I started going with my dad when I was 3 1/2 and never missed a day until he died. Still haven't missed a day. Things I learned that I wouldn't have otherwise:
1. My dad was just a guy, he actually liked to have fun, he actually had friends, he was actually fun!
2. It was fun being up before the sun!
3. How to drive( willys jeep, age 8)!
4. Guns kill!
5. Beer tastes horrible(guess they changed the recipe since I was a kid, it sure is better now)
6. For a few weeks a year, I wasn't a kid, I was one of the guys. I could swear, spit, stay up late, get dirty/bloody, listen to dirty jokes etc.
There was tons more I learned, but I probably shouldn't put some of that out in public. Dad died over a decade ago. I am now 38, have two sons of my own. I still hunt the areas he showed me. I still hunt with the gun he gave me. I still hunt with HIS friends, those old guys are now my family(I believe I am the age they were then, guess they weren't so old). That sip of beer my son had still tastes horrible apparently. I hope my kids learn that I am a good guy, that I am fun, and that they want to spend the fall hanging out with me. I doubt they will learn that at school!! I worked with my dad from the time I was a kid until he died, and I don't remember a lot of those days, I remember every deer I killed with him, clear as a bell, THAT IS IMPORTANT!!! Good on you for taking the boy, when your gone he will tell his kids about the day he and dad sluffed school and killed this very nice deer!!!
When they came for the road hunters I was not one so I said nothing. When they came for the oppurtunists I was not one so I said nothing. When they came for the public land hunters I was not one so I said nothing. When they came for me there was no one left to say anything!
