Turkey Time

I kid you not, I think my almost-ten-year-old son could be outside shooting at something every spare minute he has.  He's an up-with-the-sun kind of kid, and now that it is daylight earlier, he eats his breakfast, gets ready for school and heads outside with his gun until it is time to go to school.

The same is true for after school...as long as an adult is at home.  Thankfully, at this point, he does abide by that rule.  No adult - no shooting anything but a BB gun.  I'm sure his older sister will tattle on him the minute he tries to sneak through that one.

We are hunters and gun owners.  We believe in teaching children how to use guns and use them properly, safely and humanely.  Both of our kiddos, as well as ourselves, have passed the hunter safety course. Although I know accidents can happen, and I'm not foolish enough to believe they couldn't happen to us, I am proud of my little hunter and his passion for hunting.

He went turkey hunting for the first time this weekend and got one.  He shot the turkey in the neck, which is a pretty narrow hit.  Jay told me that he didn't really think Lane would make the shot at the distance they were at, but he had to go for it.  And he did!  All the target practice is paying off.

We actually ate half of that turkey for supper last night and it was delicious.  Yes, it is a little tougher than a Butterball, and maybe Jay found a couple pieces of shot, but hey, we believe in eating what we harvest (for the most part).  I'm not too fond of fowl like duck, goose, pheasant, etc., but Jay will eat it - he will eat almost anything.  Madolyn was weirded out by the 'wild' turkey, but has no trouble eating the pork we receive from pigs raised in our barn.  Hmm.

The older I get, the more I realize these types of life lessons will never go out of style or become extinct.  No matter what happens, we need to eat.  And if push comes to shove, hopefully my little guy will be able to provide for his future family (and his ailing parents).