.300 Dakota
Well-Known Member
Ok, so I had a daughter by a previous marriage, and then married into 3 more daughters aged 1 - 6. The 6-yr-old is now about to be a 25-yr-old who's finished her Master's, taken a job in Michigan with the USDA, and married a guy we like very much, albeit his family's politics are a bit different than hours. He was president of the local Sierra Club, and the one time we went to visit, the discussion over dinner turned to helping the environment.
The girls grew up with me hunting, amd my daughter and youngest step-daughter actually did some shooting and went on a hunt with me at different times. Not so much the 2 older step-daughters. As a matter of fact, the oldest one that I'm writing about wholeheartedly embraced the need for gun control and became a Vegan after being indoctrinated in college and beyond. Fortunately for her, she is off the charts in intelligence and can figure things out independently. Some of her work was actually presented by both President Trump and Joe Biden during the time she Interned in Washington, DC. (We all know what happens to Interns in Washington, DC... Glad she got out of there quickly!)
Politics did not cloud our relationship as far as I was concerned. No use to prove them right when they tell her we're all a bunch of angry, gun-toting lunatics that are intolerant of anyone who looks or thinks differently than us. We visited in June (Ann Arbor, about 21 miles west of Detroit) and hauled her belongings from the Gulf Coast on the MS/AL state line and delivered cheerfully. She was just about to begin her first assignment, which as near as I can figure, is as a County Agent for the farmers and others undertaking agricultural projects. That job requires her to actually go out to farms and meet with farmers and help them with grants, projects, etc. Quite a bit of time spent where the rubber meets the road.
As it turns out, there's lots of Michigan residents who work very hard just the way we had to do for years and still do in MS and AL. They don't have the same political mindset as the college-overeducated folks who think rainbows and unicorns will save the world from pollution and gun violence.
My wife got a phone call yesterday morning from said step-daughter. They talked for most of an hour when I heard my wife tell her that she'd have to talk to me about that because she would have NO idea. I figured it was a medical question, since that's my profession. Not even close.
She told me she was about to ask me something that would floor me, and I was skeptical. I said, "No way! You couldn't possibly tell me anything that would surprise me with what I see on a daily basis." I was expecting for her to ask if I would be happy for her having a baby. Nope. Missed again. What she had to say actually surprised and utterly shocked me to my core.
Apparently she has had to meet with dozens of farmers whose crops are decimated by the local deer population. They are not allowed nuissance tags like we are down here. She has apparently also witnessed first hand a number of the animals wondering into the highway in search of food and dying a horrible and prolonged death after being hit by vehicles.
This child's question to me was: "Can you help me learn to hunt deer...!!!" She said she had come to understand that population control was absolutely necessary and that a gunshot was much more ethical than death by vehicle, starvation, harsh weather, etc. Also, she said she missed the times we would gather at the table to have deer sausage grilled to perfection. It was a special time. She is no longer going to be Vegan after being hospitalized a few months ago due to complications.
She lives in the part that is firearm restricted. Same rules as the rest of the Midwest, pretty much. Shotgun, archery, muzzle loader, or straightwall .35 cal or larger rifle with case length between 1.2 and 1.8".
She has a new Franchi Momentum in .350 Legend with Burris scope combo on the way, and I will load up some 170gr Raptors to keep it "green" for her. I thought an AR with 5/rd mag (mag restriction) might be pushing it this early in the ballgame. Apparently she has no shortage of places to hunt... she's made fast friends with the local farmers!
Just wanted to share this and let some of you know that might be in a similar circumstance, that it's never too late! Don't give up hope. She was smart enough to see this truth on her own, even in the midst of people telling her it was inhumane and unthinkable. Common sense prevailed.
Good hunting!
The girls grew up with me hunting, amd my daughter and youngest step-daughter actually did some shooting and went on a hunt with me at different times. Not so much the 2 older step-daughters. As a matter of fact, the oldest one that I'm writing about wholeheartedly embraced the need for gun control and became a Vegan after being indoctrinated in college and beyond. Fortunately for her, she is off the charts in intelligence and can figure things out independently. Some of her work was actually presented by both President Trump and Joe Biden during the time she Interned in Washington, DC. (We all know what happens to Interns in Washington, DC... Glad she got out of there quickly!)
Politics did not cloud our relationship as far as I was concerned. No use to prove them right when they tell her we're all a bunch of angry, gun-toting lunatics that are intolerant of anyone who looks or thinks differently than us. We visited in June (Ann Arbor, about 21 miles west of Detroit) and hauled her belongings from the Gulf Coast on the MS/AL state line and delivered cheerfully. She was just about to begin her first assignment, which as near as I can figure, is as a County Agent for the farmers and others undertaking agricultural projects. That job requires her to actually go out to farms and meet with farmers and help them with grants, projects, etc. Quite a bit of time spent where the rubber meets the road.
As it turns out, there's lots of Michigan residents who work very hard just the way we had to do for years and still do in MS and AL. They don't have the same political mindset as the college-overeducated folks who think rainbows and unicorns will save the world from pollution and gun violence.
My wife got a phone call yesterday morning from said step-daughter. They talked for most of an hour when I heard my wife tell her that she'd have to talk to me about that because she would have NO idea. I figured it was a medical question, since that's my profession. Not even close.
She told me she was about to ask me something that would floor me, and I was skeptical. I said, "No way! You couldn't possibly tell me anything that would surprise me with what I see on a daily basis." I was expecting for her to ask if I would be happy for her having a baby. Nope. Missed again. What she had to say actually surprised and utterly shocked me to my core.
Apparently she has had to meet with dozens of farmers whose crops are decimated by the local deer population. They are not allowed nuissance tags like we are down here. She has apparently also witnessed first hand a number of the animals wondering into the highway in search of food and dying a horrible and prolonged death after being hit by vehicles.
This child's question to me was: "Can you help me learn to hunt deer...!!!" She said she had come to understand that population control was absolutely necessary and that a gunshot was much more ethical than death by vehicle, starvation, harsh weather, etc. Also, she said she missed the times we would gather at the table to have deer sausage grilled to perfection. It was a special time. She is no longer going to be Vegan after being hospitalized a few months ago due to complications.
She lives in the part that is firearm restricted. Same rules as the rest of the Midwest, pretty much. Shotgun, archery, muzzle loader, or straightwall .35 cal or larger rifle with case length between 1.2 and 1.8".
She has a new Franchi Momentum in .350 Legend with Burris scope combo on the way, and I will load up some 170gr Raptors to keep it "green" for her. I thought an AR with 5/rd mag (mag restriction) might be pushing it this early in the ballgame. Apparently she has no shortage of places to hunt... she's made fast friends with the local farmers!
Just wanted to share this and let some of you know that might be in a similar circumstance, that it's never too late! Don't give up hope. She was smart enough to see this truth on her own, even in the midst of people telling her it was inhumane and unthinkable. Common sense prevailed.
Good hunting!
