Will B. Boy Scout Adventure: Hunting Snipe
Some, and I would go so far as to say a good majority of my best memories growing up are from my time as a Cub and Boy Scout. From pinewood derbies to the many projects to obtain a merit badge to the endless weekend summer camping trips, the Scouts offered more than good times with great friends. For me, they taught me how to be a man. Not getting much direction on the home front, the Scouts filled the roll brilliantly. They taught me many lessons, but mainly how to be a decent, kind and helpful person.
On to the great snipe hunt! The year doesn’t quite come to me but I was just knee high to a grasshopper tall and was full of enthusiasm for my first ever camping trip with my pack. What an adventure. It was a complete mystery what all was going on the first night. An endless drive, arriving at dusk. Tired but full of energy, my troop got busy setting up camp and gathering wood for the big fire that would surely include ghost stories and roasting marshmallows. Pure delight for a young adventurer as myself.
After everything was set up and the fire was lit, the troop plopped down around the fire to begin the nights tales. Just as I was getting comfortable, having just found the most amazing marshmallow roasting stick, when Johnny, I forget his name, sauntered up next to me with a burlap sack taller than I was. As I looked up at the Eagle Scout that we all had plans on becoming, I wondered, what in Sam Hill is he going to do with that thing? Next, to my surprise, he shoved the sack at me and told me it was a tradition that new scouts must, absolutely must!!! hunt and find a snipe before the scouts could head to the tents. Such an honor, I thought. I will be the best snipe hunter they ever saw.
Excuse me, what is a snipe and how do I catch it? The Eagle Scout, who was uncharacteristically not honest nor trustworthy, at that particular moment said, “You take this here sack and rustle around the bushes in the woods.” He said it’s a small fury animal that is generally hard to catch in the day, but at night it could easily be trapped. All I had to do was briskly yelp, KAW KAW, repeatedly once in the woods while beating at the bushes.
I was thrilled to be tasked with such an adventure and snatched the burlap sack and quickly scampered off into the woods. To make a long story short, it was well after midnight when I came stumbling out of the woods. As I approached the fire, which was the only way I found my way back, all I heard was snickering and laughter. I learned a valuable lesson that night, always question and don’t be so gullible! I laugh to myself every time I relive this memory. This is Will B saying, fall for everything someone tells you and only half of what you see!