We're going on a bear hunt. . .

Ever since Christmas, when Matthew received a bow and arrow from Santa, he has been DYING to go hunting. At first the requests were manageable. "Ya, one day, Matthew." But then the $5 Walmart, er, I mean hand crafted by elves bow and arrow broke almost in half during normal use! (dirty elves!) So mom and dad gamely sprang for a new one (yes, this one was higher quality. . . $7) which happened to have a picture of the "big game" you'd most definitely bag with this particular bow and arrow right on the front of the package! There they were: pictures of a deer, moose, and, of course, a grizzly bear! (cause, what else do you bring down with a bow and arrow?) I can just see the visions going through Matthew's head when he looked at those. It was right there on the package so he MUST be able to kill those things (dirty Walmart and their toy packagers!) So ever since then I've been fielding the question: "Mom, can we go hunting?" "Mom, when can we go hunting?" "Mom, I'm ready, are we going hunting yet????" I think my response of "one day" got old real quick - especially when he heard it at least 4 times a day! So finally I told him he had to practice first - why I even perpetuated this idea, I will never know! Here he is, full of excitement, sidekick in tow, ready to go "practice" in the back yard. A few days later, there was no getting around it. We had to take him "hunting." I had put him off long enough with stories of how animals hid from people so there'd likely not be any right by out house but only farther away in MUCH more secluded areas like, oh, say. . .by the duck pond! Again, what was I thinking? So I did the only thing I could do. . . I made Woodson take him! We drove over to the duck pond and I waited in the car while Woodson and the kids went out to hunt. This next picture shows the happy hunter on his way to kill some wild animals.

The next 3 pictures pretty much tell the rest of the story. I'll wrap up after you've viewed them.

Dejected. There was no other word for it. Needless to say, he did not catch anything that day. This in no way dampened his enthusiasm for hunting, however. As bad as I felt, I had hoped it would but I guess I told too many stories to make him feel better about how you have to be REAL sneaky and quiet or the animals will run away and it may take a long time of just sitting around! I thought this would make him less likely to want to go again but let me just say we have been several more times since then (different locations, of course), all with similar results. The only difference now is that he PRAYS that Heavenly Father will help him kill some animals. Naughty ones, naturally. Not nice ones. He specifies this in his prayers. After all, he's not a brute or anything! And he always plans on killing them to feed, as he tells me, "his starving family." Hmmmm. . . maybe one too many dramatic stories on my part. Anyway, I've begun using the excuse now that the animals are all hibernating and that his arrows aren't sharp enough anyway to kill them. Somehow this is not getting through. I'm now trying to find some hunter in the ward to take Matthew under his wing! Help! If you know of any likely prospects, please comment. Otherwise, you will probably see us skulking through your yard with a bow and arrow sometime soon!