Making memories

Got my 10 year old in the woods to thin out a few squirrels. The mentor program is a great way to get them interested early. The enjoyment we both got from him harvesting these was something we will never forget. We visited the rifle range a few times prior to hunting and he decided that the 22 was the way to go. Amazing how good of a shot he is already! He shot a few at 50 yards and this particular day he ended up with 5. He was not aware that there were fox squirrels and when I told him there was one coming down a tree in front of his he asked if it was OK to shoot them before he even put the gun up. I was proud that he noticed the difference. After taking the first fox squirrel and a gray within 20 seconds of each other he laid them down beside him and nothing was taking the smile off of his face. He kept whispering that he wanted to shoot another fox squirrel and after taking another gray, sure enough another fox squirrel hopped onto an old deadfall about 50 yards in front of us. He saw it before I did and told me there was another fox squirrel, after I saw it I told him it was OK to shoot and he missed with the first shot and put another shell in, steadied himself, held a bit high and got him in the head. He saw it drop and he was shaking like crazy. He handed me the gun and wanted to go get it. I told him to go ahead and he was a good 20 yards to the left of where it was, holding his hands up wondering where in the heck did it go. After a good chuckle I pointed him in the right direction and watched him retrieve a huge fox squirrel. Was a great day and one of the few reasons I will pass up an evening of archery hunting.

One of each.  Perfect day.  Thanks for taking the time to take a kid hunting.  Wish more would do the squirrel thing with kids.  Overlooked as everyone seems to focus on deer.