Work schedules and other responsibilities of being an adult often get in the way of hunting. I’ve taken a new day job, and that kept me from being able to accompany my youngest son on the annual Pheasants Forever youth hunt. Fortunately, his mom was able to take him, and that might have been how we should have planned it from the get-go, anyway.
Logan passed his Hunter Safety course last year, and he’s been begging to go pheasant hunting ever since. We were too late getting him through the course to do the Pheasants Forever hunt last year, but it’s been on our calendar ever since he got his hunter ed certificate in the mail. I had been preparing him all along by asking him questions about gun safety, teaching him how to walk quietly, and other hunt-related pointers. It was all in preparation for the two of us going to the field for the first time.
But then work got in the way, and I knew I wasn’t going to be able to take him to the hunt. Amy said she’d be happy to take him, even if it meant going out on a brutally cold morning. Luckily, the weather behaved, and they had a beautiful day for the hunt.
They both came back pumped to do it again. Now it appears I don’t just have one new hunting partner, but two new buddies. I don’t know who was more excited – Logan or Amy.
Now the only member of our household I’ll have to convince is Riley, the black lab pup. I don’t think it’ll take much to get her excited about hunting, though. With any luck, the four of us humans and one dog will get to go out several times this season.
