hunting lessons

It was early in the morning when Papa woke me up granted like any five year old I wanted to stay in bed but then he said the few magic words that got me moving.

Father:" ok then if you don't want to learn how to hunt then stay in bed."

It's not fair he knows that I want to learn but I didn't think we'd have to get up so early.

Gulbrand:" mkay Papa let's go ( yawns) what are you going to teach me first?"

Father:" well first I don't want you to use the bow yet we'll wait a bit longer for that but come I'll show you how to set up some snare and fishing traps."

Gulbrand:" okay Papa."

I follow him outside and the sun looks like is just barely coming out and not to mention it's cold at this time of morning, I notice that Papa has walked down towards the river so I quickly hurry after him.

Gulbrand:" what is first Papa?" I asked while we walk down to the river brimming with curiosity and excitement.

Father:" first we need to check on the traps that have already been built in case they caught any game since yesterday, checking your traps is as important as building them son, this is the first thing I'll be teaching you for the next week I only want you checking the traps and then I'll reset them ok."

Gulbrand:" yes papa."

We just arrived at the river as Papa is explaining the concept of the fish trap

And it was surprisingly simple but one thing was still puzzling my five year old brain so naturally I asked.

Gulbrand :" so if the fish swim in through the open then what is stopping them from going back out the same way?" Now I'll admit in my previous life I had never done much trapping so this genuinely fascinated me and was eager to learn.

Father:" well look at it like this the hole is just big enough for them to enter but is to small for them to swim out but it also depends on where you set your trap." He explained and seeing that what he had said went clean over my head and into the next hold. " Well let's take my trap here for example see how it is partially in the raids and in the shallow the hole is place in the raids so when a fish goes in it it will find something blocking it and it will try to swim to the shallow where it get frimly trapped." As he ruffled my hair.

Father :" well enough explaining the concept of the trap let me you how to safely pull in the trap."

For the next two to three hours Papa showed me how to pull in the traps and to safely remove the fish. When he was confident that I was able to do it he had us move back into the woods.

Gulbrand:" where are we going now papa?" I asked both excited and curious.

Father: " we checking the snares they are what catch the hares that mama cooks up for us." He says with a smile honestly happy that his son is interested in the huntsmen ways. " And they are also what keep the foxes and wolf's out of our garden."

Gulbrand:" oh sounds like they are a need to know?"

Father:" that's right for the snares I'll be teaching you how to bait and set them and if any of them caught anything I'll teach you how to skin it but I won't have you do any skinny yet alright."

I nod and smile happy to spend more dad with Papa since he is always out in the woods but he always brings good meat and pelts back so we can make some gold coins off them.

We keep walking for a bit and we notice that none of the snares have been tripped so we are alittle disappointed but over today was a good learning experience and besides we have a descent haul of fish so we go home so that why I can make it home to do my chores which doesn't take long.

-----------------------5 years later----------------------

I'm now able to build and set snares as good as Papa and I was even able to snare that annoying little chipmunk that keep eating our fruits and papa had it stuffed and it currently helps hold hold up the plates.

Gulbrand:" And that should be it for today's maintenance on the garden now I just have to- well I guess it can wait I hear papa calling me" sure enough.

Father:" GULBRAND WHERE YOU AT BOY!" Since he is yelling might as well run for it, I stand up and start to jog towards where I here him yelling as I round the house " yes paw something wrong?"

Father:" no just thought that you would like to start practicing with a bow and arrow?" He has purposefully been trying to delay this as much as he could but lately wolfs have been on the moves, so it makes since that he brings this up.

Gulbrand:" you bet I want to be able to keep the house safe while you are out traveling to sell the pelts, so which bow do I start with your old long bow or something?"

Father just chuckles and grins and just says " nope we are going in two Riverwood and we are buying you your own bow and qiver."

I just drop the tool in my hand...

Gulbrand :" paw you mean we are buying me a brand new bow just for me ?"

Father:" did I stutter?"

I shook mey head and run to put on a fresh set of clothes since the ones I had on was all ripped and torn.

Gulbrand:" come on paw let's go!" Start to jog down the trail.

Father just sighs and walks at a brisk pace.

After the 15 minute walk to town we notice that the guard has doubled up so we were asked what our business was here in town you could tell he was new and didn't know us.

Father isn't bothered by this and just answers honestly " we coming to talk with Alvor at the forge to get my son a bow and arrow so that way he can help put food on the table."

The guard just shurgs and let's just through and we quickly make our way to the forge to get my new gear.