The fish are there. They are just hard to find and difficult to get to bite. Whitetails are either gone to night activity to avoid all the hunters or simply enjoying winter’s rutting activity.
So, what do you do, stay home? No, here’s a great chance, with so many youngsters out of school in December to schedule a few days or, at least hours, to introduce or expose your children, grandchildren, or neighborhood kids, who’s dad is not an outdoorsmen, to what the woods and waters have to offer that television cannot.
First of all, the local ponds and small creeks are loaded with bream and crappie and, unlike bass, will remain attached to the bridge pilings, creek channel ledges and marina docks and can be caught easily. Just keep the trip short, say two or three hours, use live bait, worms or crickets, to give the kids something to play with as you look for the fish. Have some snacks and water, rods and reels that work properly and make it just for you and no more than two participants. The two attendees will compete for bites and it’ll be fun.
Now how about deer hunting. Forget it. Go for squirrels. If you’ll be quiet and slow, stopping every 20 feet or so and sitting still, the little limb rats will wake up, forget about your being so close and make themselves available to hunt. Squirrels are a good choice because the child can hunt with a BB or pellet gun and a 30.06 will not be required. You’ll get plenty of action, sightings, shots and maybe you’ll bag a couple. Clean, cook and serve them. It’ll work.
Finally, college and other professional sports and great destinations for the two of you and all are good. But the experience you two will have together in the woods or around the water IS JUST YOU TWO and will be a learning experience that will last forever. My biological father was a fighter pilot and died in a crash when he was 21 and I was 6 weeks old. My mother remarried when I was 3. He was a hero radio operator on a B-29 with 25 missions over Japan. But it was my two grandfathers that took me fishing and hunting and I still recall those quiet days on the lake or stream bank or walking in the woods with eyes overhead. Give it a try. You’ll be proud.
