Lessons learned via squirrel hunting


fly

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Took my youngest (7) out this evening and came home with a blank. Did get some important lessons in though. He's really getting into hunting which is making me grin ear to ear. He shot the 20 guage for the first time and nailed the target center dot using my new red-dot scope.

Lesson 1

We saw one about 150 yards away and my son wanted to shoot it. I told him it was out of range and that it isn't right to take a shot at something, wound it, and cause it to suffer. He agreed.

Lesson 2

We saw somehting crawling on the ground and climb a small tree. My son said in an excited whisper "lets shoot it it's a squirrel." It looked to slow and big to be a squirrel so I told him we had to be 100% certain of our target. We got up and walked over to the tree. Up in the brances about 10 feet high was a possum. Once identified he still said "lets shoot it."

Lesson 3

I informed him it was not possum season and even if it was what would we do with it once it was dead? He said "eat it." I then explained that we don't eat possum and since they are not a problem animal and didn't cause any harm there really was no need to shoot it just for fun. He agreed.

Anyway, I thought of tonight as the most successful hunt we have had to date and we didn't even take a shot. Better yet, he wants to go again in the morning. So of course cutting the grass will have to wait.:)

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You are doing a GREAT job...

I am so glad when I hear stories like that of ethical hunters doing the right thing and teaching the next generation how to be ethical hunters and respect all of the animals in the woods, not just the ones they are hunting. From the look of the photo everything turned out well. Well, except for the squirrel. You should be very proud of yourself and of your kid!!

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That is a great story. My 12 year old completed hunter education a few weeks ago and I took him Squirrel hunting for the first time the other evening without seeing anything. The Mosquitos and Horse Flies were terrible, but we had a good time anyway. They are cutting Black Walnut pretty good in my area, so we will try again soon, only this time in the morning. :gunsmilie:

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