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Cade in a Movie Of His First Wild Pig Hunt...MAKE'N BACON!
posted: May 12, 2008
author: urbanduckman
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There are several reasons for putting making and put'n up a Video of Cade my oldest Grandson on his 1st. Pig Hunt. In addition to being immensely proud of him I hope that this will help anyone considering get'n a kid into Hunting encouragement to do so.

It was'nt that long ago that TEACH'N youngsters the skill set needed for this endeavor was second nature and understood. It was done less as a hobby than to actually PUT MEAT ON THE TABLE.

My GrandMother on my Daddy's sdie of the family is the one that TAUGHT ME and my Lil Bro as Daddy and GrandPa was always hooked up work'n. The long summers out on the farm was spent sit'n on a Day Bed outside and in under a big Wax Berry Tree. She bought .22. Shorts by the BRICK and the backstop was the side of an ole Root Cellar. Targets came from pick'n up a bunch of the always plentiful Garrett Sweet Snuff cans lay'n out on the ground. Seems ALL the older folks around did the stuff and the women folks were no exception.

In the early stages of whack'n small tin cans off the side of the old cellar had more to do with simply have'n FUN than the more serious reasons behind the undertaking. We would sit in her lap and she would load up and cock the ancient Single Shot Bolt Action Remingto .22 Rifle. She would explain how to use the primitive Iron Sights and how to SQUEEEEEEeeeeze da trigger.

This went on from the time we were 5 or 6 and the thing about it was that all we had to do was ASK!

About the time we was close to 9 or so it was time to put our carefully taught marksmanship skills to the ultimate test. Markie....you boys take the rifle down to the Tree Belt and shoot me 3 or 4 Cottom Tails!

It was a very serious transistion from simply having fun to actually takeing the life of an animal. MaMa made sure we understood the intricacies and seriousness of what we were charged with. From the get go it was clear that we were going to EAT EVERYTHING WE SHOT!

I will always remember that FIRST RABBIT HUNT! Nothing that I can think of could ever diminish that day.

It was early November and the sky was overcast with a stiff northerly wind come'n down the Praries out of parts North of us. She bundled us up well or as well as Denim, Cottom and Leather would allow. NO NEOPRENE or THINSULATE in dem days.

She was careful to make sure that I as the oldest was to carry the rifle and GET FIRST SHOT...but...that I was to share with Lil Bro. She went over time and again how we was taught to carry the weapon , what we was to do if we fell and how to properly cross a fence or other obstacle. THERE WAS NO WAY WE WAS GONNA DO ANYTHING OTHER THAN WHAT WE WAS TAUGHT!

This was all due to KNOWING what would befall us IF in fact either one of us broke the rules and teachings! First off if either one of us did do something out bounds THE OTHER WOULD SNITCH! That in turn would incur the full bore WRATH of a woman that could turn on you but quick. The medium size ELM TREE out front of the hose being BARE OF SWITCH SIZED limbs was not due to the weather!

There was a thin blanket of newly fallen snow on the ground and the instant we entered the end of the Tree Belt we started see'n WABBIT TRACKS! As we slowly but surely walked the area out we ran across a large pile of Irrigation Pipe stacked for the winter. At each end there was not an open spot of snow that was not intensely exhibiting WABBIT SIGN!

We got down on one knee and looked in the thru the end of the pipe. Seems EVERY pipe laying on the bottom was PLUGGED...plugged with a big Cotton Tail Rabbit!

Get'n the rabbit inside the pipe to MAKE A RUN FOR IT was no problem as we started banging on the outside of the pipe. This resulted in severeal rabbits make'n a break for it at the same time. It didn't take us long to figure out that Cotton Tails would not run all that far fore they would stop and SIT STILL!

It was then that put'n a .22 Long Rifle in thier heads was no challenge at all. This was due to the fact that we had been raised on hit'n dem lil snuff cans at 40 yards. MaMa had TAUGHT US WELL!

It was'nt long till we had 4 nice big Cottons and we made our way back to the house. Our WET and COLD hands and feet in no way slowed us down as we could hardly contain ourselves. We had taken our orders and HAD DELIVERED.Of course we were both looking forward to the HEAP OF PRAISE we knew we were in store for.

