I remember going squirrel hunting with dad one time.
I was 13 years old. We got up early that morning. He made sure that we
had water and the other stuff that we needed. We drove out into the
big scrub in the Ocala National Forest. We parked somewhere and he
fretted over somebody coming by and messing with the car then we got
the shotgun. He had a bag that he slung over his shoulder. It was a
macrame bag and it was pretty big and it was weird to see on him
because he never carried any bag like that ever.
We got out in the woods and we found a place to stop and he said that
I needed to watch for squirrels and when I saw one let him know. The
sun was coming up and dew was all over the place. I remember hearing
all the sounds of the birds greeting the morning.
And then we saw a squirrel making his way around scampering on
branches. He had me position the 20-gauge shortgun on my shoulder, had
me sight down the barrel, and as the squirrel was moving along and he
said, watch for it and if you get a shot, take the shot. I didn't
really know what that meant, so when I saw the squirrel and everything
seemed to line up, I shot and I hit it. I watched the squirrel fall
from the tree to the ground.
Dad had me put the gun down and then he ran over to where the squirrel
had landed. It was still wiggling. And I watched my dad pick the
squirrel up by the tail and swing its head against a tree several
times so it would die.
I must have turned green or something because dad didn't have me shoot
any more squirrels. He got several more and then I discovered that the
bag was for him to put the squirrels in the bag to carry his kill.
We took them home and dad cleaned the squirrels. I wanted no part of
that so I watched him start on one and gagged and went inside. Mom
fixed the squirrel meat with a kind of crispy fried-chicken-like
coating.
It wasn't the best meat, kind of tough and stringy, but it tasted
okay. I kept thinking about how that squirrel looked when he stopped
and he fell. and then watching my dad swing its head against a tree to
kill it.
Dad never took me hunting again, and I've never been as an adult.
