The last 11 years and his next step...

[Roy68]

Now I’m not sure how many youth visit this forum, but thought I would share what I’ve been experiencing with my oldest son from day 1, and his younger brothers as a father. In several days he will be taking another step in his outdoor life. If you are a youth on here maybe you can take something away from this. Looking back I wouldn't trade my days in the field with my grandfather or my dad for anything, except more time. (a few of the pictures were taken with a camera phone so the quality isn’t great)

So 6 years ago, I gave my oldest Lane his first BB gun for his 5th birthday. We have fed that thing a steady diet of BB's ever since. In the field, when I was hunting, he would carry that Daisy EMPTY, and we would work on muzzle control, game identification, muzzle control, and then more safety on top of that. At the end of the hunt he'd burn through some more BB's. That Red Ryder has been on more dove hunts, stump shoots, deer hunts, goose hunts, and rabbit hunts than I can count. I would guess that it has as many days in the field as some of my seasoned firearms.

By the time he turned 8, I was cutting him loose in the home pasture by himself with his lever gun. His younger brothers had to stay in the house of course for those solo outings. I think it is important that a boy has time to himself, to learn on his own.

I think it was around this age, that he and I were sitting with one of my cousin’s college age daughters. She was in her 2nd or 3rd year of rifle deer hunting, and still needed a seasoned hunter with her to help in decision making. We were sitting under a scrub evergreen on the downhill side of depression that deer would frequently travel from their beds to feed across that pasture. After about 2 hours, I spotted a very nice 150’s whitetail coming at us. I could only see his antlers to about the top of his head in the big bluestem grass that he was traveling in. Now the wind was right, but with 3 of us under that tree and one of us being 8; well the odds were against us. I was quietly trying to get my cousin’s daughter to see this buck, and it just wasn’t happening. By now said buck was within 50 yds, looking straight at us, and he was pushing a typical 5x5 pushing 160.

I knew he had us made, but couldn’t quite figure it out yet. He was providing a center chest shot plain as day, but man she couldn’t see him and time was running out. Then I finally heard the distinct sound of a safety changing positions. Finally she has him spotted in the tall grass. As I look at her out of the corner of my left eye I realized she hadn’t lifted her rifle. …. As Ralphie on the Christmas Story said; “OHHHHH FUUUUDGE”……..Twang is the next sound I heard as Ol’ Betsy, the Red Ryder BB gun went off. Lane was ecstatic and jumping up and down as he had just shot his first buck with that lever gun. With its white flag high in the air, and flat moving back to where he came from; my cousins daughter finally saw the buck.

I looked down at my son with his big bird fed cat grin and asked him why he decided he needed to shoot that buck with his BB gun. “Dad I’ve been watching that deer for a long time, and I waited long enough.” That sure put a smile on my face.

I reflected as we walked out of that pasture the ½ mile back to the truck. In 3 years we went from a nerf gun to a working firearm. He has continually improved on safety, muzzle control, his decision making, to spotting & identifying wildlife, and knowing when to make that shot count. I’m really not sure what was going through my cousin’s daughter’s head. As far as Lane was concerned he just shot his first Booner.

 

[Roy68]

Three months later on his 9th birthday, we gave Lane a Ruger American Rimfire 22LR in compact. It took him a minute or two pick his jaw up off the floor when he had opened that package!! He was on cloud 9 for next several months. I sure wish 22LR ammo cost what it used too. As we continue to hone his skills and maturity for this step up; I use this extra cost for ammunition as another motivation as well. Now he has to work for his ammunition. He has learned that fixing fence, chopping thistles, clearing trees & doping stumps is far from glamorous work. In fact I think his in-town friends think he leads a summer life of slave labor; while they live at the swimming pool, on the couch, or on the baseball field. Now that I mention it, that’s what most of my friends thought about me when I was growing up.

Fast forward another 6 months and I borrowed a youth 870 in 20ga from my brother to introduce Lane to shot gunning & and hand thrown clays. Now Lane has always been a strong kid for his age and size, but that youth 870 was fairly heavy for him. As I look back I think he finished up Kids Club Wrestling that spring wrestling at 75#. I remember the first time we went to shoot clays, he stated that it was a little too heavy for him. I said that was fine, and he could just watch that day; I think he ended up shooting about 100 rounds that day! He decided being a spectator wasn’t that appealing.

