Humble Beginnings

James' First Buck of the Season!!!

If you don't like hunting stories or don't believe in hunting, please don't read any further.  And, I'm going to explain something a little graphic so you may not want to read further.

Last night James shot his first buck of the season.  It was a beautiful 8-point buck.  He made an awesome 140 yard shot with his Pa-Pa's 30-30 (the same gun that his daddy, his uncle and I all used to kill our first bucks). 

We try to teach the children where our meat comes from, how the Lord provides for us - not only in helping our garden grow but also with the bounty of wild game in the area.  I grew up in a family of hunters as did Johnny, so we're passing that same heritage down to the children.  They are learning to appreciate what it means to be a hunter.  In fact, one of the first comments James made was that he provided meat for the whole family.  He's very proud of that.  And, everytime we eat venison over the next few months, he'll know it's from an animal he provided and can take pride in that.

Aside from the hunting aspect, this was a GREAT science lesson.  The gutting process is not pretty (at all) and I'd never seen it.  But, Lauren wanted to watch so we all went.  As Johnny's doing his thing with the deer, I'm pointing out the different organs and how they work, going over the liver, the stomach, the intestines, etc.  We were able to look at the heart and the glands, etc.  It was great!  Talk about first-hand knowledge.  Now they know what these things look like instead of the pictures in a book.  It was a wonderful learning experience.  Surprisingly, Lauren did great.  James, well...he's got a weak stomach.  He got a little queasy but he held it all together.

Anyway, here's a picture of James and his buck.

hunting

{ 08:54 , Sunday, November 11, 2007 } { Posted by melaniedawn }

I think it is just great that your son is learning to much from his hunting experience. What a way to immerse your children into the "real world"! Good for you!
Melanie

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{ 10:35 , Tuesday, November 13, 2007 } { Posted by homesteadinthemaking }

That is some deer. It looks great and what a good homeschool mom, teaching science during it all. I will have to remember that on the next one!! We were so excited we didn't talk about anything.
Blessings,
Trixi