MaMa met us at the door and we had not misjudged the quality of our reception. To this day I really can't explain it. It was'nt like we had moved and reset a whole line of Irrigation Pipe or stacked a bunch of Alfalfa bales in the barn or Cultivated a large acreage of Cottom with the Forn N Tractor without PLOW'N UP THE WHOLE PLACE!

No, this was different and we did'nt know it but our EDUCATION was just get'n started. Neither one of us had CLEANED an animal in preparation to EAT IT. Well, we had learned to clean the Channel Cats we caught out of the Ponds or out in the channel of the North Fork of the Red River that ran across the backside of the Farm. But not a Warm BLooded and furry Mammal.

As soon as MaMa made sure we was into warm and dry clothes we was outside in the barn where she showed us how to properly dress and clean a Cottom Tail for the SKILLET! I can still recall how she slowly but surely and clearly went over several times each step and WHY!

We were EXPECTED to WATCH, LISTEN , LEARN and then WE WAS ON OUR OWN to DO IT OURSELVES. Knowing this worked to insure that we did in fact LEARN whatever it was ANY adult was take'n the time to TEACH US!

It was then time to gather up some of the Turnips that were still left in the Turnip Patch and to open up a couple of jars of those wonderufl Black Eyed Peas that we had helped MaMa Can but a few short months before. We already knew how to mix the dough for the Biscuits AND mix up the Corn Bread for the pan. She left up the type of bread we would have with our Rabbit Supper and of course this was no contest as it would be...CORNBREAD. Not just a plain old pan of corn bread but corn bread baked in the old time Iron pan that had lil troughs that when filled and cooked turned out a piece of corn bread that looked like an EAR OF CORN.

We paid close attention to how the flour, milk and egg batter in which the pieces of Rabbit would be coated with. As this was being done a huge Iron Skillet and more than likely the one MaMa's Mother had brought from Georgia on the WAGON TRAIN they rode out to thier piece of King County Texas ( now Kiowa and Jackson Counties in Oklahoma )was filled with LARD. As the lard melted down and heated up the Rabbit had been dipped in the Milk and Egg Batter and then rolled in Flour more than once.

When the GREASE was hot enough in went the rabbit pieces. We each got a turn on the wooden step stool needed to put us up high enough to safely reach all corners of the big stove on which she did her cook'n. Long hours teach'n us to FRY EGGS and Bake Biscuits had been spent so we was no strangers to this part.

When the Rabbit quarters were Golden Brown on each side we removed them from the skillet. Just long enough to MIX UP SOME WHITE GRAVY in the big skillet. Then when it was bubbling just right back in goes the Rabbit pieces. We cut back the level of the fire and let it simmer and bubble buried in the Gravy.

Soon the Peas and Turnips were done and the Corn Bread came out steam'n hot. Out went the patented call that we all LOVED TO HEAR. The call that could be clearly heard even in the far corners of every field on the Farm. That call went like this..... SUPPER'S READY.

No one had kept track of PaPa while we was learn'n how to clean and quarter the Rabbit! No one knew where he was or what he was do'n as we got all the dishes together...but...wherever he had been ...HE SHOWED UP REAL QUICK LIKE when he heard that CALL TO SUPPER! He would just as quickly DISAPPEAR when it came time to CLEAN and WASH THE DISHES. Me and Lil Bro could of course not escape that chore!

I don't really know why that supper or many like it that followed tasted so GOOD. I mean I can STILL to this day recall EVERY BITE. Once the Main Course was finished off and belive me all that was left was a small pile of BONES we piled large portions of the home made SAND HILL PLUM JELLEY...that we had also helped cook up and can...on top of what Corn Bread was left and washed it down with HOT COFFEE.

Coffee that was made by simply start'n a pan of water to BOIL'N and then heaping spoonfuls of coffe that WE GROND UP use'n an old wooden Coffee Grinder that had itself also made the WAGON TRIP from Georgia!

