A mother-child memory
BUTLER TWP — Walking for miles across mountainous terrain, looking for a clear shot while hunting an animal for the first time, can only be called one thing.
Motherly love.
Such was the case for Butler resident Maryann Truman last month, when she took her 15-year-old son, Spencer, on his first boar hunt.
“It's something he's wanted to do for a few years now and he needed someone to take him,” Truman said.
“I've never hunted in my life. This wasn't about shooting an animal for me. Spencer enjoys hunting and I wanted to do this for him. Besides, you don't have family memories if you don't take the time to make them.”
So Truman and her son ventured to “The Wilderness” in Everett, Bedford County, to join a guide for their hunting excursion.
Spencer wound up getting a 180-pound boar on the first day of the hunt.
“Ever since I first started hunting when I was 12, I've wanted to hunt boar,” Spencer said. “I think they're the coolest animals around.”
Spotting a boar is one thing. Being able to shoot is something else.
Spencer and his mother chased the boar for four hours, up and down the side of a mountain.
“We probably hiked a good three or four miles before I got him,” Spencer said. “From 76 yards, I got him on the first shot.”
But that wasn't the end of the hunt by a long shot.
Truman offered to allow the boar to be stuffed and mounted in the family home, but her son declined the offer.
“He wanted me to go out and kill my own animal instead,” she said.“I'd rather eat the meat than mount the boar, anyway,” Spencer said. “And I wanted her to experience shooting the gun herself.”Back on the hunt they went. Truman spotted a herd of rams, but couldn't shoot right away.“Rams cluster together and you have to wait until they separate,” she explained. “If you shoot one and the bullet hits another one, you pay extra.”The mother-son duo pursued a black ram for two hours before Truman finally shot it from approximately 40 yards away.Spencer was skeptical whether his mother would ever pull the trigger.“She passed on a couple of open shots. I'm not sure why ... I think she was nervous,” he said.Once she fired the rifle, Truman turned and handed it to the guide.“That was it for me,” she said. “It wasn't a thrill for me to see an animal fall. It was a thrill for me to see the excitement in my child's eyes.”Truman gained new respect from her child as well.“Yeah, I was surprised,” Spencer admitted. “I was never sure she would actually do it.”Next up for this family hunting tandem is a night fishing trip to Pymatuning Lake.“I have to get a fishing license for that one, but I'm doing it,” Truman said. “It's all worth it. Spencer's a good kid.“The more time we spend with our kids, the better off they'll be.”
