So I've been waiting for the day when my son wanted to shoot the stick and string with me. Last year I got him stump hunting with me a little bit using my old Shakespeare Kiabib. He kept eyeballing my old bear grizzly but I wouldn't let him shoot it as it's too heavy. This fall Gabe asked if he got good enough that I would consider buying or letting him pick one of my bows to hunt with. I chucked and told him that "maybe" one of my bows would pick him if he worked hard at getting good with one.
As he put in his practice time I was proud to see him get better and better with his little bow. One morning he asked if we could go outside and hunt squirrels together. When he came upstairs I saw that he had strung up my black widow. My wife told me he had been practicing with the widow really wanted to show me he could shoot it. I half jokingly told him that he might get the first kill with the bow as I never connected with it yet.
He ended up getting two shots that day on some squirrels. His only kill was a 17 yard shot on a red squirrel that was too bold for his own good. He took the squirrel home with him to show his mom. While lovingly rubbing the widow he patiently explained to his mom that since he got the first kill with the bow that the bow "chose him".
I made it official that day and gave him the bow. Gabe has been "de-squirreling" the property with it ever since. As an added bonus, my wife (having been educated in the importance of having a back up bow) consented to me ordering a replacement black widow. She even shot a little with me in the back yard a few days ago. She seemed to take a liking to my whip. I told her she can buy her own lol.
The trophy