The traditions that help us remember

Growing up I was the only hardcore hunter in my family. You could find me in the woods 5 nights a week following a hound. The rest of my family hunted some but did not share the same passion I held. Even so, you could find us in the woods on thanksgiving morning. My cousins, uncle, dad, sister and I would meet up and have our traditional thanksgiving hunt.

We hunted the same plan every year. We started up by my Uncle Bill’s house and would hit a small group of oak trees that always had squirrels. Next we would go down the trail by my house and work behind my house and then get to the little stream. Then, we would come up out of the woods at my grandfathers house. Finally we would go behind his house and hunt hickory holler. Hickory holler was between my grandparents house and my cousins’ house and was always a nice spot to bag a couple of squirrels.

Some years we had a dog to hunt, but most years my cousins and myself were the dogs. Hunting these woods as much as I did, I knew where the squirrels lived. We would go and shake vines on the trees I thought the squirrels would be in. It would never fail that one of us would go to shake and hear my dad say, “Come on now and shake it like a milkshake.” This was a hunt I always looked forward to. Some years we did really well and came home without alot of squirrels but some years we didn’t. Looking back now it wasn’t about how many squirrels we harvested. It was about the time we were able to spend together.

I remember one hunt in particular that we went on 8 years ago. This was one of the years I had a little fiest named Roxy. I wrote about her in the last blog I wrote “the dogs that shape us”. Roxy treed 5 squirrels that morning. One tree really sticks out to me and was that a tree she made in hickory holler. I normally use a 20 gauge but this morning I brought my 22 rifle. Roxy treed right off the trail and the squirrel was quickly found and I was able to get it with my 22. It was a special moment as it was one of the last thanksgiving day hunts we all made.

Life has changed over the years and now we all have kids. As time changes so do our traditions and that’s not a bad thing. The night before thanksgiving my sister and I took my 2 sons on a coon hunt. This is a new tradition I pray will last for generations. We may have picked up 100 sticks, took 5 potty breaks, and didnt see a raccoon, but it’s a night I will not soon forget. The day after thanksgiving we took our family squirrel hunting trip. Sunny treed us 2 squirrels. All of the boys had a great time and then enjoyed time just playing and being boys. It wasn’t serious, but we were able to get these kids in the woods.

I am thankful hunting has given me many memories with my family. We were able to go out and all be together for a hunt for the first time in many years. Life looks different now, but I am thankful we still have the woods and a good dog to all enjoy together. Go and make traditions with your family. Those traditions can become our legacy.

My boys may never understand the amount of time and energy that I’m putting in to build this life for them. They won’t look back and remember the brand of their clothes or every present that we bought them or the dogs that I trained to pay for it all. They will remember the way that I make them feel when we’re walking through those woods. The same way I look back and remember the best parts of my dad trudging through those woods with me day and night, my boys will look back and remember me.

They will remember the way it felt when they shot their first squirrel. They will remember the way that I spoke to them while we were walking to the tree. They will remember the time that we spent with family as we strapped on our boots and followed the sound of the hounds. They will remember how I included them in this part of my life instead of prioritizing my success as a hunter above their involvement in the hunt. Hunting will forever serve as a connection to their roots, to the values I hope to instill in them as men, to the character that is built in the steps taken to a tree.

One day when I’m grey and old I’ll look back and be thankful I made the time to help them remember. Like Hank Williams jr said, “we are carrying on an old family tradition.”