So far the hunting with my daughter has been...interesting. And, well...frustrating. Opening morning of the season, we could have theoretically been done hunting by 7:45. A few does crossed our path about 80-100 yards away...and we set up the Primos Shooting Stick...and my daughter, well...she decided she wanted to talk instead of taking the shot.
'Daddy...it looks awfully small in the scope'. Well...let me dial it up.
'Daddy...I can't shoot, it's moving...and YOU told me not to shoot at a moving deer.' Yes honey...but there is a difference between a deer that is slooooooowly drifting from bite to bite of grass and a deer that is hopping away.
Eventually, I told her the truth...if you aren't comfortable taking the shot, don't take the shot. It was early on opening day...there will be other chances.
Famous last words. While we saw other deer, it would be Sunday afternoon before we got a realistic chance at another shot...and those deer were 150+ yards away...which looks further than that to a muzzleloader hunter and a first time 12-year old...but, the deer gave her a nice, stationary broadside shot...which she missed.
She told me she missed even as she was pulling the trigger...and when questioned how she knew she missed, she told me that she wasn't sure the crosshairs were on the deer when she pulled the trigger.
Face-palm...and then a deep breath. And then a conversation about how much she really wanted to be hunting. There were no tears...just me trying to talk to my 12-year old like a grown up. It kind of turns out that REAL hunting was different than Cabela's Big Game Adventures on the Wii...which I tried to explain a LONG time ago.
God Bless her though...she stuck with it...and she even enjoyed part of it. Monday, we went back out, and she got to watch two coyotes playing with each other as the sun came up, and then she got to watch a group of does walk towards us, or at least our general direction...and then she got to learn the frustration of trying to stalk multiple deer. And she smiled.
On the other hand, there is the painful reality that I might be in over my head with this choir that I have joined. We have had two rehearsals so far...and I am struggling. We have a month to the show...and I think I would be struggling just to learn the German pronunciation OR just to learn the music...let alone learn both.
Luckily, we have been able to get our hands on some nice practice CD's...and I have a 35 minute drive to and from work...oh, and an hour drive to and from the hunting area a few times the next couple of days.
I hope my daughter likes Brahms.
I was fortunate in that when I sang in a choir, my wife would bang out the parts with me on the piano at home as many times as I needed. Once I learned my part cold, it didn't matter what was going on around me in the choir, I could sing what I was supposed to sing. It was far too confusing to me to try to learn it in a group setting. Good luck with the practice CDs.
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