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49 The Honor and Glory of Hunting I—Luke 1961 Johnny Chapman My฀mother฀had฀three฀boys.฀My฀father฀used฀to฀say฀that฀w e฀were฀as฀ different฀as฀night,฀day,฀and฀then฀something฀that฀resembled฀neither฀ night฀nor฀day.฀He฀never฀bothered฀to฀tell฀us฀which฀one฀of฀us฀was฀night฀and฀ which฀was฀day฀and฀which฀one฀neither฀one,฀but฀I฀think฀I฀kno w.฀I฀was฀the ฀ middle฀one,฀and฀I฀was฀nothing฀like฀either฀one฀of฀my฀brothers฀or฀my฀father.฀ I฀took฀after฀mother—quiet,฀shy,฀too฀patient฀for฀my฀own฀good.฀I฀was฀neither ฀night฀nor฀day—just฀something฀nobody฀could฀explain. ฀ My฀brother฀Larrie฀was฀a฀g ood฀bit฀older฀than฀me฀and฀w ild฀as฀a฀damn ฀ buck,฀sort฀of฀like฀my฀daddy.฀He฀was฀a฀t ough฀guy—played฀football,฀caroused ฀with฀all฀of฀those฀high฀school฀toughs,฀always฀making฀sure฀that฀we฀ all฀knew฀who฀was฀boss.฀Went฀off฀to฀Vietnam฀when฀I฀was฀still฀in฀my฀junior฀ high฀school,฀came฀ba ck฀madder฀than฀he ll.฀And฀then฀there฀was฀El vin,฀a฀ good฀bit฀younger฀than฀me.฀He฀got฀out฀of฀Dodge฀pretty฀fast฀and฀mo ved฀ to฀Alabama—down฀around฀Mobile.฀Still฀there.฀He฀don’t฀visit฀or฀call฀very฀ often. ฀ We฀were฀all฀three฀hunters฀just฀like฀my฀father฀and฀a฀number฀of฀our฀other฀ relatives,฀including฀Uncle฀Eddie,฀the฀preacher-farmer.฀I฀guess฀maybe฀it฀was฀ in฀our฀blood.฀But฀given฀the฀difference฀in฀ages—we฀were฀all฀three฀at฀least฀ seven฀or฀eight฀years฀apart—we฀wound฀up฀d oing฀it฀p retty฀much฀on฀our฀ The฀Honor฀and฀Glory฀of฀Hunting฀I—Luke 50 own.฀Daddy฀was฀an฀excellent฀shot฀and฀a฀profoundly฀good฀bird฀hunter,฀but฀ his฀patience฀had฀its฀limits.฀He’d฀take฀you฀out฀and฀show฀you฀how฀to฀shoot฀ and฀all,฀but฀he฀was฀not฀interested฀in฀teaching฀you฀the฀marksmanship฀skills฀ necessary฀to฀be฀a฀bird฀hunter.฀He฀didn’t฀have฀enough฀patience฀for฀that.฀I฀ guess฀he฀felt฀that฀you฀should฀learn฀that฀just฀the฀way฀he฀did:฀on฀your฀own. ฀ So฀by฀the฀time฀I฀got฀my first฀gun,฀an฀old฀scratched-up,฀hand-me-down฀ .410,฀Dad฀and฀Lar rie฀were฀going฀bird฀hunting฀and฀lea ving฀me฀at฀ho me฀ because฀I฀was฀too฀young,฀made฀too฀much฀noise,฀couldn’t฀hit฀the฀side฀of฀a฀ barn—well฀you฀know฀how฀that฀goes.฀That฀just฀left฀me฀with฀nothing฀but฀ the฀urge฀to฀go,฀so฀I฀star ted฀hunting฀squirrels฀near฀home.฀Though฀now฀I฀ may฀look฀back฀on฀that฀as฀a฀kind฀of฀deprivation,฀particularly฀when฀I฀contrast ฀it฀with฀the฀glossy฀pictures฀of฀deer,฀turkey,฀and฀even฀mountain-goat฀ hunting฀that฀I฀se e฀in฀sporting฀magazines,฀back฀then฀it฀never฀crossed฀my฀ mind฀that฀I฀was฀d eprived.฀Sure฀I฀would฀have฀preferred฀hunting฀with฀my฀ father฀and฀brother,฀but฀I฀was฀and฀am฀a฀patient฀man.฀And฀if฀that฀could฀not฀ be,฀well฀I฀would฀do฀my฀best฀with฀squirrel฀hunting.฀I฀found฀a฀number฀of฀ friends฀around฀Sledge฀and฀Yellow฀Bluff฀who฀were฀in฀similar฀circumstances฀ for฀one฀reason฀or฀another—one฀of฀them฀was฀my฀cousin฀Jacob.฀Their฀fathers ฀were฀too฀busy฀to฀take฀them฀hunting฀or฀their฀fathers฀were฀dead฀or฀had฀ left.฀So฀we฀would฀hunt฀together. ฀ We฀would฀meet฀about฀4:00฀p.m.,฀at฀just฀the฀point฀when฀the฀autumn฀sun฀ in฀South฀Carolina฀was฀beginning฀to฀show the first฀signs฀of฀fading฀slowly฀ into฀the฀horizon.฀I฀had฀my฀single-shot฀.410,฀and฀though฀as฀I฀recall฀Roy฀also฀ had฀a฀.410฀and฀Jacob฀a฀.16,฀neither฀gun฀was฀any฀more฀than฀a฀double-barrel฀ if฀that.฀And฀the฀stocks฀of฀their฀guns,฀like฀mine,฀were฀scratched฀and฀pitted฀ from฀riding฀in฀the฀back฀of฀cars฀and฀trucks฀without฀the฀protection฀of฀a฀case.฀ They฀were฀old฀guns,฀passed฀down฀by฀fathers฀or฀uncles฀who฀either฀had฀gotten ฀better฀guns฀or฀who฀had฀given฀up฀on฀hunting฀all฀together. ฀ We฀met฀in฀the฀afternoons,฀because฀we฀knew฀(I’m฀not฀sure฀from฀where)฀ that฀squirrels฀were฀only฀active฀early฀in฀the฀morning฀and฀late฀in฀the฀afternoon .฀Two฀or฀three฀blocks฀from฀home,฀where฀the฀road฀became฀dirt฀and฀ somebody’s฀farm฀started,฀there฀were฀two฀or฀three฀acres฀of฀woods฀that฀nobody ฀had฀cleared฀and฀cultivated—who฀knows฀why.฀And฀there฀we฀would฀ sit฀and฀wait. [52.14.8.34] Project MUSE...

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