Hunting Blog From A Divorced Dad: Galvanizing A Bond With My Boys

By: Bryan Young

As any man that has gone through a divorce knows, it can be a trying time. It can be even more difficult when there are kids involved. That's where I found myself in the winter of 2018, in the beginning of a divorce. As the dust was settling around my divorce, it was hard not seeing my boys every day. Every time I got see them, it was even more special. My excitement to see them multiplied when I could feel their excitement to hang with Dad. As Winter turned to Spring and Spring into Summer, we inched closer to the Fall hunting season. The trees changing colors, the scent in the air, bonfires and all that comes with Autumn, amplified my need and want to get back in the woods - my sanctuary. I was perplexed this particular season, because my oldest boy was starting to take an interest in hunting. I wondered if this could be something that we have together, that can be a great father-son tradition for the rest of our lives together, or if it was simply too soon to introduce him. Although he was only 5, he took great interest when I would sift through all of my hunting gear and take inventory as I prepared for the Fall hunting season.Although I knew that my son had interest in the sport and hanging with Dad for a hunt, I still thought he is was too young to go. How will stay in a blind for more then 15 minutes? Let alone remain quiet and sit still? What would the point be of driving 2.5 hours to my favorite hunting spot to sit for 15 minutes before chaos ensues in the blind? After a hard contemplation I had realized that maybe I was missing the point and I was over-thinking this whole thing. He needs to learn eventually, why not learn now.  With clear eyes and excitement to formally introduce my son to my love of hunting, one crisp fall day in the middle of October, I surprised my son with a youth compound bow of his own. His eyes lit up, I'd never seen him so proud. You'd think that I just handed him the keys to the candy store. This. Was. His! After seeing the look in his eyes I told him we were going hunting together, just him and I, this Sunday. All he talked about for the next five days was going hunting with Dad. From what I had thought could be a terrible idea, to what was a Christmas morning feeling for my son, we we're both excited for our first hunt together. In the following days, I bought some camo and gear for him that was all his own. This only made him more excited. By the time that Saturday had arrived, the little guy couldn't even sleep. This was more excitement than he had the past Christmas Eve. He kept checking and re-checking his gear. Before the sun came up on Sunday, he was at my bedside,  camo on, ready to rock and roll. We packed the trucked and began the 2.5 hour drive. He talked and talked the whole way how we was going to shoot a big buck that day. Well aware of the song "Fred Bear" by Ted Nugent, he must have requested that song 20 times on the drive up. When we arrived and made our slow (surprisingly quiet) stalk to the blind, we saw a small doe - off in the distance. This took his excitement through the roof. Just as I had expected, we didn't last in the blind for more than 15 minutes before I heard the famous "Dad, I'm bored"........So we got out of the blind and walked the woods for about 20 minutes looking for more deer. After that, he was exhausted and wanted to go home. As we began to drive the 2.5 hours back he started calling grandma and grandpa to tell them how much fun he had that day and how he saw a deer. That was the moment that I realized hunting isn't about harvesting an animal or trying to fill a freezer. By the end of last season, we probably had at least 5 trips together. Each sit a little longer than the last, each experience more fun that the previous.These days with my boy opened my mind and opened my eyes - hunting became more than just "my thing" and became my favorite way to spend the entire day with my boy - regardless of the results. He is now my go-to hunting buddy. It has galvanized our bond together, over a passion that we both share. To me, that's now what hunting is, spending time with my Son.

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