I did not grow up around hunting. For my husband, it’s the opposite. It runs in his family on both sides.
It’s a family tradition that deeply rooted in his make-up- in what makes him who he is. To take hunting away from him would be to watch him slowly die. We all know things that are so intertwined into who a person is that you can’t take away from them- that’s hunting for my husband.
- Cody’s Grandfather in Marfa
You can see just how much he enjoys it in his definition of a successful hunt. It’s not about whether or not you bring home meat but really about whether you enjoy the time spent outdoors. You might not see a deer but you can enjoy the trees or birds, or squirrels. Last season, Cody enjoyed seeing babies playing and turkeys while deer hunting. We had a great time the day I took the picture above just talking to a turkey that we never saw.
It’s that enjoyment that’s been passed down from generation to generation down to him that he’s shared with me. As any hunter’s wife knows, you either go with them or you’re a hunting widow for at least half the year. I choose to hunt with him. . . but I don’t hunt with a gun. My firestick is my camera and I take it with me. Cody recognizes that shooting a gun and hunting with one isn’t somethign I’m interested in. (Until the hogs make me mad putting us in dangerious situations or tearing things up, then I think about it for a short while.) And, as we’ve tried to figure out turkey hunting the past few springs, I’ve been the one with the turkey calls.
- Marshmallow Woman- I really don’t enjoy the cold that much though
He’s also passing it down to our nephew. Who he’s bred for hunting from an early age. For the longest time, Jack thought all you had to do was throw out the corn. He’s been taught the same gun safety that my husband has taught me. I’m looking foward to seeing just how the true pleasure of hunting is passed down this year as Jack takes a gun into the field for the first time. The odds are that he won’t get anything though we really hope he gets something.
Because of the way that hunting and it’s true values have been passed down, we are not trophy hunters. As Cody will tell you, you can’t eat horns. We love it when we can fill a freezer. But, as we did last year, we still enjoy it even when the freezer stays empty.
A large part of hunting is giving back to the environment- improving animal habitation and managing populations. For us, hunting also means a lot of work. There’s fields to plant, blinds to build, feeders to maintain, and so much more. We know though that it’s part of what makes hunting so satisfying.