When you are young you experience many firsts. The first time you sit up, the first tooth, the first time you lose a tooth. First steps, first trips, first day of school, first boyfriend/girlfriend, first time riding a bike, first time driving.
Needless to say I could go on with the list of firsts. Young people can experience multiple firsts in just one day. As you get older though new adventures tend to wane a bit.
Not to say that you don't have them or can't go looking for them, it's just that age and time have sucked some of the life out of "firsts" if you know what I mean.
I had a first on the weekend. I went duck hunting with Big C, Miss K and the puppy dog. I guess it was another first, as it was the first time hunting overall, not just the waterfowl thing.
We had a great time. The weather was decent enough, cool wind but mostly sunny and pleasant to be outside for 5 hours straight.
Miss K was very excited. She's talked for a while about going hunting with daddy and Saturday she finally got her chance. Most days Big C goes hunting at the crack of stupid in the morning and there is no way he's going to drag her out of bed at 3 in the morning for anything but a trip to the bathroom.
I will say it takes a lot of effort to get 3 people and a dog ready for one afternoon of hunting, but we managed to get out the door a little after lunch time.
Thankfully Miss K had a wee snooze on the way to the hunt location so she was raring to go for the remainder of the afternoon.
We set up a whole lot of decoys and helped Big C with targeting in his new shotgun. Which essentially meant we stayed the hell out of the way with hearing protection on and applauding when he made a good shot.
After all the set up was done it was time to head to our layout blinds and hunker in for whatever was to come. For those who don't know what a layout blind is, think low to the ground chaise lounge with fold over camouflage doors that flip up when time to shoot. Pretty cosy when the winds are high.
We didn't even make it to our layout blinds when Big C shouted "duck!" The bird that is not the take cover action. Him and the dog made a jog to get his shotgun and we stayed put.
The two of them managed to flush the bird, shoot it, and after a bit of a hunt get the fallen bird. Another reason to hunt with a trained retriever as Big C said there was no way he would have ever found the bird without the dog's assistance.
So Miss K was overjoyed when the two of them returned to our set up with a duck in hand. Sadly this was the only one we'd see close up on the day as the other ducks and geese had no interest in visiting our little spot in the corn field.
Miss K had tons of fun hiding in the layout blind and then coming out again. She was a huge help when it came to packing everything up and never once did she say she was tired, or bored or wanted to go home. She didn't ask to watch TV, play on an iPad or wish for her toys. She was content to be outside with us and enjoy the happenings of the day.
I'm still not sure about the whole hunting experience. But I didn't grow up in that environment either. My biggest hunt was where the chicken for dinner might be hiding in the freezer.
I see the excitement and thrill of it a little bit. I suppose if push came to shove and I needed to do so for survival I probably could attempt it.
For now, I'm content to leave Big C to partake of something he loves mostly by himself. Will there be times that we all go out again… I think so. Do I need to gear up and learn how to shoot things myself? Not likely. In fact we're probably all better off if I just stay at home and cook whatever the men folk return with.
It was great being outdoors, great being with the whole family doing something together for the afternoon and taking part in something so near and dear to Big C's heart. For that I will be always grateful, but tracking down wild game for a full time hobby is not in my future
Til next time…I hope you got to spend some quality time with those people that you hold dear to your heart and maybe attempt your very own new "first".
No comments:
Post a Comment