Taking Time

By Mike Ray

I love to see kids in the outdoors having good clean fun, whether it’s hunting critters or pulling a big fish.  I take kids in the outdoors every year and I have a lot of fun sharing the experience with them. I think I get even more excited watching them than when it’s happening to me.

   I have been taking this 11 year old boy out hunting for the last couple years.  His name is Gunner Booth, and we have been having a great time together. Gunner has never taken an animal with a gun or a bow, and I was ready to make it happen for this young man. The first year that I had taken him hunting, we had several close calls, but no luck.  We never gave up, and never will. This year was a little different.  We hunted very hard, I dedicated one whole weekend, morning and evening.

  The first morning we sat in a Double Bull blind that I had set up on my place overlooking a deer feeder.  We sat there from 6:00 am to 9:00 am, and we didn’t see a thing.  We got out of the blind and took a little walk to the back of the place, and we saw several turkeys.  They saw us and too, and flew off.  We went back a little farther and we spooked some deer in a nearby thicket.  There had to be at least seven or eight deer run by, but offered no shot what so ever, but it was fun seeing what we did, and I looked at Gunner, and he was smiling. I went by to pick him up for the evening hunt and we were going to hunt in the back of the place where we had seen the deer.  We sat up in the edge of the bottom and waited for something to happen.  As the minutes went by, it was getting later and later and we saw nothing and headed back to the truck.  The very next morning, we were at it again, but this time there was a lot of rain falling, so we had to go back to the Double Bull blind to stay out of the rain.  We sat there all morning waiting for that magic to happen, but like the times before, we saw nothing and time had ran out.  I had to take Gunner back home so he could go to church.

  I called a good friend to see if he had any good places to take him for the last evening hunt, and he told me of a nice box blind that his wife had taken a nice buck out of earlier in the year.  They said that nearly every time they the sat there, they had seen deer.  So I went down to check it out and it looked really good, so I put some corn out and went back to get Gunner for the last evening.

  I picked Gunner up a little early because we had a littler farther of a drive and it was still very wet outside with still lots of rain on the way.  We finally arrived, walked to the blind, and set everything up.  We sat there and waited for something to happen.  In the long wait I heard a strange noise and I looked over to my left and the noise was Gunner snoring.  He had gone to sleep sitting in the chair with his head hanging over the side.  I sat back and let Gunner have his nap and relaxed myself.  As time went by, it was getting later and later, and darker and darker.  Out of the corner of my eye I saw some movement and it was a big coyote coming across the field and I look over to Gunner and he is still asleep.  I grab his boots and slowly wake him so he doesn’t make any noise.  H jumps up and spots the coyote and gets really excited.  I ask him do you want to shoot him and he gladly says yes so I help him get the gun set up and I told him when he is ready let him have it.  No more than I say it, boom the coyote drops in his tracks. Gunner is smiling like a possum eating persimmons and I’m sitting there amazed at what had just happened, he drops this coyote at sixty yards with his rifle for his first kill.

   After giving several high fives and pats on the shoulder, we go and retrieve his trophy.  It wasn’t a big buck, but it was his first ever kill, and what a great animal to take. Gunner was very happy and elated.  We had a really good time together and if you ever get the chance to take a kid in the outdoors, do it for them and for you, it’s very rewarding, anyway you look at it.  Take the time to introduce a kid in the outdoors, even if it’s one day or a weekend.  It’s a life changing experience for them and for you.

  There are several organizations you can contact, among them are: Ray Howells Kicking Bear for Kids, and Thunderwolf Outdoors, www.thunderwolfoutdoors.com.  Get involved and help make a difference, there is a kid out there waiting for you.