Monday, August 20, 2012

Sentimental Sunday The Hero Wanted to Hunt


When we were first married, the Hero wanted to be like his brother-in-law and hunt. His father had never gone hunting to his knowledge.  The Hero was wanting to put duck on the table... I mean meat on the table.  He asked Tim if he could go with him the next time the guys went out.  A date was set, and the Hero's dad gave him a his old shot gun.  He sat and cleaned it several times making sure it was in perfect condition.
The day finally came.  The Hero dressed in a jacket and jeans.  It was a cold morning for coastal Texas.  He drove over and met 'the guys' to go out to the duck blind.  They had a cooler of beer.  He was hoping for hot chocolate.   Their first order of business was to set him up on one side of the pond and they went to the other, with the words 'wait for the duck to land'.
He sat there, lying on the ground, vigilantly looking at the sky and the pond where a decoy had been placed near some reeds.  It was quite a while before he finally heard a quacking sound.  He strained his eyes.  A duck was nearing the pond. It slowed and began to land on the water.  The Hero was excited. The duck was in front of him! He took aim, shot, and missed because he was shaking.  He shot a couple of more times, but the duck got away.
The other fellows came over in a foul mood.  "Why were you shooting?  That was the lead duck, a scout. You should have waited until the flock began to settle in.  Now they won't be back.  Might as well go on home."
He came back home 3 hours later, cold and unhappy.  "Why didn't they stay with me or instruct me.  Tim should have known, I didn't know anything about duck hunting."
It wasn't the best experience, and the Hero never got to go hunting duck again.
Later, he raised ducks for the freezer on the farm.  He said it was a much better experience.

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