Hunting

Max went hunting three weeks ago. Luckily it was his shortest hunting trip yet and he was successful. He left Friday after work, got his deer Saturday morning and did the prep work he then helped Jay on the property Sunday morning and was home to us on Sunday, early evening.

So this is how I'm told that it went...
He got up early on Saturday morning and hiked down the canyon in search for a delicious deer. He saw a herd of Elk, which was exciting but also disappointing because last year he had an Elk tag but they never found any Elk to hunt, it was just ironic that it was the first thing he saw on this hunting trip when he only had tags for deer. He also saw a herd of wild pigs far in the distance. After a couple hours, and a long hike, he decided it was getting late in the morning and he should start heading back to meet his Uncle Jay. He had mentally decided that he wasn't looking for a deer anymore because it was late in the morning so he had put the safety on his gun and wasn't really trying to be very stealthy or quiet. . But then he had heard something and realized it was a deer. He got his gun ready and waited. He shot from a distance, and he got the deer in the rump. The deer seemed stunned so Max, quietly waited. The deer started to run off  but didn't get too far, so Max shot at him again. HE was still not dead so Max finally did his last shot and the deer was dead.





He was able to get a white tail deer which apparently means it's more delicious than a mule deer (we don't know yet since the meat is still at the butcher)

I know hunting is often a taboo topic and I think I would have a hard time if I was the one shooting or skinning the deer but I do love that Max is able to do this primitive task for our family. We are grateful for the healthy and clean meat we are able to have and there are many lessons that come from this experience. I look forward to the day when my boys are old enough to participate with Max, party for the bonding experience but also for the lessons in patience and the value of life and resourcefulness.


Anyway, the day after Max came home, the boys and I had some exciting field trips to the butcher and taxidermist, (to tan the hyde)