{"id":13752,"date":"2025-04-17T13:01:51","date_gmt":"2025-04-17T17:01:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/?p=13752"},"modified":"2025-04-17T13:05:41","modified_gmt":"2025-04-17T17:05:41","slug":"her-first-hunt","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/?p=13752","title":{"rendered":"Her First Hunt"},"content":{"rendered":"\t\t<div data-elementor-type=\"wp-post\" data-elementor-id=\"13752\" class=\"elementor elementor-13752\" data-elementor-post-type=\"post\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-4ff0bc9 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"4ff0bc9\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b4f14ef e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b4f14ef\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-c76fd3e elementor-widget elementor-widget-audio\" data-id=\"c76fd3e\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"audio.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-soundcloud-wrapper\">\n\t\t\t\t<iframe width=\"960\" height=\"400\" frameborder=\"no\" src=\"https:\/\/w.soundcloud.com\/player\/?visual=true&#038;url=https%3A%2F%2Fapi.soundcloud.com%2Ftracks%2F2080589742&#038;show_artwork=false&#038;maxheight=1000&#038;maxwidth=960&#038;auto_play=false&#038;buying=true&#038;liking=true&#038;download=true&#038;sharing=true&#038;show_comments=true&#038;show_playcount=true&#038;show_user=true&#038;color\"><\/iframe>\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-b17e778 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"b17e778\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-e87cfe8 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"e87cfe8\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<h3 class=\"\" style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"249\" data-end=\"273\"><strong data-start=\"253\" data-end=\"271\">Her First Hunt<\/strong><\/h3><p class=\"\" style=\"text-align: center;\" data-start=\"274\" data-end=\"291\"><em data-start=\"274\" data-end=\"291\">By Sage Delaney<\/em><\/p><p class=\"\" data-start=\"293\" data-end=\"544\">She handed me the rifle like it was made of porcelain,<br data-start=\"347\" data-end=\"350\" \/>her rough hands gentle on walnut and steel.<br data-start=\"393\" data-end=\"396\" \/>\u201cDon\u2019t aim unless you mean it,\u201d she whispered,<br data-start=\"442\" data-end=\"445\" \/>and I nodded, even though I didn\u2019t yet understand<br data-start=\"494\" data-end=\"497\" \/>what it meant to take something from the world.<\/p><p class=\"\" data-start=\"546\" data-end=\"794\">We sat in silence on that frostbit pine ridge,<br data-start=\"592\" data-end=\"595\" \/>two blaze-orange specks in a sea of stillness.<br data-start=\"641\" data-end=\"644\" \/>She poured coffee from a battered thermos,<br data-start=\"686\" data-end=\"689\" \/>offered me a sip like it was whiskey at a wake.<br data-start=\"736\" data-end=\"739\" \/>I burned my tongue but didn\u2019t flinch.<br data-start=\"776\" data-end=\"779\" \/>I was learning.<\/p><p class=\"\" data-start=\"796\" data-end=\"1034\">A doe stepped into the clearing just before sunrise,<br data-start=\"848\" data-end=\"851\" \/>and my mother\u2019s breath caught like a branch under boot.<br data-start=\"906\" data-end=\"909\" \/>She didn\u2019t tell me what to do.<br data-start=\"939\" data-end=\"942\" \/>She just looked at me, calm and certain,<br data-start=\"982\" data-end=\"985\" \/>like the woods had been waiting for me to decide.<\/p><p class=\"\" data-start=\"1036\" data-end=\"1083\">I didn\u2019t pull the trigger.<br data-start=\"1062\" data-end=\"1065\" \/>She smiled anyway.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-439dd66 e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"439dd66\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-2d324d5 elementor-widget-divider--view-line elementor-widget elementor-widget-divider\" data-id=\"2d324d5\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"divider.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-divider\">\n\t\t\t<span class=\"elementor-divider-separator\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\n\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-0a681bf e-flex e-con-boxed e-con e-parent\" data-id=\"0a681bf\" data-element_type=\"container\" data-e-type=\"container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t<div class=\"e-con-inner\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-element elementor-element-066aca7 elementor-widget elementor-widget-text-editor\" data-id=\"066aca7\" data-element_type=\"widget\" data-e-type=\"widget\" data-widget_type=\"text-editor.default\">\n\t\t\t\t<div class=\"elementor-widget-container\">\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<p class=\"\" data-start=\"1090\" data-end=\"1317\">Now the rifle rests in my closet.<br data-start=\"1123\" data-end=\"1126\" \/>Her thermos on a shelf I dust too often.<br data-start=\"1166\" data-end=\"1169\" \/>There\u2019s a photo on my desk \u2014<br data-start=\"1197\" data-end=\"1200\" \/>the two of us in that ridge stand,<br data-start=\"1234\" data-end=\"1237\" \/>my cheeks red from cold and nerves,<br data-start=\"1272\" data-end=\"1275\" \/>hers flushed with pride I didn\u2019t earn yet.<\/p><p class=\"\" data-start=\"1319\" data-end=\"1513\">I think about that morning more than I care to admit.<br data-start=\"1372\" data-end=\"1375\" \/>Especially now, when the air turns sharp<br data-start=\"1415\" data-end=\"1418\" \/>and the geese call from high above.<br data-start=\"1453\" data-end=\"1456\" \/>I hunt alone these days,<br data-start=\"1480\" data-end=\"1483\" \/>but I carry her in every step.<\/p><p class=\"\" data-start=\"1515\" data-end=\"1785\">One day, if the Lord allows,<br data-start=\"1543\" data-end=\"1546\" \/>there\u2019ll be another girl in blaze orange beside me.<br data-start=\"1597\" data-end=\"1600\" \/>I\u2019ll hand her the same rifle.<br data-start=\"1629\" data-end=\"1632\" \/>Pour her the same burnt coffee.<br data-start=\"1663\" data-end=\"1666\" \/>And when the deer steps out,<br data-start=\"1694\" data-end=\"1697\" \/>I\u2019ll look at her \u2014 calm and certain \u2014<br data-start=\"1734\" data-end=\"1737\" \/>and let the woods teach her what they taught me.<\/p>\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t\t\t<\/div>\n\t\t","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Reflecting on my mother, who is now gone, and the longing for a daughter of my own to someday share the tradition with.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":13744,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[326],"tags":[325],"class_list":["post-13752","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-channel","tag-sage-delaney"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/mother-daughter-hunt.jpg","acf":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13752","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13752"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13752\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":13756,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13752\/revisions\/13756"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/13744"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13752"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13752"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/feathersandwhiskey.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13752"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}