Rites of Passage by Dan Barfield
Rites of Passage There are “rites of passage” that every boy goes through. And I suppose that there are also such rites of passages for girls as well. For boys, turning 16 and getting your driver's license seems to be the big one today. But when I was a boy, the first, and therefore the most important rite of passage was getting your first shotgun. Shotgun. Not rifle. Not pistol. A pistol is very good at what it is designed for, which is shooting other people. Beyond that it’s useless. A rifle is very good for what it is designed for, but this was the deep coastal south and the woods were thick, making for limited visibility and short shots. The biggest game was white tail deer and wild hogs. the average shot was less than thirty yards. Most hunting was wing shooting for Quail over an uncle’s Pointers, or for rabbits, and squirrels. It was table hunting, not killing for pleasure or trophies. Killing something just to kill it was a thing my granddaddy could ne