[October 9, 2019] My boyhood friend Wilson (who lived next to me until we were 12 years old) and I were dragged out of bed early before daylight. It was the first day of the quail-hunting season and a dozen of my dad’s friends to teach us the finer points of successful bird hunting.
I’d been dove hunting many times with my trusty old 410 shotgun. The shotgun had been a present to my dad from his father sometime in the late-1930s, and it had been part of many hunting trips and was a fixture on every bird hunt. As young boys, both Wilson and I had plenty of experience shooting dove in the air; killing one on the ground was considered unsportsmanlike.
The friends of my dad were going to teach us how to hunt quail. For bird hunters, you know this particular bird is completely different. Yes, you shoot them in the air, but quail fly up just as you approach them unseen hidden in the grass. On this hunting trip, I nearly shot my foot off when the first covey of quail surprised me with their flight.
Normally, quail hunters use dogs to rush the quail to force them out early. Hunting without dogs is better because it requires greater skill and force of personality. You have to remain focused and calm. A hunter could easily be startled and shoot themselves or another person. A few years ago, we all heard about U.S. Vice President Dick Cheney who shot his friend on a quail hunt at a ranch in Texas.1
With so many of my dad’s friends on the trip, they gave Wilson and me a crash course in proper quail hunting. In the 1960s, quail hunting was the most popular hunting sport in the United States. The experienced hunters showed us how to walk with another hunter (to reduce the chance of being accidentally shot), to properly align your shotgun without aiming, to field dress the bird, and to manage dogs (if you use them).
We learned so much that all of us went hunting every week back in the summer of 1964. The next year my family moved because my dad worked on the Missouri Pacific Railroad, and he transferred to another city. During my time as a kid, we were to move every couple of years to a new home, but I never forgot about the quail hunting trips that special summer.
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More people should spend their time bird hunting. You can actually learn something from it and it helps develop leadership skills.
It should come as no surprise that many of today’s politicians consider the average American to be dumb as rocks and morally retarded. Just look at how Hillary Clinton saw middle-America; deplorables, flyover country, etc. Now she is thinking about running for US President again! This would make it the third time.
https://www.mediaite.com/trump/dont-tempt-me-hillary-clinton-fires-back-at-trump-daring-her-to-run-with-eyebrow-raising-tweet/
God bless the USA if she ever gets elected to a position of power. Cheers!
Donald J. Trump
✔
@realDonaldTrump
I think that Crooked Hillary Clinton should enter the race to try and steal it away from Uber Left Elizabeth Warren. Only one condition. The Crooked one must explain all of her high crimes and misdemeanors including how & why she deleted 33,000 Emails AFTER getting “C” Subpoena!
115K
10:06 AM – Oct 8, 2019
This is “getting out of hand” funny. LOL.
You have an interesting link between hunting and manhood. Guns being a tool can be useful to strengthen those bonds and make boys and men better folk.
Good point, Gil. ????
I really enjoyed today’s article. Thank you.
This is why I have a dog (who sits beside me every day). I don’t hunt as much as I used to with my friends but occasionally, we do go out. I’m saddened by our politicians who are just a bunch of city boys and do not understand firearms. The connection between men is often enhanced by the experience with guns, hunting, target shooting, etc. Something the pink-pantywaist, neutered boy politicians will never understand.
Same comment for the “girl” politicians. They will be insulted by such a comment but the idea is that they lack certain experiences and the intelligence to understand other cultures. That is not a good thing yet they see themselves as superior to the rest of us.
Like they said, they want to take away our guns to keep me from being a mass murderer. But just look at how the Germans reacted when their guns were taken away in the 1930s. They stood by and let it happen. Same with the Soviets and Chinese. Look at the 100 millions plus killed by these regimes in the 20th century. So, taking away guns helped, yeah right.
Excellent point. This is something no longer taught in our schools but that those who own guns are evil because the tool is evil. Twisted logic.
And the young buy it without thought.
I grew up in big cities because my dad had one of those jobs only big cities have (large structure inspector). So, I never hunted but always envied my friends who did. Thanks Gen. Satterfield for another article that is spot-on. ?
Today’s article brings me back to my childhood and times hunting with my uncle George. He was a Vietnam Vet and was both strong and smart. We liked to talk about his experiences in war and in peace (like hunting birds). I had a great time with uncle George and he taught me so much!
I called my father up on the phone after I read this article and asked if he had ever been quail hunting. He said that not only did he quail hunt but that he owned several 12 gauge shotguns and when I was a baby he owned two hunting dogs. And I never knew.
This is much better than sitting in your parent’s basement playing video games. Although there are probably some young progressively minded snowflakes that think otherwise.
I remember going quail hunting with my grandfather. It was a time to connect to him and, of course, now that he has passed away, I have fond memories of the times we spent together. I also remember him telling me about sportsmanship. His friends often accompanied us on the trips to the woods (cannot remember where) but I can still picture it in my mind clearly. Those were, indeed, the good times. It does require leadership skills to make this work and I never thought of it that way.
Thanks, Max for sharing your experience with your grandfather. I suspect there are many more stories like that which helps remind us of the obligations we have as parents and grandparents.
Great article. Many of those who are my peers in the US Army are avid hunters. We love the outdoors, hanging out with good friends (who like to be outside), and doing those things necessary to help our community.
I regularly hunted as a kid. Usually deer hunting as it was a part of the small town I grew up in. Thanks for bringing back memories of that time.
I think most of us over the age of 50 share your experiences hunting.