My family and I always go hunting; we have practically grown up with it. When my mom finally got married to Chris, it just added another part in our family. After my mom got married we moved out of our old house in the country. Chris lives on the top of Rogers Rd. He owns 30 acres of land; this is where we go hunting.
When we moved in with Chris we had to make major adjustments. The kitchen is smaller than our old one, the bathroom is crowded, the living room connects into the dining room, to my mom and I it’s just a big mess. My step-dad is a great guy just has some things we still need to get used to. Chris is one of the few people to go hunting with me, just because he annoys me. He is a very personable guy, he’s easy to get along with, he’s funny but hunting with him is not the best thing. There is a time I will never forget, one of the times I hunted with Chris. We were sitting in our blind, listening and paying attention right… WRONG! We had been sitting in the blind for, oh let’s say, maybe an hour. Well Chris, the wonderful hunter he is, was falling asleep. Out of no where 2 doe walk into our sights, I nudge Chris, wake him up, point and we pull up our guns. He looks at me and says,
“On the count of 3 we’ll shoot, same time. I’ll take the smaller doe; you take the bigger one,”
“OK,”
“One, two, three,” BANG! I shoot. He doesn’t. I turn look at him, considering I was the only one to shoot.
“Why didn’t you shoot, I thought we were supposed to shoot at the same time?”
He puts his head down, gets a slight smirk on his big face and says to me,
“I forgot to take my safety off…” At this time I burst out in laughter, just thinking about the fact that I had only been actually hunting for 2 years at this point, and he was 51 years old and forgot to do the most basic thing to hunting, remove the safety then aim and shoot. On our hunting trips he has a tradition of what to bring. Chris is the person who loves his beer and his cigarettes. He is about 5’9” and about 300lbs. He goes hunting out to his property with his brothers while my mom and I hunt at our house. My Uncle Brad, one of Chris’ brothers, always tells Chris,
“Don’t shoot unless you see horns.”
My mom and I are the total opposite with our hunting strategies. When my step-dad and I go hunting he has to bring two beers in his pockets, one in his hand and his cigarettes in his inside coat pocket. While hunting everyone knows you sit still, are quiet, listen for noises and keep your eyes out for movement. Well not Chris, he does not sit still, his coat is loud, he smells like cigarettes and beer and every now and then you hear “kachhhh,” the sound of his beer opening right next to me.
Now, my mom, whoa, my mom hunting with me is a totally different story. Everything I know about hunting I was told by her. You sit still, are quiet and keep your eyes and ears open. My mom is not very big at all; my mother is 5’1” about 270lbs. Size doesn’t matter when it comes to hunting. When my mom and I go hunting it is the total opposite of when Chris and I go. My mom and I sit there and make no noises, we have candy with us but in a quiet Ziploc bag, and we don’t have anything to drink or eat. When I first actually went hunting I beat my mom. My mom just turned 47 and she has only gotten 1 buck. She shot her first buck last year and it was only a 3 point. My first year hunting I got a 6 point buck. I went hunting with my Uncle Brad, because my mom was busy helping out with the benefit for my cousins Nick and Jeremy who passed away a few years ago. After I shot my buck we gutted it and loaded it up in the bed of my Uncle Brad’s truck. We showed up to the benefit to show everyone. When I finally found my mom to tell her she turned around and started crying.
“What’s wrong mom? You should be happy I got a deer!”
“I am you little s***; it just makes me so happy you got it on this day, what’d you get?”
“Come see,” We walked over to the truck and when she looked in she started crying even harder just seeing that it was a 6 point. My mom and I go by one motto, our and that is, “If it’s brown it’s down.” While hunting with my mom I usually get in trouble if I start getting wrestles. If I were to move more than 2-3 times she will look at me with her evil glare and tell me, “SHHH!”
I love hunting, plain and simple. I used to always go with my mom before she got married 5 years ago, just to sit but I would still go. We had land where we live previously and we would go out and hunt. As soon as I turned the age to take hunters safety I did, I passed with flying colors and I was very excited. I am a lot like my mom, not very big, but pretty tough. I myself am 5’3”and I weigh 118lbs, like I said I’m not very big. When hunting season comes around my mom, Chris and I don’t take showers every day. Our madness to this is so the deer can’t smell the soap, shampoo or conditioner. We get in the shower and rinse ourselves off but don’t use soap. I know, you’re thinking, “that is just sick,” but in all reality if you want to kill a deer they can’t smell or hear you. I might be a girl but I love hunting! Chris’ family loves me just for the fact they really don’t have many girls in the family who hunt and can actually kill something. Hunting is another part of my life; my family on the other hand is my life and always will be. It’s nice to always be able to have someone who will go hunting with you whether they are annoying or one of the best people to go hunting with.