It’s late Sunday afternoon and we’ve been butchering the same whitetail since we woke up. This is the time-consuming part of hunting. This is when you realize just how much of a reward you earned from releasing that arrow or pulling the trigger. Wes had shot a beautiful buck just days before and it hung in the shed while we took our time processing the meat. Little Riley is asleep in his swing, milk-drunk and cozy. Sophie, on the other hand, is elbows deep in trimmed venison waiting to be washed & ground.
Wes and I have kept her involved in all aspects of growing, cleaning, and processing our own food. From preparing the garden for the next year’s crop to canning, and butchering and packaging wild game meat. We want her to understand where food comes from. As a little girl growing up on a small farm and farmer’s market in Maryland, I learned early on where food came from. My mom was always baking bread, working out in the large gardens, or slaving away over a canning pot. We bought all our ovens second-hand because they only lasted 3 to 5 years.
I love that we can share this with our children. I have been making fresh sandwich and sourdough bread. Sophie regularly asks for a slice or two of bread as a snack! We want Sophie and Riley to have an appreciation for the outdoors like Wes and I do. To do this, we give them every opportunity to be outside.
Sophie follows us out to the archery range all the time! She’s watched us shoot since she was born, and Riley has done the same. On a trip to Scheels, Sophie tagged along and wanted to look at all the little bows. She picked out an orange Bear Valiant. Her excitement was contagious! I couldn’t help but buy the bow for her. Now she walks with us to the range and has her own bow to shoot.
We encourage our kids to see the animals we shoot. Allowing them to pet their fur or feathers. On one occasion, Wes brought home a whole Antelope doe. Sophie put her shoes on and went running out the door to get a closer look! At first, she didn’t understand why it lay on the ground, eyes open and unmoving. I placed my hand on the animal, showing her it was safe to touch and wouldn’t hurt her. Opening the empty chest cavity, I tell her “Daddy shot an Antelope. All the stuff inside gets pulled out and left for the coyotes and birds to eat.”
Sophie doesn’t understand and asks if the doctor will make the antelope all better. We try explaining that the Antelope can’t get better, as we hoist it up on the gambrel in the shed and start pulling the skin off. She watches, unsure of what to think. She knows what meat is, but this is the first time she’s been old enough to watch us process an animal from beginning to end. To see where the meat comes from.
It’s little things like this that matter the most. We have to teach our kids where food comes from.
Leave a Reply