On any of these outings I’ve tried my best to take time to impress upon Lane the important things in life. Whether that is regarding our Faith, stewardship of the land, live stock or wildlife, eating what we harvest, respecting landowners, working hard, and so the list goes on. I really don’t know if he is absorbing what I try to convey or not. Sometimes I think I can see him keying in on things now and then.

Now Lane is 11, and this past September, I let him carry that same 20 gauge for the first time to the Dove ponds for some pass shooting and he scored his first doves this year. He sure enjoyed eating those, as he still brags about those being the best one’s he’s eaten to date.

April this year brought the passing of my dad after a 6 year struggle, and it still weighs heavy on me and my family. Two years ago we buried my wife’s dad. I’m just starting to realize how this affects my boys. My grandfather took my brother and I on more summer fishing trips after church, dove, pheasant, and rabbit hunts than I can count. I still am in awe of how deadly grandpa was with a single action revolver on rabbits. I could miss a rabbit standing still with my 22, and gramps would drop them from a run with that old wheel gun. My dad was along on a lot of those trips when work allowed. Now being a father for while I can appreciate my dad’s struggles with balancing responsibilities and time with his kids. But Grandpa; well he was always along on those trips My boys Great Grandpa is still around, but he doesn’t venture out in the fields of any kind anymore. I sort of took for granted what I had, and now realize my boys will never experience that with their grandfathers.

I couldn’t hunt big game in my home state until I was 14, and had a hunter’s safety card. Rules have changed and Lane knows it. He has really started bugging me about carrying a rifle this upcoming deer season, and I’ve been on the fence about it. I really don’t have a rifle that he can use, and I’m not buying him one. I’ve told him that his first deer rifle that he owns and can call his own will be bought and paid for with his own hard work and cash.

Then about 2 months ago, my brother calls me and says he just received a phone call from a guy. Now this just happens to be a close friend of our late father’s, and he informs us that he has a few of Dad’s rifles. He explained that dad had sold them to help cover some short comings due to his medical bills, and mom had no idea. This equates to a mint condition Ruger 10/44 carbine, 1960’s Marlin 30-30, 1951 Marlin 35rem, and a Carl Gustav 6.5x55.

Long story short, Dad’s buddy just gives them all back to my brother, and walks away without a penny for them. Unbelievable! So we divide them up amongst ourselves and our 2 sisters. I ended up with Dad’s 1951 Marlin 35 Remington with a Lyman Peep, and this thing is in 90% condition. Just holding it takes my mind back in time. I can remember looking at this very rifle in dad’s cabinet as a young boy, and at that time ranchmen were my heroes. I always thought it would be a great rifle to hunt with, but by the time I turned 14 Dad had offered to let me use his 7mm Remington mag to deer hunt. I coincidentally shot an 8pt with that rifle that year. By the time next year rolled around I had saved up enough money to buy my Ruger M77 25-06, and I never looked back at that old 35 for the next 23 years until now. I had made up my mind that I was going to fill 1 of my 3 deer tags using this old stalwart lever gun this year.

Then this past Thanksgiving Thursday was day 1 of 4 days of freezing rain. Come Saturday I decided that if old Lane can shoot that old 35rem and do so accurately and safely out to a 100 yards; I’m going to buy him a youth whitetail tag. The freezing rain was 3 days in on its onslaught, and we were done helping clean house. I asked the boys if they wanted to do some shooting, and got a resounding “YES”. We spent Saturday afternoon shooting out the door of the shed. I had 1 gallon jugs set up at 50 yds, 75 yds, and 100 yds. I also had cardboard targets at 50 and 100 yards. It took me about 10 shots to get the old 35rem printing at 1 ½ inches at 100yds. At this time I realized that shooting 200gr Hornady LeveRevolution out it that this thing was not only a sweet shooting rifle but it flat thumped my shoulder too. I was a little worried at this point, how Lane would react.

