I told this story here long ago but we have a lot of new members so I'll tell it again. In the late 70's I was working at a machine shop making a little over $6.00 per hour.
At home I had my wife, a newborn son, my mother and sister all depending on this paycheck. Every night after work I put a spotlight on my head and got my 22 rifle and headed for the swamps hunting rabbits for my lunch. Some nights I got 2 and didn't have to hunt the next night after work.
After shooting, gutting and skinning the rabbit I would fry it rolled in some flour and red pepper. As we sat down to eat lunch one day, a "Yankee" (pardon me John) asked me, "What is that? Chicken?" I told him no that it was rabbit. He then said "You eat good every day." I told him "You should have been with me last night looking for him, it was 32 degrees and I didn't shoot him until 10:05. It was 11:30 before I had him cooked."
He questioned me and after I explained my circumstances then said that he could not believe that in this day and age that people were still hunting for food. I explained that with baby food, diapers, the bills and everything else that I could not afford lunch. We had meager food at home but if I wanted to eat the next day, I had to hunt and kill it that night. He thought this was amusing. He worked in the tool room and every time I needed a drill he would begin to sing "The Beverly Hillbilly's" theme song.
"And then one day he was shootin at some fooood.." until I finally got pissed off and set him straight. Those days are a distant memory now but I still understand hunting for food. I think that it made me stronger and more able to respect those who have to go out and get their own rather than looking to the government as their entitled breadbasket.
