nakneker
Gold $$ Contributor
I’m a bit early on this post, I wanted to share a thought about Father’s Day though. It’s certainly not meant to be critical in any way, its meant for food for thought if it’s a subject that applies.
My wife grew up on ranch, 8 kids, 3 boys and 5 girls. Her Dad is an absolute gem, even at 92 he remains sound of mind and physically independent. When him and his wife were raising their kids the men worked outside, did the chores, built the fence, cut the wood and the women did mostly indoor chores and helped with some areas outside like the garden. My FIL held the same lines when it came to recreation, the boys went hunting with Dad, when he went fishing the truck was full of his boys. My wife was a quiet shy type (not so much now) and would watch out the window when the boys went off with Dad and when they returned she would always help gut the fish or hold a flashlight when they hung big game and skinned it out. When they would shoot for fun it was always the boys, never the girls.
When me and my wife got married (not our first) one of the biggest attractions for me was her love of all things outdoors. She had never hunted, had gone fishing once in her first marriage but she had learned to hike and mountain bike and it was easy to see her eyes sparkle when we were dating anytime we were on the river fishing or when she was learning to shoot. We got married and in her I found a lady who likes to hunt, fish, cut wood, garden, build fence and so forth. She absolutely loves that stuff, I help her with the inside chores just to try and keep even with her, it’s been a great blessing in my life to be married to my best friend who enjoys all the things I do. She now has her own rifles, a 222 that she’s dispatched a ton of coyotes with and a 6.5x55 that has filled her 4 elk tags, several deer tags, and has been on the dark continent hunting plains game. We are 55 and 56 and still have a lot of living left in the tank and plan on doing as much of this stuff as we can, especially after retirement. When she talks about her childhood she has mentioned more than once how bad she wanted to go with Dad when she was young. Ironically he has talked to me on multiple occasions after we get back from a hunt or fishing trip and says “I never knew she liked that stuff”. It’s easy for him to see the missed opportunities, I dare say my wife is his favorite although he would never confess it. They live next door and we do as much as we can for them, as much as they will let us.
I took my own 3 daughters on as many hunting and fishing trips as I could. I took them dinosaur teeth hunting, we live in an area where you can go find them not far from here, I took them to find old Indian ruins, visit national parks and they knew they were always invited. I have one son who likes the outdoors like I do, the other 3 not as much but all three of my daughters love the stuff. They have all filled multiple deer and elk tags, gone on many varmint trips, fished fresh water and salt water and I think that’s when I see them smile the biggest. All three have thanked me and their Mom multiple times that we taught them to shoot, hunt, fish, hike and to love and appreciate the outdoors. I would guess that most Dads now days offer their daughters the experience but if you have a daughter and she’s the shy quiet type maybe she would love to jump in with Dad and do some of the things that Dad does, heaven knows our kids need all the help they can get in today’s nutsy world, we all know the great outdoors offers any opportunity to connect and teach these young ones. Thus isn’t meant to be a lecture at all just food for thought if you have daughters.
My wife grew up on ranch, 8 kids, 3 boys and 5 girls. Her Dad is an absolute gem, even at 92 he remains sound of mind and physically independent. When him and his wife were raising their kids the men worked outside, did the chores, built the fence, cut the wood and the women did mostly indoor chores and helped with some areas outside like the garden. My FIL held the same lines when it came to recreation, the boys went hunting with Dad, when he went fishing the truck was full of his boys. My wife was a quiet shy type (not so much now) and would watch out the window when the boys went off with Dad and when they returned she would always help gut the fish or hold a flashlight when they hung big game and skinned it out. When they would shoot for fun it was always the boys, never the girls.
When me and my wife got married (not our first) one of the biggest attractions for me was her love of all things outdoors. She had never hunted, had gone fishing once in her first marriage but she had learned to hike and mountain bike and it was easy to see her eyes sparkle when we were dating anytime we were on the river fishing or when she was learning to shoot. We got married and in her I found a lady who likes to hunt, fish, cut wood, garden, build fence and so forth. She absolutely loves that stuff, I help her with the inside chores just to try and keep even with her, it’s been a great blessing in my life to be married to my best friend who enjoys all the things I do. She now has her own rifles, a 222 that she’s dispatched a ton of coyotes with and a 6.5x55 that has filled her 4 elk tags, several deer tags, and has been on the dark continent hunting plains game. We are 55 and 56 and still have a lot of living left in the tank and plan on doing as much of this stuff as we can, especially after retirement. When she talks about her childhood she has mentioned more than once how bad she wanted to go with Dad when she was young. Ironically he has talked to me on multiple occasions after we get back from a hunt or fishing trip and says “I never knew she liked that stuff”. It’s easy for him to see the missed opportunities, I dare say my wife is his favorite although he would never confess it. They live next door and we do as much as we can for them, as much as they will let us.
I took my own 3 daughters on as many hunting and fishing trips as I could. I took them dinosaur teeth hunting, we live in an area where you can go find them not far from here, I took them to find old Indian ruins, visit national parks and they knew they were always invited. I have one son who likes the outdoors like I do, the other 3 not as much but all three of my daughters love the stuff. They have all filled multiple deer and elk tags, gone on many varmint trips, fished fresh water and salt water and I think that’s when I see them smile the biggest. All three have thanked me and their Mom multiple times that we taught them to shoot, hunt, fish, hike and to love and appreciate the outdoors. I would guess that most Dads now days offer their daughters the experience but if you have a daughter and she’s the shy quiet type maybe she would love to jump in with Dad and do some of the things that Dad does, heaven knows our kids need all the help they can get in today’s nutsy world, we all know the great outdoors offers any opportunity to connect and teach these young ones. Thus isn’t meant to be a lecture at all just food for thought if you have daughters.