Most times spent on the long and highly anticipated trips to MaMa and PaPa's Farm was spent catch'n Fish or Hunt'n down game ( Rabbits, Quail, Ducks , Squirel , etc. )! We learned the habits of a lot of critters during that time.

We also looked forward to learning more and more ways to cook dishes featuring what we had caught or shot. I never paid WHY! While we heard plenty of storied featuring the horrs of both The Great Depression AND the Dust Bowl Days we did not make the obvious connection. This was due to the fact that for the most part both our Grandparents and parents worked hard to PROTECT us from such things. They worked hard to make sure that we DID'NT have to experience anything like that in our life times!

I mean while no one was RICH we HAD PLENTY. The Grocery Stores in town were well stocked. Nothing like the Super Wally Worlds and other larege Grocery Stores we have nowdays but all we had to do was crank up the car and GO TO TOWN! Not too much unlike what we do today.

I mean MaMa and PaPa did HAVE MONEY. While PaPa had to quit school in the 3rd. Grade and could but write his name he had a way in RUBBING A DIME and TURNING IT INTO A DOLLAR!

As my brother and I got older and had families of our own the number of occasions spent visiting our Grandparents decrased. The one thing that stuck with us even after thier passing on was WE HUNTED!

Thing was it seemed that fewer and fewer of our folks LIKED TO EAT WILD GAME!

On one of the last visits I made to see MaMa was after PaPa had passed away. We always sat out under the Big Wax Berry Tree...the same one that had sheltered us from the HOT S.W. Oklahoma sun all those years...and TALK! While she was still able to get around and she did'nt mind TELL'N YA JUST THAT it seemed that there was always something IMPORTANT that she wanted to pass on.

During one of those visits it became clear as to the WHY...WHY she taught us to shot and to HUNT! While we had overheard some discussions about the Great Depression it was always between adults and never much around or directly to us kids. Now it seemed that it was for some reason IMPORTANT to her that we KNOW a few things.

She passed on a lot about the HARDSHIPS the Dust Bowl and Depression days. The first house she recalls living in was a DUG OUT! Then after a good Cottom Crop had been made a SINGLE ROOM was added above ground. In time most folks of the era ended up with a fairly nice house. Then it all BLEW AWAY and along came the GREAT DEPRESSION where most folks LOST THIER LAND and HOMES!

MaMa passed on the fact that she and PaPa had married quite late in life. They each had six brothers and sisters and they had to wait till all the younger kids was out of the house and on thier own before they could even consider get'n married and have'n thier own kids.

Not only that but also during all those times EVERYONE HAD TO HUNT small game and deer IF they wanted to have any MEAT ON THE TABLE. And , NO MEAT ON THE TABLE was a VERY SCARY ordeal for MaMa and the folks of her generation.

They knew that meals of TURNIPS and BLACK EYED PEAS provided just so much PROTIEN and not near what MEAT provided! No worry about many folks GET'N OBESE in dem days as REAL HUNGER and MALNUTRITION was always set'n rigth next to ya!

She explained that she TAUGHT US so that IF EVER the time came and we HAD TO HUNT TO EAT then we would be properly PREPARED. All the while she explained this did so while exhibiting a bit of GUILT or FEAR.

Now I knew the WHY! She had taught us not only HOW TO WORK HARD and MAKE OUR OWN WAY but she was also gonna make sure that we would always be able to provide MEAT FOR THE TABLE if things got really bad again.

Now I find myself passing on the Lessons of Life that MaMa and PaPa taught me. This does come in a time when fewer and fewer folks teach thier kids any other way than...GO TO THE STORE AND BUY IT! There are fewer farmers rasi'n the Turnips and Cow Peas that got lots of folks thru harsh Oklahoma Winters.

My Grandkids are further removed from the really Hard Times and don't have Grandparents that have very fresh memories of what they were like. BUT, I'm going to TEACH mine.

Take a kid HUNTING and TEACH them a bit of SELF RELIANCE if nothing else. Hunting among other things teaches CONFIDENCE.It also is QUALITY TIME well spent with a kid!

How many more reasons do you need to TEACH A KID TO HUNT...and...THEN TAKE THAT KID HUNTING?