3 hours ago
Showing posts with label My Outdoorsy Side. Show all posts
Showing posts with label My Outdoorsy Side. Show all posts
One of the ways I bonded with my dad growing up was through him teaching me how to hunt.
Hunting is something that has been tradition in my family for generations, and it started with necessity. Hunting is an inexpensive way to put meat in our freezer. My grandpa started hunting when he was a teenager for that very reason, and he and his brother taught their children how to hunt, and they taught theirs, and I guess that's where it became a tradition. We still hunt today for mainly of the same reasons - to fill the freezer being high up on the list.
Another reason we value hunting so much, contradictory as it may seem to those who don't understand it, is because of a love for God's creation. We love getting out in nature, seeing the sunrise, hearing which birds wake up first, finding tracks of animals we aren't even trying to find. We do it because it's a great way to get out there, and we do it for the sake of conservation. Many people don't realize how many animals would starve and die over the winter if their populations are too high at the start of it. It's why there is a Division Of Wildlife - to study these things, and help keep ecosystems in proper balance.
It always irks me to see how hunters are sometimes portrayed by authors or producers who don't have a clue. I've put books down because of a portrayal of hunters as careless idiots with guns who just want to kill something. The ignorance is stunning to me. The hunters I know, who I've grown up with, are some of the most careful and most respectful people you will meet with regards to firearms and nature.
When I was twelve my dad took me hunting for the first time. I had a cow elk tag, and he woke me up early and we made the trek out into the woods. Snow crunched under my feet, and my lungs burned with the cold morning air at the exertion. I hung on to the straps on my dad's backpack so he could help haul me up the hill.
Every now and then he would spot a track, sometimes elk, but I remember specifically seeing mountain lion and bear tracks too. He would whisper and point them out to me, and I'd whisper how cool it was and grin.
I got an elk on that first day of my first hunt. It was a very exciting moment, and a particularly large elk, so it was great to contribute to the family's food like that. But my favorite part was grinning at my dad after a successful hunt and seeing he was grinning back at me, and resting together on the snow as we split a Nutroll candy bar and drank a jug of Gatorade.
You just don't even know how good a Nutroll and Gatorade can taste until you've worked so hard for them. I went hunting with my dad all through my growing up years, and a Nutroll and Gatorade was always our victory meal.
My dad taught Derek how to hunt, and now Derek provides for our family too through hunting, and he's planning to take our kids when they are big enough. So the tradition continues.
I haven't been hunting since I've had kids. It was too hard to go since we'd have to find a babysitter. But as I watch the leaves turn and the frost returning this year, I'm feeling that itch to get out there again (not to mention the meat would help a lot in feeding five hungry kids).
Today, I don't buy Nutrolls or Gatorade. I just can't imagine snacking on them in my living room or car. They will forever be reserved for me as the fuel I'll pull out of my backpack, as I'm sitting on a rock in the brisk fall air after a hard morning of hunting. That's how they taste best.
I have a vague memory of my parents taking us fishing once when I was a kid. My dad's cousin knew a spot. I remember walking there in the evening, mosquitos hanging in the air, the purple shadows and blue water.
I don't remember if we caught anything that time, but I remember the feeling of being out there at night, hoping we would catch something.
That fishing experience is largely eclipsed in my memory, however, by a Canadian fishing trip when I was twelve. We drove for days up to Canada, then took a float plane to finally arrive at a little fishing lodge. Sportsman's Lodge, it was called. We woke up early, put on our rain gear, and ate Red River hot cereal for breakfast. Then our native guides, Cecil and Roger, took us out on the water in two boats.
Now that was fishing.
We caught so many fish we had to throw some back before lunch each day. When the sun was high, Cecil would pull our boat up onto some sandy island, start a fire, and cook up the walleye we caught. If you have never had fresh-fried wallet on a Canadian shoreline, have you really fished? I've never tasted any other fish that was so good.
I still think of that trip and hope that I can take my kids on a fishing trip like that before they are grown.
But in the meantime, we try to fish down here, where it's a lot harder to catch something.
Wyatt has been dying to go fishing for a couple summers now. This was a classic case of saying "We'll try to go soon," until the summer was over and we realized we still hadn't gone.
We finally decided last Sunday was the day. We packed up some fishing gear, packed a lunch, and went out to attempt fishing in a bright blue sky, in the middle of the day. Actually not the best fishing strategy, at all. But it was just for fun, after all.
The wind was blowing something terrible, and the water was low at the lake. But we trudged down to the shore anyway. The kids tore off their shoes and stuck their toes in the water while Derek threaded the fishing line. We were casting into the wind, the waves were lapping at the shore, and we only got one small nibble. But we were outside in the sunshine, watching the pelicans having more luck than we did, playing in the sand, enjoying the quiet.
It was pretty magical.
If you've never tried going fishing, you really should give it a go. Here are a few reasons to go fishing with your family:
1. You really don't need that much gear.
We did most of our fishing with a $13 fishing pole, taking turns. We also had to purchase a fishing license, fishing line and bait, and we had a net we had previously, but that was it. I don't think fishing has to be too expensive, especially starting out. You don't need top-of-the-line gear to have fun. It's more about the experience, in my opinion.
2. It's a great way to get outside.
Fishing is a really relaxing way to enjoy nature. You only have to walk as far as you decide, and then the rest of the time you are sitting or standing on the shore, so there is minimal physical exertion. But you still get to see the beauty of God's creation up close and personal. I think it's one of the easiest ways to do something "outdoorsy", especially with kids. Fishing from the shore is even better with a family, because if the kids get bored, they can run around a bit.
3. You'll make memories even if you don't catch anything.
Whether you catch anything or not, you still had a chance to enjoy nature and just be together in the outdoors. And those near misses can be just as bonding as catching something. All the way home our kids bemoaned the fact that some fish nibbled on our line and stole our bait, and I know they'll remember that.
Have you been fishing lately or ever? Did you like it?
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