2022 Waccamaw Outdoors - Blessings of a Sporting Father

As Published in the June 2022 edition of Wacammaw Outdoors Magazine / Trilogy Media.

If I can shoot the wings off a dragonfly with a BB gun today, then that’s because my father took me dove hunting when I was little. I’m not even too sure how young I was, but I remember that a single-shot 20-gauge shotgun was a load to tote in and out the dove field. Those dang doves were tough, flying high or in flocks with twisting paths. But when that first dove folded and fell to earth, there was no tally of all the missed shots, it was simply that Jeff had shot a dove on the wing. Many others on the hunt that day reaffirmed that this was a milestone, and that success lies solely with the blessing of having a sporting father. 

(Just click on image for a larger version)

Dr. Patrick Dennis Sr. is a retired eye doctor who served the Charleston community for more than 30 years, but his rural upbringing along the Lynches River was never forgotten. Each Thanksgiving we traveled back to Lynchburg to gather with extended family, but also to hit a couple of dove hunts too. Bishopville, Timmonsville, and every ‘Ville in that zip code got a visit from our crew over the years. These hunts provided me the lessons that hunting was also a social occasion because we all looked forward to these times. Plus back then some important college football games were played on Thanksgiving, so listening to a radio broadcast on the tailgate was a part of the experience beyond aiming for a limit of doves.

            

After college, I went on to hone my skills as a woodsman, which included big game hunting. I became a self-taught turkey hunter by making lots of calls to jakes and learning what they responded to, and what they frowned upon. After I became a veteran gobbler slayer, it was time to return the favor and take Dad on the hunt. He had seen the toms of the Lynches River, but his upbringing was more about the small game like doves, rabbits and quail that flourished then. He had never hunted or harvested a wild turkey, and when he did connect, that first bird went directly to the taxidermist. 

New Owners Englis Glover and Stephen Goldfinch

            

Amazingly, we went on to a run of several years of opening day success with turkeys, partly because their numbers were healthy. But we weren’t fairweather turkey hunters either, and I remember one opening morning we hunted in a downpour and the tom was waterlogged, providing a robust weight for us to celebrate. There was failure too, like the time we had three toms in front of us and tried for two kills, but that coordination was not meant to be. But that’s hunting, and we had one turkey for our annual photo, and today those pictures speak to the continued blessings of having a sporting father. 

To view past blog entries about Father / Son Outdoor Blessings click on Bull Reds at Lake Calcasieu -