A Country Boy Can Survive

I f you want to know what the power structure of this country fears most, look no further than what the media attacks.

Guns, survival, the outdoors lifestyle and Judeo-Christian values are criticized, mocked and outright savaged by mainstream news sources, politicians and other power brokers.

Indeed the very principles that made our country great are now touted as the problem, instead of the solution.

This will be the only time you ever see me quoting Hank Williams, Jr. in a column. Oh, I like his music just fine, especially his early ’80s output, but he is not exactly the philosopher I go to for solutions.

After all this is the guy who wrote “Whiskey Bent and Hellbound.”

However, “A Country Boy Can Survive” rings true in a powerful way in the year 2016.

“I live back in the woods you see-the woman and the kids and the dogs and me. I got a shotgun, a rifle and four-wheel drive. A country boy can survive.”

I am no alarmist but literally at the time I am writing this column the Chinese stock market crashed a whopping seven percent. Economies throughout the world were shaking.

What would happen if there is a major, major economic crash where things get to a “Great Depression” level? How many people would be able to make it for themselves.

I have friends such as the Slone Family in Deweyville, TX where the normal is a shotgun, a rifle and a four-wheel drive. And I have no doubt those country boys can survive.

“Because you can’t starve us out and you can’t make us run

‘Cause one-of-’em old boys raised on shotgun. And we say grace and we say Ma’am. And if you ain’t into that we don’t give a damn.”

The fact is people in rural areas and those who have a true grasp on how to fish, hunt and stay warm in cold weather are people who can weather tough times.

Now, manners are not necessary for survival, but it shows common decency and respect. That is something most of those who embrace the outdoors lifestyle and live in Texas have a better grasp on than lots of others.

My family and I were visiting friends in California after Christmas. As a young girl a gas station handed me my change I told her, “Thank you mam.”

“Where are you from,” she asked.

“Texas,” I said. “Where chivalry is not totally dead.”

She laughed and said it was refreshing and that so few people around there had respect for one another. We were not in Los Angeles or San Francisco. This was Eureka, a town about the size of Beaumont, Texas.

This is not about the outdoor lifestyle being superior to the urban or some lame bumper sticker-style statement touting the power of the Lone Star State.

It is not about prepping or anything of the sort.

It’s a reflection on something we take for granted. Those of us who grew up hunting, fishing, trapping and even camping have a giant leg up on the rest of society if true economic disaster strikes.

We also have a better understanding of how life really works. We know that to eat steak, cattle must die, and that to catch fish you are going to have to get wet and slimy.

Fish does not randomly appear on rice to form a sushi roll. Someone had to catch the fish and grow the rice and other ingredients to make the blessing that so many of us (me included) crave.

It is a reality check of sorts. You cannot appreciate something you do not understand, and you cannot understand something that has not been presented to you or that you do not search out on your own.

That is why we talk so much about how-to applications in the magazine and dig into ecology and wildlife biology. We know it is crucial to understand the way things work.

It’s entertaining to read about someone’s hunt experience, but there is much more .That is why we strive to give in-depth stories here. We have a special thing going in Texas, and we should all appreciate it. One thing you learn when you hunt and fish is that life is fragile and worth every minute we struggle here.

Those who grow up in the outdoor lifestyle have an edge on learning that life is a blessing and is worth defending.

My friend Jillian, a beautiful 20-something girl who just happens to be married to a police officer was raised in the woods.

Two years ago, she had a knife pulled on her at an ATM and she turned around with her concealed handgun, pushed it to the guy’s chest and told him she was counting to three and she would shoot. He ran.

Good decision on his part.

She was not bluffing.

How many young ladies would have that same survival instinct? How many girls from inner city Houston or Austin would have ended up dead or raped right there?

Yes, country boys can survive, but so can country girls.

I think Hank needs to write that song next, but interview Jillian first. She could teach him a thing or two.

 

 

Email Chester Moore at cmoore@fishgame.com

 

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