A skill we should all teach our children and why

When I was growing up my father taught me to hunt and fish but I never really thought about why. It was fun and something we could do together. It just seemed to be natural. Now that I think back fondly of my memories of hunting and fishing with my dad, I realize it was a skill that can save my life. See my father was born in 1925 and I remember him always telling me about being poor and growing up without, but I didn’t realize until later in life that the Great Depression began in 1929 and lasted till 1939. See my father was a child during the depression. I remember him talking about hunting as a kid and eating what he killed. He always cautioned me to use ammo sparingly, one shot for one kill and to make every shot count. What I didn’t realize was that for him hunting and fishing was often how he got his next meal as a child. No, I do not believe that the next Great Depression is upon us or that things as we know it will suddenly end and there will no longer be food on the store shelves. I don’t think that suddenly, we will not have money in our pocket to buy groceries, but I bet the people did not think that in 1929 either. Have you been to your local grocery store lately and noticed the big empty spaces on the shelves? Have you noticed how the meat department is not as well stocked as it was three or four years ago? Have you asked yourself how Russia can invade Ukraine, but we have nothing to worry about? Is it because we live in the USA? I know that the Great Depression began with the collapse of the stock market but there were a lot of factors that led up to that collapse. Just like there are a lot of factors at play affecting our county now. What if we find ourselves in a situation where there is a food shortage, or we are at war? How would you feed your family? Now think about what happens at your house when a storm knocks out the power for a few hours. Think about how upset people get when they pull up to the drive through of a fast-food restaurant and a sign says closed due to lack of employees. My point is that we should all be teaching our children the skill of hunting and fishing because we don’t really know if someday, we or they may have to hunt or fish to have food to eat. We should teach them to respect game and how to make a meal of our harvest. I am no survivalist, but I know for sure that I can go to the woods and come home with a squirrel, rabbit, deer, or fish to eat if I had to because my father taught me how. He taught me how to shoot an animal and how to clean it and cook it. He taught me how to bait a hook with a grasshopper to catch a bream and how to scale it and cut its head off to fry it up in a pan. He taught me how to slip through the woods making as little noise as possible to get close enough to shoot a squirrel. He even taught me where to find water in the woods that was safe to drink if I got thirsty. I certainly hope it never comes to that because I am miserable when the power gets knocked out for a few hours, but I am confident that I would not starve if there were no food in the local supermarket tomorrow. Take a kid hunting and fishing, even if it is not your kid. There are a lot of kids out there that would really enjoy some time on the water or in the woods that may learn a skill they can use down the road.