I'm amazed at how my young kids can practically recite stories back to me before they know how to read.  Or how they can recall entire scenes from their favorite movies.  It becomes immediately apparent that their minds work like little video cameras, recording and learning from every sense they possess.  For better or worse.  I have to remind myself to be the model of the person I want them to grow up to be every waking moment. 

It dawned on me a few nights ago, that this presents a wonderful opportunity to instill the life experiences I have had while in the field.  What a memorable way to allow them to gain that knowledge without having to learn it the hard way.  I was blessed with a father who has a passion for upland bird hunting.  Most of the knowledge I learned in that area was from him.  But big game was another world I never pursued until just a few years ago.   So I'll admit I'm at the bottom end of the learning curve, and the lessons for the most part have to be learned the hard way. Last year I came close to getting my first turkey, and although I'm happy to just be in the field, one of these days I'm going to bag one!  Needless to say my kids can tell I'm getting excited for the upcoming turkey season.  My daughter is six this year, and although it will be a few more years before she can carry a shotgun herself, she has accompanied me on several hunts this past fall.  She demands to go hunting with me now. So when bed-time rolled around the other night, I related my unfruitful turkey hunt last year, and lessons learned from it.  It's now a nightly ritual.  I'm running out of stories to tell, so it's a good thing my kids don't mind re-runs!  I imagine some of the great stories passed down from the old days to our ancestors were of great hunts and lessons to be learned.  I intend to continue the tradition with my kids, and someday maybe grand-kids too. So instead of the normal bedtime story tonight, how about spinning a tale of a past hunt for your kids.  You never know, you might ignite a fire in them that will last a lifetime.