Lesson you learn in life

[Drift_Wood]

I thought I would tell you a fishing story about lessons you learn in life while experiencing them first hand, you know experience is the best teacher. Well, I was born in South Mississippi and was surrounded by water all my younger years from birth till I was 19. My Dad had a fishing boat all my life one for Salt Water and one for Fresh Water. We fished and hunted all my life. As soon as I got old enough he started taking me. I thought that I knew everything but when I got 19 I moved off the coast with a Uncle who was a Pastor in South East Arkansas and met a Girl and we got married and still are. She has a Big Family and they took me in and treated me like I have never been treated, they all was nice folks all of them where Country Folks and good people. My Brother In Law [one of many] raised Chickens, it was amazing to me to see this business and I would go to his house all the time cause he also had Cows and Horses and I never had been around this kinda stuff in my life so this all interested me tremendously. He would take time and explain all the aspects of the Farming business to me and we would ride Horse's and it was just fun being around his house. He got some kind of sickness from the Chicken's from breathing the dust that they created while in the growing stages since you had to walk them and breath the air in there, and my job at that time was not paying very well and he asked me if I would like to raise them until he sold the farm and I of course liked it out there so much that I said yes. Well we raised chickens and Hunted the lands around the farm and fished and I loved the Farm life. He taught me things about Hunting and Fishing I never even heard of before and I use them today still. He was a Outdoorsman and I guess he was raised that way. Well We decided to go Catfishing one weekend We was in between Chickens and getting ready for another batch when we decided to take a break and spend the night on the Saline River and set some trout lines and catch a few Cats. Well We launched the boat and was going to the sand bar and I seen one of the biggest deer I ever seen swimming the river. I looked around at him and said hey pull over there by that deer and lets get him and he said you better leave that Deer alone Boy, and just had a little grin on his face. Oh yeah like I said My Wife has a big family this Brother in Law was the same age as my Dad. And I said come on Man pull over there and I will cut his throat and we can go back and clean him. Well like I said in the above the best teacher is [Hands On] lol. Well since he liked to let you learn valued lessons he proceded to ease up on that deer and that deer started noticing he had company. My Bother in Law says boy when you grab his antlers you gonna have to lock them down on the side and cut quick. So I reached over the side and grabbed a holt off them antlers and to my surprise that deer turned around on me in that water and started kicking the bottom of the boat. He laughing like crazy says "You better let him go he gonna kick the bottom out the Boat", I am thinking yep that would be a good idea when the front legs came up in the boat with me. At this time He was laughing so hard at me that he couldnt say nothing so he puts it in reverse and the deer gets back to swimming. I am scared like never before and he says "Well Boy when you get him by the Horns you gotta lock them down, I'll pull back over there and you can try it again". I said "Nah let's just go set out them lines and leave that deer alone" lol. Well when he got over laughing and we watched the Deer finish swimming the river and going out of sight he motors on up the river and we set our lines out and went to the sand bar to make our camp. We gathered wood for a fire and got settled in and was waiting on the clock to get to our time to go check our lines and it was getting dark so we lite the fire. We checked our lines and caught a few Cat's and went back to the camp to wait some more. I like sardines in mustard on crackers so I eat me a can and tossed them over by the edge of the woods where we where throwing our trash so it would all be in one place so when we got threw fishing we could bury it. Well in a couple minutes a big ole Coon was over there by them sardine cans sniffing them and moving them around and I said "hey look at that big ole Coon" He said "yeah he smelled them sardines and is just looking for him something to eat", Well I seen Coons before but they was in trees just never seen one that close or never really paid attention to them before. So I said "I bet I can catch that Coon" He said "Boy you better leave that ole Coon alone" and just laughed lol. Well I didnt know what I was thinking and jumped up and started towards that Coon quickly. To my surprise it raised up on its hind legs made a noise I never heard before and he too started towards me Quickly also. Well I guess you would say at that time I didnt quiet know what I was gonna do since the distance between him and me was rapidly getting close and his was showing ALL his teeth to me so I turned and the went towards the Boat the Coon was gaining on me. I jumped on the bow of the boat and in the boat and the Coon did too so I went over the side and the Coon did too. I finally got out the water and ran to the fire and the Coon went to the woods thank God. Guess what my Brother in Law was doing??

And with that said I learned more from that Bother In Law than any teacher that I had in all my days at school this was only a couple of the lessons I was taught and I will always remember everyone of them he taught me. Some of you know this man too He was a great Man and I will miss him alot and so will many others his name was LeeRoy Rodgers. Missed but will never be forgot. Thanks for reading my story this is just one of many of the good times I had as a young guy and it didnt involve all the things young kids get themselves into in todays world. So take a kid fishing he will always remember the things you teach him I promise lol. Drift_Wood

[J White]

good story, Driftwood. The part about the coon reminds me of a
run-in I had when I was about 21 with a black bear in North Carolina -
Was on vacation with my folks, and we saw a bear on the side of the
road, so I got out to take a picture with Mom's little 110 camera.
Every time I would ease up close enough to almost get the shot I
wanted, the bear would move farther away and stop again. This went
on 3 or 4 times, and all of a sudden the bear stood up on hind legs,
wheeled around facing me, and slapped both front paws down on the
ground and let out a huge "WOOF", like a big dog, only louder! Only
then did it sink in on me how close I was to the bear and how far away
I was from the car! I decided to pass on the picture and shuffled backwards
towards the road a whole lot quicker than I had went in the other direction...