Mom for some reason was convinced I'd hang myself and never could get that message to Santa.
From age 8 on, though, some sort of shooting iron was always at the top of my Christmas list.
First a .22 rifle (never got that one either), a shotgun (I still have the Mossberg 20 gauge that arrived when I was 14) and a deer rifle (my son now hunts with the Remington 788 6mm that was my 16th Christmas present).
But the greatest Christmas gift my Dad gave me was never under the tree.
Instead, it was the hundreds of sleepless dawns and tired long-after-dusk waits he spent with me and with my brothers, while we tried to learn how to deer hunt.
Early on he'd sit in the deer stands with us, freezing in our woefully inadequate clothes, and never seeing a whitetail.
Later, when we were old enough and safe enough to hunt alone, he'd drive us to where ever we had permission to hunt and then sleep in the truck until we were ready to give it up.
Dad didn't hunt, didn't own but one single shot .22 rifle, never shot a deer in his life. Oh, he was a deadly shot with that .22, as many an egg-stealing raccoon, possum and skunk learned around our chicken house. He just didn't feel the tug of the woods and wild things that his four sons did.
But he clearly saw the love, nay near fanatic pull, we felt for this mysterious sport. And, as the most unselfish person I've ever know, he was willing to give up his precious little free time to help us learn the outdoors.
That was his most wonderful gift to us (and Mom's too, because she tolerated us being gone on the few free days we'd have from school and work).
I thought about them a lot this week, with Christmas heavy in the air. Christmas is a traditional time for a young outdoorsman or woman to receive that "first" hunting or fishing gift - be it that first rifle, first shotgun or first fishing rod.
There's such a wonderful assortment of youth-model rifles and shotguns, of kid-sized hunting clothing, of special classes on hunting, of really great ways for the kids to get into the outdoors today.
But these new-and-improved outdoor toys aren't the best gift we can give our budding outdoorsman or woman. The best gift we can give them is our time, with them, in the outdoors.
I met a wealthy gentleman this summer during a youth-hunting event in the Hill Country. He was along to support his daughter, who already had lots of hunting experience.
But he couldn't wait to show me the videotape of his 10-year-old son's safari, which the youngster had taken ALONE, to South Africa.
Now this youngster was a deadly shot, collected some impressive trophies, was in the capable hands of a professional hunter and no doubt had an experience that most of us may never share. But I had to wonder if a simple trip close to home, with his Dad, wouldn't have meant just as much.
Regardless, Christmas is a superb excuse to do the right thing by our youngsters and introduce them to the outdoors.
A recent landmark study "The Future of Hunting in Texas", by Clark E. Adams and Linda A. Causey of Texas A&M University's Wildlife and Fisheries Sciences Department, zeroed in on factors that keep young people from taking up hunting, not just in Texas, but throughout the U.S.
One portion of that study identified lifetime hunting habits-specifically, who we hunt with-that are shaped by early life: "1. Recruitment of new hunters has always been in the context of a family with a tradition of hunting participation. 2. Family and friends sustain participation throughout a hunter's lifetime. 3. Females are introduced to hunting by their fathers or husbands. Average age of first hunt for females is 23 years. 4. Males are introduced to hunting by their fathers and other male kinship networks. Average age of first hunt for boys is 14 years."
That should be a sharp kick in the britches to every hunting family which has not included its girls in the outdoors.
Families who care about the outdoors, but don't involve all the family, are really doing a disservice to both the kids and the future of hunting.
That's because an educated public that understands hunting, wildlife and conservation will always ensure that there's a place for all three.
The father of conservation, Aldo Leopold, wrote in 1922: "A man may not care for golf and still be human, but the man who does not like to see, hunt, photograph or otherwise outwit birds or animals is hardly normal. He is supercivilized, and I for one do not know how to deal with him."
As in most things, Mr. Leopold hit that nail on the head. Kids who grow up appreciating the outdoors are better people. And they don't have to shoot a record-book buck or catch a 24-inch trout to understand the wonder of wild things.
But until they step deep afield, immerse themselves in the outdoors by hunting or fishing, they won't really see its beauty or understand the incredible circle of life that makes up the wild world. And the best Christmas present we can provide is our time with them, doing exactly that.
Give your kids an outdoor gift this Christmas, but with an equal measure of your time to enjoy it, learn how to use it. And even if you don't include the gift under the tree-just be sure you include the gift of your time.
Leschper is an award-winning outdoor writer who recently moved to Juneau. E-mail him at lee.leschper@juneauempire.com.
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