A Tree-rat Trio

Took Sophia and Merrick squirrel hunting this morning. we hunted for about an hour and half and shot a squirrel right away. Sophia said "cool" when it fell from the tree quickly followed by "can we eat it?" intermixed with Merrick in the back pack shaking his fist and growling at the squirrel. I had been looking forward to hunting with them all week. Sophia had her new clothes on that we bought for an upcoming camping trip with Brad and the two older boys. Merrick was wearing his camo crocs, camo pants and hat. it was really enjoyable being out there with them. Merrick said "geese" when a flock flew overhead even though it is still too "leafy" to see through the canopy. Both the kids hunted really well, Sophia moves through the brush like the mist. We also saw 4 or 5 chipmunks and she wanted me to shoot them too. while I thought about it, I instead used the opportunity to tell her that we only shoot what we eat. She persisted that I shoot them so the dogs could play with them. I was able to convince her to sneak up on them instead She was able to get about 15' from the chipmunk and later about 3 feet from a pair of downy wood peckers. the squirrel we shot was exciting as it is the first thing I have shot when either kid was around and Sophia hear it in the brush and suggested the direction we walk to find it. I took a nice picture f them holding the squirrel when we got home. Merrick was pretty tired and went to sleep, while Sophia and I cleaned the squirrel in the garage. I also told her about fur-traders and we decided to stretch and salt-cure the hide. I am hoping to give her a leg up in school and make as much of our history real and tangible to her and Merrick as they age.

Squirrel tonight for supper although Lisa has already remarked that we are just going to 'feed it to the dogs." Fried it up in corn meal and bacon grease (what doesn't taste good when cooked like that?). the hunt also gave me an opportunity to discuss directions and proper hunting techniques. we found our shadows going into the woods, so I explained to Sophia that if we keep our shadows to our backs on the way our we can get back to the truck. there was also another hunter in the woods, a friendly Hmong squirrel hunter that shot several times but didn't hit what he was aiming at. I was able to explain/remind Sophia that I only shot once and was sure of my target before I shot, rather than taking several shots. we were coming home by 11 am and it was already in the upper 70s--almost 80. Too warm and buggy for hunting but I am glad we went. I needed and wanted to get my kids out in the woods as it seems most of my day dreams are about a future of woods-time with them.