That first shot with Lane behind the stock, really woke him up. He looked at me with kind of a stunned look. I asked if he was ok, and he just said wow this isn’t my 20ga. I asked him if he wanted to wait another year to shoot it, and he promptly asked for another shell. Now he missed that first shot, the second shot, and several more. Mind you he has only shot open sights to date, and unlike a lot that transition to scopes he was stepping up to a peep.

Now after an honest 40 rounds Lane had successfully figured that Peep sight out and we were successfully killing 1 gallon jugs. …. Well I guess I buying him a tag. (He just doesn’t know it yet)

So all I’ve got to say is come this Sunday, look out because Lane will be carrying his grandpas Marlin 35 Remington and taking the next step in his outdoor life....

 

[coop2424]

Man so awesome!! Please keep us posted on his excitement and the outcome of the hunt!!! Can wait tell my kids are older and I can do the same as you have!! Good work..

 

[Mike7]

Great write-up...and funny too. I will forward this to my kids to read.

 

[beachbunny]

it sure goes fast. just keep enjoying it!

 

[rmekus]

This is awesome, I only started big game hunting in the last 5-6 years and as a 40 year old man I find myself wishing I would have had a mentor such as yourself when I was younger.Great job being a true Father to your children.

 

[Arrowslinger]

Love it! Got a little guy at home and another on the way, hope to be doing the same in the coming years. My morning highlight is when my 2.5 year old wakes up and asks to watch deer hunting.

 

[Roy68]

again the pictures are from a cell phone, and not the best

So yesterday was the day. I went tag shopping for a Youth Whitetail Either Sex tag. Come to find out I needed an assigned number for Lane to purchase this tag, because of his age & lack of a DL. So I made a phone call to Kansas Department of Wildlife offices in Pratt. The very helpful licensing agent explained that this was a simple process and all she needed was for me to recite his SSN & birthday. At this point the gears in my mind started to slow down. With a little thinking on my part I came up with the right birthday. Lane, my wife, my middle son, and mother in law all share the same month for their birthdays, and dang if I can keep them straight.

Kids if you are reading this, do not be mad that dad has to really buckle down to remember your birthday. There are certain divisions of responsibility in a family, that help that household run smoothly. My 3 boys know what their morning chores are. I know my tasks, and my wive knows hers. Fathers do not remember birthdays of there children accurately. And honestly what dad knows his kids SSN? Before I could say it the licensing agent gave me her direct line and said she would be waiting for my call back. I made a quick call to management and had Lane's SSN, so back on the phone with KDWP.

Now with KDWPT number in hand, the customer service rep told me I could go to any license retail location and purchase a tag for Lane. From my house that means a 20 mile drive to the East to the hardware store (when they are open), or a 30 mile trip to the West to the local Walmart. So I asked if I could accomplish this on-line, and the answer was yes but it would cost me a couple dollars in a convenience fee. Honestly if it cost an additional $20 and saved me a trip to Walmart, I would gladly pay it.

Tag was purchased, printed, and in my hand. Now Lane is one of those kids that can read well beyond his age. A 500+ page book is a 3 or 4 day deal for him. He does not come by that trait from me. However, when it comes to technical reading his comprehension is sometimes lacking due to the speed at which he reads. I think he read through the printed out tag and its instructions 3 times, and he had determined that he was holding some sort of hunting license.

I finally pointed out a couple of lines of text on the actual tag that he needed to focus on.

That's when the light bulbs went on!!!

His name is far from legible as his excitement had him pretty amped up when he signed his name to validate the tag.

Lane's younger brothers were pumped and giving him high fives. Nothing but 30 point bucks filled the conversation on the way to kids club wrestling practice last night. This morning Lane asked if rifle season had opened this morning and I said yes it has. He was a little miffed that he was going to school, however we did look all 4 directions this morning to make sure there wasn't a deer within eyesight on our property. I think he would have been late to school if there was.

He said he could wait 3 more days, and would be ready to go on Saturday bright an early. I told him that was a good thing because he and his youngest brother had to be at our home wrestling tournament for check-in by 8 AM Saturday. At this point I think he thought he was part of a cruel joke. I assured him that we would go hunting as soon as we got home from the tournament if daylight allowed. Otherwise he will be anxiously awaiting Sunday's arrival.

 

[Shrek]

Thanks for taking us along ! This is one of the most enjoyable threads I've read . Go Lane !

