Page 32 - Outdoor Oklahoma - May/June 2021 Issue

DEE kELLY

“Jake
proceeded
to start a
cooking fire
with his
flint and
steel. ... He’s
pretty good
at it now.”

bags, and inside is our flint and steel, char cloth, tow for We see a hog, a dog and a couple of rabbits. And birds, of course.
tinder, a magnifying glass for building a fire, and a candle An owl comes sailing through, and squirrels scatter and chatter
for hard-to-start fires when it’s damp. We both had a possi- ahead of us. We sit for a while to let things calm down, and I spot
bles bag, or shooting pouch, with patch and a doe in the distance. I turn to see Jake looking
ball and other necessities, a powder horn Since Jake is always up a tree behind us a few yards. He sees me and
and measure, and a priming horn for prim- hungry, he said, points high up and nods his head. We begin to
ing the flintlocks. “I’m hungry. Let’s circle the tree. He says he saw one, but we can’t
We put our cooking gear along with an onion, go cook him.” find it. We continue to circle and then I see a
potatoes, flour tortillas and water into a pack knot hole. The little rascal is hiding in that hole. I
basket, which Jake gets to carry because I’m so old and all. Now it tell Jake we’ll just move on and maybe come back later.
was time for the games to begin. I’m mostly watching Jake. He’s stalking the way I’ve been
It’s a perfect morning: 62 degrees, no wind. We ease across teaching him all his life. His Papa is plenty proud.
a shallow creek into the hardwoods, and the hunt is on. From We see several squirrels way out in front of us. Just be
the creek bottom the land rises up gradually to the top of a patient. Then I see one coming right toward me on a big limb,
hill, leaving a strip of timber about 100 yards wide. We are out of nowhere. I cock my hammer back and raise my rifle,
about 20 yards apart, paralleling the creek most of the time. but the critter disappears in the leaves. Jake was watching the
We stop for a while and listen, maybe sit for a bit, then move whole thing play out.
on to another likely spot. We stop again and watch, not just for I lower my gun. But in a second or two, I see the red tail
a squirrel but for anything. Not to shoot, just to watch. flash. Jake couldn’t see it, so I took the shot. It was a little bit
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