid bashing through the brush with the stealth of a troupe of cub scouts. Gator has to earn his bullet. He walks with a empty gun, until I am sure he wont blow the back of my head off. Yes, much game will get away before he makes his first kill, as he is waiting on me to hand him the bullet. I had hopes of flushing a covey, or even a cotton tail. The hunt was a bust. So we went mountain climbing.
About half way up Gators chosen mountain, he said Dad, there is something I forgot to tell you. I'm  afraid of heights. We stopped and surveyed the world from there. On the way back down he lost his fear and explored caves.
After a sticker picking session on the tail gate, I showed him my old hunting grounds by truck. This is a place men hunted mastodons at. It now is full of serious hunters, and deer camp near do wells. The drive taught him about deer camps, he saw a hanging deer, and met the game wardens. As we were leaving we encountered a group of white tail on the road. The first wild deer he had ever seen, We paused, and watched while some crossed the road and jumped the fence, others went through, others stayed on the same side and ran along the road. Ya don't shoot from the road, It's after hours, all sunk in to a 7yo mind. He just watched, enjoyed, and got a grip on the rules.
I love to hunt and fish, though, I am more likely to let a game animal go than I am to take it. Catch and release, put it in the cross hares, is good enough for me most of the time. Now I am in the shoot it, clean it, cook it, eat it, mode. Gator gets the full deal. But first he must learn to walk in the field with me, know the tracks, the traps ,  Hunting is not setting in a blind 30 yards from a deer feeder. Yes that works. its just not hunting.
When we got within cell phone range of momma she was po'ed. Her car quit. Here we go to the rescue. A battery change later she became happy. She took Gator to the movies. I went home. I drank some beer while making this post.
No animals were harmed in this trip. Earning your bullet is all about respect, you earn it, you give it, you learn it, you live it.                             

xcaliber:
Nice lesson, differance between a hunter and a shooter

VTreX:
Thank goodness we have a choice and that we can hunt with a gun and a bow and don't have to shoot!! :redcard: :redcard:  However I pay good money for the privilage to be on the land I hunt! I use the meat and as I have said before I feed and watch a ton more deer in a year than I will ever shoot in my lifetime. It has been a long time sence I have tried to fill ALL my tags or even let my grandsons do that.. We do look for a good buck. At least as good as there is where we hunt.. The trophy (the antlers) is a memory of that time out in Gods creation. God said for us to" kill and eat."  Sarah Palin said "we eat therefore we hunt''.. I enjoy a first time hunter sucess more than my own!  The hunt is the joy not the kill!! We do use the and will go back to doing all our own processing.. more time together!!  Granted we could have a lot of beef, pork, or chicken for the cost of hunting.... so I could get a lease at H.E.B.-------- NOT!!!!  It is all good, I have even gone back to videoing the bucks---- But I will still Shoot!   :thumbup: :lunch: :c :c   RIDE SAFE RIDE LONG

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