 

[airlocksniffer]

Good stuff. My son will be able to hunt deer next year but had a great time at deer camp this year shooting at rabbits. I'm starting to get more excited for him than my own hunts!! Whether Lane knocks down a booner or not, you can be sure it's a trophy.

 

[RallySquirrel]

Really enjoying your thread Roy. I myself have a couple of 9 year olds chomping at the bit. My deer killing days are numbered as far as they're concerned... no need for the old man to do what they are perfectly capable of themselves handling. I wish I had some of the pictures you have been able to capture.

Great luck to you and your family!

 

[Roy68]

Lessons learned from the field without stepping outside...


This morning Lane was working every angle he could come up with for me to agree to taking him out of school to go hunting. His enthusiasm is contagious for me. I told him that wasn't happening, and he was somewhat hurt I think by it. He did muster up the question, "Why Not"? Now I very easily could have answered with, "Because I said so" and left it at that. I did not.

I found this as a perfect opportunity to discuss his personal priorities at that moment (deer hunting) versus his responsibilities. In fact during this conversation I asked if his morning chores were done, and they were not. Lane had been so focused on coming up with a plan on how he could pitch skipping school to go deer hunting to dad; that he neglected certain responsibilities.

Lane has to take care of certain animals just like every other morning. Those animals were relying on Lane to bring the days food, and to knock ice out of water pans and to refill with fresh water. With some explanation it was pointed out to Lane how he almost failed those who were depending on him because of his desire to go hunting. I also took just a minute to remind him that his education was relying on his efforts at school. In other words he was responsible to himself.

To play devil's advocate, I laid out the following scenario for Lane if he were to skip school and I were to take him hunting today. We could not hunt all day because I'm one of the main coaches for our Kid's Club Wrestling program. I'm one of a group that is responsible for helping set up for the tournament and that work begins this late afternoon. So we would not have been able to hunt all day either. If he would have gone hunting today he would have an entire day's worth of home work that would have been due on this coming Monday. With a wrestling tournament on Saturday, he would have spent all day Sunday working on homework, while his Dad & Uncle went hunting without him.

Lane went to school.

Now, Sons & Daughters if you are reading this and have a little more age under your belts you may have learned the above already. Lane, I think, has a little better understanding now. One of the places where I see older youth & young adults struggle is with this very concept; they will put today's priorities/desires in front of their responsibilities. They want to satisfy their "WANTS" right now. In the end they will likely let themselves down, or possibly others. Honestly none of us will avoid those events, but we will hopefully learn from the consequences. We parents just try to teach you good decision making skills to avoid some of those consequences. As the old saying goes... I've been down that road already.

 

[Roy68]

We made it out tonight for about 1 1/2 hours after making it home from our home wrestling tournament. Lane was gassed and I didn't think he would want to go out. He managed to find his second wind pretty quickly when I asked him if he wanted to go. So we quickly geared up and out the door we went. We drove around to the north fence line to put the evenings south wind in our favor.

We worked our way into the late day son and found a good place to sit. I'm not sure I can convey what it's like to for me to be sharing my love for the outdoors and Gods creation with my son; but it is awesome to say the least. In the waning hours of shooting light we had one deer out in front of us, but it never presented itself.

I didn't have high hopes for success tonight in the short amount of time we had available, but looking back it was a success from dad's perspective. We will see what tomorrow brings us.

On a side note Lane won his bracket today taking 1st on the wrestling mat!

 

[Roy68]

Deer down. Deer down. Deer down. Holy crap lane you did it.....!!!!!!!

 

[coop2424]

Awesome can't wait to hear the story... Dad I bet you are a little excited!!!

 

[chippewawarrior]

Never expected anything less... Awesome!

 

[topher89]

Sweet! Should be a great story!

 

[Shrek]

Congratulations Lane ! Congratulations Lane's Dad ! Looking forward to the story .

 

[Roy68]

I'm not really sure who is more excited, but man what a day. I'm super proud of Ladne today.

It will be a few days before I get the story down with pictures. It wasn't the biggest doe in the world but it was the best one

 

[Stid2677]

You are doing it right Dad,, congrats to you and young Lane. Cherish every moment they will be grown before you know it.