One of the best parts about being a hunting mom is the fact that I get to introduce my youngsters to the Great Outdoors. Traditionally, this is seen as the father/son activity, but since I am a tomboy who never did grow into "girly-girl" activities, I am more than willing to take on this task with my daughters as well as my sons. I was present for my older daughter's first deer, then her first buck, and helped her track her first archery buck. I will cherish those memories for the rest of my life, taking them out of the corner of my mind and replaying them whenever I need a lift. No TV hunting show can match them! Even though my older daughter has now grown up and is busy with work and other interests, I can still recall what it was like to be her best hunting buddy, and her mine... and dream of days it might be that way again.
I have two younger children coming up through the ranks, Gregory, now eleven, and Teresa, now nine. One day last November, I took them out for what I thought was a squirrel and/or deer hunt in a ground blind on our property. I had brought along my shotgun for deer, but also the .22 rifle for squirrels. I learned long ago that in order to get children interested, you need to shake things up a bit if the deer do not cooperate. It was late in the season, and the deer had been hammered hard all around us since mid-August. If there were any deer left (and I knew there were, from the tracks I would see now and then), they were too smart to show themselves during daylight. Back in Pennsylvania, we never had the option of hunting squirrels during regular firearms season, so our very generous regulations afforded me a unique opportunity to do something fun for the young'uns.
There was yet another concurrent season. Foxes were also fair game, and "just in case,” I had brought along a wooden mouth call for predators and some rabbit urine I purchased from Harmon Deer Scent. The deer were absent, the squirrels were not going to ground (I dare not shoot a .22 into the trees due to the relatively flat terrain.) So I pulled out the rabbit urine and sprayed some out one of the portals. Then I crouched down away from the openings and let out some screams on the rabbit end of the call. I put my all into it, starting off loud and shaky, then trailing off with a pathetic death whimper toward the end. Then I listened. We all heard some rustling, too small for a deer, but way too large for a squirrel. I glanced out a side window and saw the shadowy outline of a fox, and it was coming our way! I motioned for the children to be very still and very quiet. The grey fox vixen came within fifteen feet of the front of the blind, all the while sniffing the air to try to locate that delicious smelling rabbit that had just expired. When she passed behind a large tree, I carefully stuck the barrel of the gun out the front portal. As she appeared, I put my crosshairs behind her shoulder and squeezed the trigger. I was so close, I saw my bullet hit. With a yelp, she took off running. We listened as the rustling stopped about fifty yards away.
I was beside myself with excitement. I forgot all about the swamp buck I had pursued in vain all season. I had my first fox! What made it even more special is that my children were right beside me, just as excited as I was. I knew they were hooked on hunting now! We hugged and laughed, and then unzipped the opening to go retrieve my prize. It was getting dark, but we soon found the lovely multicolored vixen where we had heard her fall. I slung her over my shoulder and we hiked home, and planned on a surprise for my older daughter when she came home from her waitress job. I curled the fox up as if it was sleeping, and left it in the garage where Lisa would pass it on her way in the house. When we heard her truck, we waited behind the door to see her reaction. We could not contain our giggles as we saw her stare at the furry critter. We came from out hiding places and told her our story.
I had the fox mounted by a taxidermist I happened to meet at the local hunting club a few weeks later. He had come down from the upstate to hunt with his friend, Mayor Van Stickles of Elloree. Van had two bobcats he was sending back with his buddy, and I figured if his work was good enough for the mayor, I could trust him with my fox. I drove home and got her out of the freezer. The mayor and his friend dropped by during spring gobbler season and delivered the finished mount. She was beautiful, and was in the exact pose that I had envisioned and described! Van said, "I have trapped a lot of foxes, and this one looks just like they do when I come upon them on them in the trap!" She really did look so natural, and we put "Roxy" where she would look like a pet- on the coffee table, facing the big screen TV, as if she is watching along with the family. She makes a great conversation piece, and anyone who knows anything about foxes is amazed at the story, and how close I was able to call her.
