Our whole reason for our hunting trip was for Jacob to be able to hunt with me and his big brother. He wanted nothing more than to be able to spend some time with us in the woods hunting and sharing some male bonding moments. It doesn’t sound like much to us, but to a soon to be nine year old it means the world and this week I found out just how much.
This whole week while we were hear in Ohio, everything we did was a new experience for him as well as Michael. It has been so nice to see them first of all get along well for pretty much the whole week, but they have also grown quite a bit this week. Jacob has asked so many intelligent questions about why we did something or how we did it. I could see the wheels turning in his head thinking these experiences through for himself.
The first morning I wouldn’t let him carry the shotgun into the woods at first, I wanted to make sure he was keeping up with me and doing it in a safe manor, without having to worry about carrying a firearm. The second morning he insisted that he carry it, so I let him with watchful eyes at all times. He performed flawlessly! The third morning, I wanted to see if he was paying attention to his surroundings as we walked in, and I would switch which side of him I was walking. Each time he switched his carry immediately so his muzzle was pointing away from me, you don’t know how proud that made me.
That same morning was his ninth birthday, so I let him decide where to hunt that morning, after all this was his hunt! He wanted to go to a spot we had made a set up the day before for that morning’s hunt. I didn’t hear any birds in the area, but I told him that would be a fine spot to hunt. I wanted him to have some input into the hunt. When we set up and began to call it wasn’t long until he fell asleep. I was somewhat worried that I might not be putting enough effort into the hunt and that he was getting bored. But then I realized that there is nothing better than to be out in the woods in the morning and taking that leisurely nap while things were slow. It was then that I knew that even if we didn’t get a turkey, that this would always be a successful hunt in my eyes as well as his. Happy birth day son! Thanks for the memories we made this week! I will cherish them forever as I know you will also!
