![](https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDeYDTrFodrn3FfHVtU5IqTu1HbgeZxQpWcYbi1qGC-G1F1EOFkjHXkZg6HmVHDbH8mLjOhoKrA_z39bIEq35TCkm7-y2qeES-cFwC8AmMkS7ywCjBJpyd6VSPSMyHxnuAWRMBb7v80mY/s320/cold0001.jpg)
When my sons were about 10 and 11 I took them up to Hyde County for a late season Swan hunt. Being new to hunting they barely had enough hunting clothes to keep warm in October, much less January, much less the coldest 2 day hunt I was ever on in North Carolina.
They tried their best for 2 days, but just couldn't put down a Swan. Too frozen and too bundled up in a dozen layers of camo T-shirts to shoulder their guns, much less knock down a bird.
After the first day we decided to stay over and try again. Stayed at the old hunting camp at Lowland, split an MRE for supper and all slept in the same bed to try to keep warm. No luck again the second day. We had to call it quits (the season ran out). But I'm sure they would have stayed with me until hell froze over.
Their Mother was not overly pleased that they both got real sick and missed a bunch of school. But you can't kill them if you're not out hunting. They recovered, and now, for the rest of their lives they won't ever back out of a hunting trip due to the weather. If they survived that hunt when they were just little boys, they are good to go.
They tried their best for 2 days, but just couldn't put down a Swan. Too frozen and too bundled up in a dozen layers of camo T-shirts to shoulder their guns, much less knock down a bird.
After the first day we decided to stay over and try again. Stayed at the old hunting camp at Lowland, split an MRE for supper and all slept in the same bed to try to keep warm. No luck again the second day. We had to call it quits (the season ran out). But I'm sure they would have stayed with me until hell froze over.
Their Mother was not overly pleased that they both got real sick and missed a bunch of school. But you can't kill them if you're not out hunting. They recovered, and now, for the rest of their lives they won't ever back out of a hunting trip due to the weather. If they survived that hunt when they were just little boys, they are good to go.